Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT SHE DISAPPEARED
Luke reached Bellmere shortly before dawn.
The storm had flooded two roads and brought down trees across another. By the time his convoy arrived at Elena’s rental house, police vehicles surrounded the property.
The front door stood open.
Luke stepped from the car.
Detective Bennett intercepted him.
“You cannot go inside.”
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
Luke looked past her.
The chair Elena had used to block the door lay broken in the hallway. Blood marked the edge of the kitchen counter.
His voice dropped.
“What happened?”
“A patrol officer checked the property at eleven forty. Elena was home. At twelve fifteen, a neighbor heard glass breaking. By twelve twenty-seven, she was gone.”
Luke moved toward the house.
Bennett blocked him.
“This is an active crime scene.”
“That is my wife.”
“You divorced her.”
Luke’s eyes flashed.
Bennett did not step back.
“She is not a possession you reclaim when something goes wrong.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
Marco joined them.
“Detective, arguing is wasting time.”
Bennett looked at him.
“We found signs of a struggle, but no forced entry at the front door. Whoever entered may have had a key.”
Luke thought of Adrian arranging the house.
“Did you check cameras?”
“The property cameras were disabled remotely.”
“Through what system?”
“Ashford Protective Services.”
Luke closed his eyes briefly.
Every trail led to his family.
Inside, crime scene technicians collected glass and blood samples.
Luke noticed a small wooden box on the kitchen table.
It belonged to Elena.
He had given it to her on their second anniversary. She used it to store letters, photographs, and private keepsakes.
The lid was open.
Empty.
Luke turned to Bennett.
“What was in there?”
“We don’t know.”
“I do.”
He approached carefully.
“There were letters from me. Our marriage certificate. Photographs.”
“Why would someone take those?”
Luke stared at the empty box.
“To prove they could.”
Marco’s phone vibrated.
He checked the message.
“We found the vehicle.”
They drove six miles north to an abandoned fuel station.
Elena’s car stood beside a broken pump.
The driver’s door was open.
Her phone lay crushed on the pavement.
A smear of blood marked the steering wheel.
Luke approached with Bennett.
On the passenger seat was an envelope bearing his name.
He reached for it.
Bennett stopped him.
“Gloves.”
A technician photographed the envelope, opened it, and removed a single sheet of paper.
Luke read the message from a distance.
YOU WERE WARNED TO PAY THE DEBT.
NOW SHE PAYS IT FOR YOU.
Beneath the words was a bank account number and a demand for one hundred million dollars.
Marco studied the paper.
“This looks like the original threat.”
“It is meant to,” Luke said.
Bennett glanced at him.
“You think it’s staged?”
“The person who fired at my car six months ago never asked for money. They only mentioned a debt.”
“So?”
“So this demand is too convenient.”
Marco understood.
“Adrian knows we found the transfers.”
Luke nodded.
“He needs us looking for kidnappers while he disappears.”
Bennett crossed her arms.
“You’re accusing your brother of kidnapping a pregnant woman.”
“I’m accusing him of worse.”
A police officer approached.
“Detective, we found tire tracks behind the station. Large vehicle, probably a van. There’s also something in the drainage ditch.”
He held up an evidence bag.
Inside was Elena’s wedding ring.
Luke stared at it.
Elena had stopped wearing it after the divorce, but she kept it on a chain around her neck.
He had seen it in one of the surveillance photographs.
The chain was broken.
Luke took a slow breath.
Bennett watched him carefully.
“Do not lose control.”
“I am in control.”
“No. You’re holding yourself still. That isn’t the same thing.”
Marco’s phone rang again.
This time, his face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
“Send me the coordinates.”
Luke turned.
“What did they find?”
“A traffic camera captured a black van leaving Bellmere at twelve thirty-four. It entered the highway toward the city.”
“Plate?”
“Stolen.”
“Anything else?”
Marco hesitated.
“The van was followed by a silver sedan registered to Catherine Ashford.”
Luke stared at him.
His mother.
Bennett looked between them.
“You need to start telling me everything about your family.”
Luke’s phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent a photograph.
Elena sat tied to a chair in a dark room.
Her face was bruised.
A man’s hand rested on her shoulder.
May you like
The message beneath the image contained only five words.
ASK YOUR MOTHER ABOUT THE BABY.
