Chapter 5 - the house with too many doors
Claire ran.
She did not remember reaching the stairs.
One second Charlotte was holding Theo's toy car.
The next Claire was racing down the hallway with Natalie behind her.
The study door stood open.
Jennifer was on the floor.
Blood ran from a small cut near her eyebrow.
Theo was gone.
Claire dropped beside her.
"Where is he?"
Jennifer blinked.
"Solomon."
Claire's body went cold.
"Where?"
"He hit the door. I tried to stop him."
"Where did he take Theo?"
"I don't know."
Claire stood.
Natalie was already calling 911.
Claire ran to the front door.
Solomon's SUV remained in the driveway.
Theo's shoes were still by the bench.
He had not left through the front.
"Garage."
They ran there.
Empty.
The second car remained parked.
No Theo.
No Solomon.
Claire turned in a circle.
A large house suddenly became terrifying when every room became a place a child could be hidden.
She shouted.
"Theo!"
No answer.
Natalie grabbed her shoulders.
"Police are coming."
"He has my son."
"We'll find him."
Claire thought of the security system.
She opened the live feed.
Most cameras were online again.
Kitchen.
Foyer.
Back patio.
Garage.
Nothing.
Then she noticed one camera was still disabled.
Basement corridor.
Claire ran.
The basement stairs were behind the pantry.
She took them two at a time.
At the bottom, the corridor lights were on.
"Theo!"
A muffled cry came from the wine-storage room.
Claire reached the door.
Locked.
She slammed her shoulder against it.
"Mommy!"
Claire nearly collapsed with relief.
"I'm here."
Natalie ran back upstairs for the key.
Claire knelt by the door.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Is Daddy with you?"
"No."
"Stay back from the door."
Natalie returned with a ring of house keys.
The third one worked.
Claire opened the door.
Theo flew into her arms.
She held him so tightly he squeaked.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Theo cried against her neck.
"Daddy said we had to hide."
"Why?"
"Because bad people were coming."
Claire looked at Natalie.
Sirens sounded outside.
Theo whispered, "Daddy said you called them."
Claire closed her eyes.
Solomon was already casting her as the danger.
Police entered the house minutes later.
By then Solomon had reappeared in the kitchen.
He claimed Theo had been playing downstairs.
He denied locking the door.
He denied taking him from Jennifer.
Jennifer told a different story.
"I was sitting outside the bathroom. Solomon came in and said Claire wanted Theo upstairs. I told him no. He shoved me."
Solomon laughed.
"I barely touched her."
An officer looked at the cut.
Jennifer pointed at him.
"He grabbed Theo and left."
Charlotte intervened.
"My grandson was frightened by Claire's behavior. Solomon was trying to calm him."
Claire stared at her.
"You threatened him."
Charlotte sighed.
"See? This is what I mean."
One officer separated them.
Natalie quietly gave another officer photographs of the forged paperwork.
The mood changed.
Solomon noticed.
"What is she giving you?"
Nobody answered.
Claire knelt beside Theo.
An officer asked him a few simple questions without leading him.
Theo said Daddy had carried him downstairs.
Daddy had locked the door.
Daddy had said police were bad people coming because Mommy was angry.
Solomon's face hardened.
"He's five. He doesn't understand."
The officer replied, "That's why we're not asking him complicated questions."
Natalie pulled Claire aside.
"Emergency custody motion today."
"Yes."
"Protection order too."
Claire looked at Solomon.
"Yes."
A vibration came from her phone.
The unknown number again.
You found the folders.
Claire typed for the first time.
Who are you?
The response came instantly.
Someone who helped create them.
Claire's heart accelerated.
Calvin?
Three dots appeared.
Then vanished.
Then appeared again.
No.
Claire stared.
Who?
The answer came.
Ethan Mercer.
Calvin's son.
Claire frowned.
She had never heard the name.
Another message:
My father was paid by Solomon Bennett to manufacture a custody case against you.
Claire looked toward Natalie.
The next message arrived.
He stopped three days ago.
Why?
Because he realized your husband wasn't only planning to take your son.
Claire's fingers trembled.
What else?
The reply took longer.
He was planning to take the house, both trusts, and your company voting shares.
Claire read it twice.
Then another message appeared.
May you like
My father tried to back out.
Now he's missing.
