Chapter 12 - The Empty Bedrooms
Nathan searched every room even after police told him the girls were gone.
He checked closets. Bathrooms. The laundry room. The wine cellar. The small playroom under the stairs Chloe loved.
Nothing.
Emma stood in the kitchen shaking.
“This is my fault.”
Nathan turned on her. “No.”
“If I hadn’t come here—”
“No.” His voice broke. “We are not wasting time blaming ourselves while my daughters are missing.”
It was the first time he had included himself in the blame.
Emma heard it.
So did Rachel.
Detective Mills reconstructed the abduction from surviving cameras. A delivery van entered through the service gate using an active staff code. Two masked people crossed the rear hall at 11:06 a.m.
At 11:09, the interior cameras went dark.
At 11:16, the van left.
Seven minutes.
Again.
Always seven minutes.
Rachel noticed it first. “Daniel plans in seven-minute blocks.”
Emma stared at her. “What?”
“My mother used to say he timed everything. Meetings. Transfers. Even arguments. Seven minutes, then move.”
Nathan looked at Emma. “Did your mother ever say why?”
“He believed people panic after seven minutes.”
Mills checked traffic cameras.
The van vanished beneath an overpass and never appeared on the next intersection camera.
Meaning it stopped or switched vehicles.
Nathan’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered on speaker.
Victoria’s voice came through.
“The girls are fine.”
Nathan gripped the counter. “Let me hear them.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“Don’t use that tone with me, Nathan. You ignored what was happening in your own house for a year. You don’t get to act like Father of the Year now.”
He closed his eyes against the truth hidden inside the cruelty.
“What do you want?”
“The flash drive from the bank and Claire’s original trust.”
“You already have the ledger.”
“We need everything.”
“Where are my daughters?”
Victoria laughed softly. “Still asking questions.”
Nathan’s voice dropped. “If you hurt them—”
“You’ll do what? Fire me?”
Emma suddenly leaned toward the phone.
“Victoria, Daniel is going to leave you behind.”
Silence.
Emma continued. “He has done it before. He leaves everyone behind.”
Victoria’s breathing changed.
“Shut up.”
“He left my mother. He will leave you too.”
The line went dead.
Mills looked at Emma. “That got to her.”
Emma nodded. “Good.”
Then Nathan’s phone buzzed with a text.
One photograph.
Ava, Lily, and Chloe sitting together on a concrete floor.
Behind them was a painted blue wall.
Nathan stared at it.
Rachel leaned closer.
“Oh my God.”
“What?” Nathan asked.
“I know that wall.”
May you like
She pointed at a faded white star in the corner.
“That’s Claire’s old summer theater.”
