Chapter 17 - The House by the Lake
Ethan ran out of the lab with Victor's phone in his pocket and the address burned into his mind. He didn't trust the video; he didn't trust anything Victor showed him. But the house in the footage was where his family had spent summer weekends before his father died.
Jasmine answered after one ring. “Police have Victor. Nora's safe. Where are you going?”
“The lake house.”
“Ethan, Victor sent that video. It could be bait.”
“Then send fire crews.”
He reached the property in a stolen golf cart and ran the last half mile through mud. Smoke rose above the trees. Firefighters had just pulled their hose across the driveway. The kitchen windows glowed orange.
A woman in a blanket sat on the curb between two paramedics. Her hair was gray. Her left wrist was wrapped in gauze.
“Mom?” Ethan whispered.
She lifted her face. “Oh, honey.”
He knelt so hard his knees hit the gravel. His mother pulled him close, and for a moment he was ten again, safe enough to cry.
“I tried to get back,” she said. “Victor kept moving me. They let me call once a month, but they listened to every word.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Every time I tried, they threatened Mia.”
He held her tighter. “She's alive. I found her.”
His mother began to sob.
At the hospital later, Mia walked into her room and stopped. Mother and daughter stared at each other as if afraid one of them would vanish. Then Mia crossed the room, and all three held on until a nurse gently asked if they needed anything.
“Just a minute,” Ethan said.
The nurse closed the door.
For the first time in eight months, the family had a quiet room. No alarms, no guards, no cameras. Ethan should have felt relief. Instead he noticed Mia repeatedly checking her phone.
“What is it?” he asked.
She showed him a message with no sender.
THE ARCHIVE WAS ONLY ONE SITE. YOU HAVE SIX HOURS BEFORE THEY MOVE THE CHILDREN.
May you like
Attached was a photograph of a school bus with painted-over windows.
Mia looked up. “Victor wasn't the end of this.”
