Chapter 12 - Vanessa’s Obsession
Celia told her story inside the locked mausoleum.
She had met Vanessa eight years earlier through a charity committee. Vanessa claimed to come from European wealth, but Celia eventually discovered that nearly every detail of her background was false.
By then, Vanessa had enough information to blackmail her.
“She knew about my husband’s offshore accounts,” Celia said. “She forced me to introduce her to you.”
“Why did you help her?” Mark asked.
“I was afraid.”
“Leo was locked in a cage while you drank champagne.”
Celia lowered her eyes.
“I didn’t know about the cage until you brought out the padlock.”
“You heard screaming.”
“Vanessa said it was an injured dog.”
Mark turned away in disgust.
Moreno held up the photograph of Vanessa and Anna.
“Explain this.”
“They met at Bellweather,” Celia said. “Vanessa was recruited as a donor. Anna was volunteering through a legal-aid program and discovered the women were being exploited.”
Anna had never told Mark that she knew Vanessa personally.
“Vanessa fell in love with her,” Celia continued. “Or believed she did. Anna helped her escape the foundation, but Vanessa wanted them to disappear together.”
“Anna chose her family,” Mark said.
“And Vanessa considered it a betrayal.”
The pieces aligned with sickening clarity.
Vanessa did not simply resent Leo because he was an heir.
He represented Anna’s choice.
Mark represented the life Anna returned to.
“Did Vanessa cause the crash?”
Celia hesitated.
“She told Gerald where Anna would be driving.”
Mark’s vision narrowed.
“Then she did cause it.”
“She claimed Gerald only intended to frighten her.”
“And afterward?”
“When Anna survived, Vanessa helped hide her.”
“Why?”
“To keep her.”
The underground cell.
The restraints.
The years of sedation.
Vanessa had imprisoned Anna so no one else could have her.
Celia gave Moreno the address of a private estate owned through one of Gerald’s companies.
“The Bellweather ledger is there,” she said. “Vanessa plans to present selected pages in court. She’ll claim they prove Mark experimented on children.”
“What about the original?” Moreno asked.
“Gerald will burn it after the hearing.”
Mark looked at his watch.
They had less than fourteen hours.
They returned to the hospital, but Anna’s room was empty.
A nurse lay unconscious near the medication cart.
Leo was gone.
On the bed, someone had written a message in lipstick.
BRING THE KEY CARD TO THE OLD THEATER.
COME ALONE OR ANNA LOSES HER SON AGAIN.
Mark’s heart stopped.
Security footage showed a hospital orderly pushing Anna in a wheelchair toward a service elevator. Leo walked beside her, holding the red phone.
The orderly’s face was hidden beneath a mask.
Moreno identified the vehicle leaving the hospital as belonging to Celia.
They turned toward her.
Celia backed against the wall.
“I didn’t do this.”
“You gave them access,” Mark said.
“No.”
“Who else uses your car?”
“My driver.”
“Name.”
“Samuel Crowe.”
Moreno searched the name.
No legal records existed.
Celia suddenly covered her mouth.
“Vanessa called him Samuel, but I once saw a passport with another name.”
“What name?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Mark stared at her.
The adoptive father believed dead in the house fire.
If Daniel Mercer was alive, he might know where Elise was.
Or he might have been working with Gerald all along.
The old theater stood in the center of a deserted industrial district.
Mark arrived alone as demanded, though Moreno’s team surrounded the area from a distance.
The theater doors opened automatically.
Inside, stage lights illuminated Anna and Leo seated at the center of the stage.
Their hands were tied.
Daniel Mercer stood behind them with a pistol.
He was a thin man in his fifties with burn scars along his neck.
“Where is Elise?” Mark called.
Daniel’s face tightened.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Give me the key card.”
Mark held it up.
“Release Anna and Leo.”
“I cannot release them until Gerald believes I have control.”
“Are you working for him?”
“I am keeping my daughter alive.”
“My daughter.”
Daniel flinched.
“She became mine when I carried her out of a burning house.”
“Then help me protect her.”
“You cannot protect anyone. Look what happened to your wife and son.”
Anna spoke from the chair.
“Daniel, he deserves the truth.”
“You promised never to tell him.”
“That was before Gerald found us.”
Daniel looked toward the balcony.
A red laser dot appeared on his chest.
A sniper was watching.
Mark understood.
Daniel was not controlling the meeting.
He was another hostage.
“Give me the key card,” Daniel whispered. “Please.”
Mark placed it on the edge of the stage.
Daniel stepped forward.
The laser followed him.
As he reached for the card, Leo dropped the red phone.
A deafening alarm erupted through the theater speakers.
The stage lights went dark.
Moreno’s team breached the doors.
Gunfire came from the balcony.
Mark rushed onto the stage and pulled Leo to the floor.
Daniel threw himself over Anna.
A bullet struck his back.
Police captured the sniper, but Vanessa and Gerald were not inside.
Daniel remained conscious for only a few seconds.
Mark knelt beside him.
“Where is Elise?”
Daniel coughed blood.
“Grayhaven lighthouse.”
“Is she safe?”
“She thinks her name is Lily.”
Mark’s breath caught.
Lillian.
Daniel gripped Mark’s sleeve.
“She doesn’t know about you.”
Then he whispered one final warning.
“Do not tell Anna what Elise did the night of the fire.”
Daniel’s hand fell.
Across the stage, Anna stared at him.
“What did he mean?”
May you like
Mark looked toward the open theater doors.
For the first time, finding his daughter frightened him almost as much as losing her.
