Chapter 13 - The Island with No Name
The island was a privately owned strip of rock and pine trees north of Block Island. It had one old dock, a boathouse, and a caretaker's cottage registered to a company Charles Whitmore controlled.
Rachel coordinated with state police and federal agents. Evelyn was not invited on the raid. She protested until Marcus told her the hardest truth of the week.
“Being Nora's grandmother does not make you safer than the people trained to bring her home.”
“I know.” Evelyn wiped her eyes. “I still hate it.”
At 4:40 the following morning, a team approached the island. A helicopter scanned the trees. Officers searched the cottage and found canned food, small shoes, an inhaler, and a bed made for a child. But no Nora.
A fresh tire track ended at the dock.
Victor had left just hours before them. A radio scanner on the kitchen counter explained how: someone had tipped him off that police were looking at the clinic.
Rachel gathered her team. “Find the leak. Verify every recipient of the warrants. Nobody improvises.”
Meanwhile, Sloane called Evelyn from the hotel. “I remembered something. My father always said he'd rather destroy a boat than let anyone take it from him.”
“Which boat?”
“His old fishing trawler. The Northbound. It's registered in Maine, but he kept it at an industrial dock near New Bedford.”
Evelyn passed the information to Rachel. Coast Guard records showed Northbound had departed at dawn with two people aboard. Its transponder switched off before reaching open water.
Sloane began crying. “My father knows I talked.”
Evelyn's response came slowly. “Then you can decide whether fear writes the rest of your story.”
May you like
Sloane took a breath. “I'll testify.”
Minutes later, the hotel desk called to report that Sloane had checked out. She had left her phone, luggage, and a note written on stationery: TELL EVELYN I TRIED.
