Chapter 17 - The Empty Townhouse

Investigators found the furnished townhouse unlocked. Two suitcases lay open on a bed, and drawers had been pulled out in a hurry.

I didn't see the rooms myself. Ortiz told me only what she could share without compromising the search.

"Ethan knows we're closing in," she said. "We're checking his usual contacts and financial activity. The protective order remains in effect. Call us if he approaches. Don't confront him."

Tessa arranged a secure check-in procedure for Dad and Sophie. We stopped answering unknown numbers and changed the code words we used with the school.

It made me feel as if my life had shrunk to a series of passwords.

That afternoon, Sophie and I spoke on a video call. She held up a picture of a fox beneath an enormous tree.

"The fox has a door in his tree," she explained. "Bad wolves can't come in."

"Does he ever go outside?" I asked.

She thought about it. "Not yet. He's still practicing."

After we ended the call, I cried harder than I had in the hospital. I was protecting my child, but I couldn't give her an ordinary afternoon.

At dusk Dad called.

"Leah, I don't want you to panic. A man drove past the cousin's house twice. Sophie didn't see him. We've already called it in."

"Was it Ethan?"

"I couldn't see the driver. Don't guess. Just stay where you are."

An hour later, Ortiz phoned with an update. Deputies had located Ethan's truck beside a closed gas station. He'd left it there and taken a ride with someone.

"Who?" I asked.

"We're working on it."

The answer came from Calvin Rusk. Ethan had called him, begging for access to the company's remaining funds. When Calvin refused, Ethan threatened to tell police the bookkeeper had invented the false invoices.

Calvin recorded the threat and reported the call immediately.

"He wants cash," Ortiz told Tessa. "He believes he can run until Margaret negotiates for him."

A few minutes later, my phone received a blocked-number voicemail.

Ethan's voice sounded older, almost broken.

"Leah, please. Mom says you have the card. Tell them Sophie made it up, and I'll come home."

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Then a woman's voice cut in from the background.

"Stop begging her," Margaret said. "Get the child. Then she'll listen."