Chapter 8 - The Empty Bedroom
Richard reached the house with Daniel seconds behind him.
Two police cruisers were turning into the circular drive.
He ignored them and ran upstairs.
“Maya!”
The bedroom door was open.
The room was empty.
A lamp had been knocked over. Curtains moved in the cold air from an open balcony door.
Ella’s phone lay near the bed.
Richard’s heart stopped.
Then he heard a muffled cry from the bathroom.
He threw open the door.
Ella was inside, shaking, one hand pressed to her forehead.
“Maya?” Richard demanded.
Ella pointed toward the hall. “Victoria took her.”
The world narrowed.
“How?”
“She said the police were downstairs and you told her to bring Maya. I didn’t believe her. Then Marcus came from behind the door.”
“Marcus is here?”
“He hit me. When I woke up, Maya was gone.”
Richard turned and nearly collided with Officer Lena Brooks, who had come upstairs with Daniel.
“My daughter has been taken.”
Brooks did not waste time. “Lock down the property. No vehicle leaves.”
Daniel checked the estate system.
“South garage opened ninety seconds ago.”
They raced to the security room.
Camera footage showed Victoria carrying Maya through the garage. Marcus followed, holding a duffel bag.
They entered a black SUV.
But the vehicle never reached the main gate.
Daniel pulled up thermal perimeter sensors.
“Still on the property.”
“Where?”
A red dot blinked near the north woods.
Richard knew what sat beyond them.
An old caretaker’s cottage, abandoned for years.
He started for the door.
Officer Brooks caught his arm. “You’re staying here.”
“That’s my child.”
“And if they’re armed, you running in helps no one.”
Richard’s eyes burned.
Brooks held his stare. “Give us three minutes.”
Three minutes felt like a lifetime.
Then Daniel’s monitor beeped.
A new camera feed appeared.
Not from the estate system.
From the private red-room camera network.
Somebody had activated a second lens.
The image showed the caretaker’s cottage.
Victoria stood inside, clutching Maya.
Marcus paced near the window.
This time, there was sound.
“You said Richard would sign before he found out,” Victoria hissed.
Marcus snapped, “He still will.”
“How?”
May you like
Marcus looked directly toward the hidden camera without realizing it.
“Because in ten minutes, he’s going to receive proof that his daughter dies if he doesn’t.”
