Chapter 13 - No Deals With Richard Bennett
Daniel wanted to storm his father's estate with a tire iron.
Detective Alvarez wanted everyone to stop talking and let the police trace the call.
Evelyn wanted her son back.
I wanted my daughter to stop moving like she could feel my fear.
Richard called again thirty minutes later.
This time Alvarez recorded everything.
"Midnight," Richard said. "Old Mercer Building. Claire comes alone."
I almost laughed at the cruelty of the location.
"How do I know Noah is alive?"
The phone shifted.
A child's voice whispered, "Mom says I shouldn't talk to strangers."
Then Richard returned.
"Smart boy. Midnight."
The line died.
Daniel shook his head. "You're not going."
"He wants me because of the claim."
"He wants control."
"Then we'll give him the illusion of it."
Alvarez studied me. "You are seven months pregnant. You are not trained for this."
"Neither was my mother when Richard threatened her."
Silence.
We made a plan.
Police would wire me. Daniel and Evelyn would stay two blocks away. Tactical officers would enter only after Noah was located.
At 11:51 p.m., I stood across from the Mercer Building.
It was no longer the shining downtown property from business magazines. Renovations had emptied it. Plastic covered the lobby windows. Half the lights were off.
I walked inside alone.
Richard sat in a folding chair beneath a work lamp.
An oxygen tank stood beside him.
No Noah.
"Where is the boy?"
"Safe for now."
"You don't get to use children anymore."
He smiled. "Every family uses children. They just call it legacy."
He placed a document on a table.
A waiver.
I was to surrender all Mercer claims, past and future, including any rights belonging to my child.
"Sign," he said.
I picked up the pen.
Then I heard a faint sound above us.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks again.
A child.
Upstairs.
May you like
Richard's smile disappeared.
He hadn't expected me to hear it.
