Chapter 8
I was in Officer Ramirez’s car before the call ended.
“Emily’s watch is moving east,” I said. “Toward the highway.”
Ramirez activated the siren.
He radioed every available unit.
I called Olivia again.
This time she answered.
Her voice was weak.
“Daniel?”
“Where is Emily?”
“A man came to the door. He said he was a detective.”
“Are you hurt?”
“He pushed me. I hit my head.”
“Did he take Emily?”
“I don’t know. I blacked out.”
“Help is coming.”
Emily’s location moved faster.
Sixty miles an hour.
Then seventy.
Police identified the vehicle through traffic cameras.
A gray sport utility vehicle registered to Peter Collins’s security company.
Peter was driving.
The highway split ahead.
One route led toward the airport.
The other led toward Briarwood Residential Academy.
“He’s going to the school,” I said.
Ramirez glanced at me.
“Why?”
“Rebecca already arranged the admission. Peter may think he can hide her there.”
Briarwood advertised itself as a therapeutic boarding school.
Its website showed trees, smiling children, and bright classrooms.
But when Naomi researched it after the chapel, she discovered the school was owned by a private corporation.
Peter Collins sat on its investment board.
If the staff expected Emily, they might accept her without asking questions.
Ramirez called state police.
A patrol unit located the gray vehicle twenty miles ahead.
Peter refused to stop.
I watched the cruiser’s camera on Ramirez’s dashboard.
The vehicle swerved between lanes.
My daughter was inside.
“Tell them not to chase too close.”
“They know.”
The gray vehicle left the highway.
It entered a narrow road surrounded by woods.
Emily’s watch stopped moving.
Then the signal disappeared.
We reached the area fifteen minutes later.
The sport utility vehicle stood abandoned near an old service entrance behind Briarwood.
The driver’s door was open.
Emily was gone.
A search team entered the woods.
I wanted to follow.
Ramirez stopped me.
“You stay with me.”
“She’s out there.”
“And if Peter sees you running alone, he gains another hostage.”
The school administrator came outside.
She insisted nobody had admitted Emily.
Then Naomi arrived with a copy of the enrollment form.
The administrator looked at it.
“This pickup authorization is valid in our system.”
“It contains a forged signature,” Naomi said.
The woman’s face changed.
She checked her tablet.
“Someone activated the admission at eleven this morning.”
“Who?”
“An executive override.”
“Whose?”
She hesitated.
“Mr. Collins.”
Police searched every building.
They found an empty room prepared for Emily.
Her name was taped to the door.
Inside were gray uniforms and a schedule limiting family calls to ten minutes per week.
A locked cabinet contained an unsigned medication order.
The medication was a powerful sedative.
I stared at the small bed.
Rebecca had planned to leave my child here while we traveled on our honeymoon.
Emily would have woken in a locked building surrounded by strangers.
She would have believed I sent her.
I gripped the bedframe until my hands hurt.
Then a faint sound came from the hallway.
Three quick beeps.
A pause.
Three more.
Emily’s smartwatch.
The signal had disappeared from the network, but the emergency alarm still worked.
I followed the sound to a laundry room.
Behind a rolling shelf was an old service door.
It led to a tunnel connecting the school to an abandoned administration building.
Police entered first.
I heard Peter’s voice through the darkness.
“Stay quiet.”
Then Emily screamed, “Daddy!”
I ran.
Ramirez grabbed my jacket, but I pulled free.
We entered a basement filled with broken furniture.
Peter stood near a rear exit.
One arm was wrapped around Emily.
He held a metal case in his other hand.
There was no weapon visible.
But Emily’s fear was enough.
“Let her go,” I said.
Peter looked exhausted.
His expensive suit was torn.
Mud covered his shoes.
“You destroyed my family.”
“You tried to destroy mine.”
“Rebecca loved you.”
“She agreed to remove my daughter for money.”
“She made one mistake.”
“One?”
“She was desperate.”
“She forged records. She drugged me. She terrified a child.”
Peter’s jaw tightened.
“Give me Laura’s letter.”
“It isn’t here.”
“You’re lying.”
“The police have it.”
He looked at Ramirez behind me.
“Then get it.”
“I cannot.”
Peter tightened his grip.
Emily winced.
I forced myself to remain calm.
“She has nothing to do with your money.”
“She owns everything.”
“No. She is a child.”
“She owns the shares Laura stole from me.”
“Laura bought those shares.”
“With money my company should have received.”
“You helped Mark steal millions.”
“I took what Daniel owed us.”
He spoke about me as if I were not standing there.
As if the story in his mind had replaced reality.
Emily looked at me.
Her face was wet with tears.
I remembered what Laura always told her.
When you are scared, find one thing you can control.
Emily’s right hand was near her watch.
She touched the side button.
Three beeps sounded again.
Peter looked down.
Emily stepped hard on his foot.
He loosened his arm.
She dropped to the floor and crawled away.
I lunged forward.
Peter swung the metal case.
It struck my shoulder.
Ramirez and two officers tackled him before he reached the exit.
I pulled Emily into my arms.
“I knew you’d find me,” she sobbed.
“I’m here.”
“He said you didn’t want me.”
“He lied.”
“I told him you always come.”
I held her so tightly she complained she could not breathe.
I loosened my arms but did not let go.
Police opened Peter’s metal case.
It contained passports, cash, company drives, and Laura’s missing necklace.
Peter had taken it from Rebecca’s apartment before disappearing.
Inside another envelope were photographs of Laura’s car in Mark’s garage.
One image showed a man kneeling beside the front wheel.
The man was Peter’s security chief—the same person found in the warehouse.
The date was two days before Laura died.
At the hospital, doctors examined Emily.
She was frightened and bruised from being dragged through the woods, but she had no serious injuries.
Olivia needed stitches but was stable.
My shoulder was badly swollen.
I did not feel it until Emily was safe.
Naomi arrived after midnight.
“Peter has been arrested,” she said.
“What is he charged with?”
“Kidnapping, fraud, conspiracy, and several other offenses. More charges are coming.”
“What about Laura?”
“The security chief woke up.”
My heart began pounding.
“He wants a deal.”
“What did he say?”
“He admitted Peter ordered him to damage Laura’s brake line.”
I looked at Emily sleeping in the hospital bed.
“Did Mark know?”
“He says Mark brought the car to the garage but did not know what Peter planned.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
Neither did I.
Naomi sat beside me.
“The flash drive has been opened.”
“What was on it?”
“Laura recorded a conversation with Mark.”
“About the theft?”
“About more than that.”
She handed me headphones.
Laura’s voice filled my ears.
It was shaky but clear.
“You threatened my daughter.”
Mark answered.
“I warned you to stop digging.”
“If anything happens to me, Daniel will find out.”
“No, he won’t. He trusts me.”
“You don’t know your brother.”
“I know exactly who he is. He’s the man everyone chooses.”
Laura’s voice became stronger.
“I will never let you control Emily’s trust.”
May you like
Then Mark said the words that ended every doubt.
“You may not be here long enough to stop us.”
