Chapter 7 - The Missing Child
I don’t remember crossing the kitchen.
I remember glass under my shoes.
I remember my mother shouting my name.
I remember the back door standing open.
“Noah!”
I ran into the rain.
The lawn behind the mansion stretched toward the guesthouse, pool, and wooded service road.
Security flooded the grounds.
“Lock every gate!”
My father shouted into his phone.
Victor remained under the covered patio.
Calm.
Too calm.
I grabbed him by the coat.
“Where is my son?”
He looked at my hand.
“Remove it.”
“Where is he?”
Celeste came outside.
“Ethan, you’re being insane.”
I turned on her.
“You were hurting him ten minutes ago.”
“I was disciplining him.”
“He is four.”
“He needs boundaries.”
I took one step toward her.
Detective Brooks grabbed my arm.
“Don’t.”
Her voice was low.
Focused.
“She wants you angry. Don’t give her evidence.”
I looked at Celeste.
She smiled.
Brooks saw it too.
We searched the guesthouse.
Empty.
Pool house.
Empty.
Garage.
Empty.
Then one of the security men shouted from the hedge.
We found Noah’s black bow tie in the mud.
No blood.
Just the bow tie.
Beside it was Anna’s white apron.
My knees almost gave out.
Brooks crouched.
“Tracks.”
Two sets.
Adult shoes and small dress shoes.
“They walked,” she said.
“That’s good, right?”
“It means he may not have been carried.”
The tracks led through a service gate that should have been locked.
Its electronic panel was dead.
Cut wire.
My father stared at it.
“Only staff know this exit.”
Victor said, “And household staff include Ms. Reyes.”
I looked at him.
“You think Anna took him?”
“I think facts are useful.”
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A video message.
I opened it.
Noah appeared on screen inside a dark room.
He was crying.
Anna sat beside him.
Her hands were tied.
A man’s voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Bring the Harbor drive to Pier 19. Alone.”
The video shook.
Noah looked toward someone offscreen.
Then he said something so softly I almost missed it.
“Daddy… Grandma Emily is here.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
My dead wife’s name hung in the rain between us.
Detective Brooks looked at me.
“What did he say?”
I played it again.
My father stumbled backward.
May you like
Celeste’s face went completely white.
And Victor Ward finally stopped smiling.
