Chapter 13 - Grace Vanishes
Dominic was upstairs before anyone else.
Lily and Emma were in the nursery.
Grace was gone.
The bathroom window stood open.
A rope hung down the brick wall.
Vincent stared at the security screen.
"Camera loop. Seven minutes."
Dominic turned on Sebastian.
"You did this."
Sebastian looked genuinely shocked.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Dominic grabbed him by the lapels and slammed him against the wall.
"Where is she?"
The attorneys shouted.
Hannah grabbed Dominic's arm.
"Stop. If he wanted custody, taking Grace destroys his own story."
Dominic did not release him.
"He wanted us distracted."
"Maybe. But Grace needs you thinking."
That reached him.
He let go.
Vincent rewound footage from the street.
A florist van had parked outside during Sebastian's arrival.
The driver wore a baseball cap.
Split-crown tattoo on the wrist.
Sebastian saw the image.
His face changed.
Dominic noticed.
"You know him."
Sebastian looked away.
"His name is Owen Pike. Former security contractor."
"Former?"
"I fired him six months ago."
"Why?"
Sebastian hesitated.
"Because he was stealing from me."
Vincent checked the plate.
Stolen.
Then Hannah noticed Lily whispering something to Emma.
Not words.
A repeated sound.
"Tik-tik. Tik-tik."
She crouched.
"Lily, what did Grace have?"
Lily pointed to the toy shelf.
One stuffed rabbit was missing.
Rosa gasped.
"Those rabbits have trackers. Dominic had them installed after the first threat."
Vincent opened the tracking app.
A blinking dot moved north across the Bronx.
Dominic grabbed his coat.
Sebastian stepped in front of him.
"If Pike has Grace, he's not working for me."
"Then who?"
Sebastian's face tightened.
"Marlow."
Hannah stared at him.
"The doctor?"
Sebastian nodded reluctantly.
"He was the one who arranged the birth transfer. I paid him. Later he began blackmailing me. Sofia discovered it."
Dominic looked murderous.
"So you did steal her."
Sebastian closed his eyes once.
"I was told the mother was dead and the father had abandoned both infants. A wealthy couple wanted a child. I told myself I was helping. I was twenty-four and arrogant."
Hannah's voice shook. "You destroyed my family because it was convenient."
Sebastian did not defend himself.
Vincent looked at the tracker.
"Grace just stopped moving."
The dot had frozen inside an abandoned waterfront hospital in Yonkers.
Dominic checked his weapon.
Then Sebastian said, "If Marlow has her, he's not trying to hurt Grace."
"How do you know?"
May you like
Sebastian looked at Hannah.
"Because he wants the second twin."
