Chapter 12 - The House by the River
Police issued an alert immediately.
Vanessa's phone was off.
Her attorney claimed he had no idea where she was.
Martin Hale could not be reached.
Beatrice Hale, Vanessa's mother, also disappeared.
Daniel wanted to drive everywhere at once.
Rachel forced him to think.
"Where would she go?"
"I don't know."
"Family property?"
"Maybe."
"Friends?"
"She doesn't have close friends."
Ethan suddenly stood.
"The river house."
Daniel looked at him.
"What?"
"She talked about it once."
"When?"
"On the phone."
Ethan opened his laptop.
He searched the notes.
June 2. Vanessa talking to Beatrice in kitchen. Said if things went wrong, the river place still had power and nobody checked it.
Rachel read.
"Where is that?"
Daniel's face changed.
"Martin owns a cabin near Hood River."
Police were notified.
Daniel was told to stay where he was.
He lasted eight minutes.
Then he grabbed his keys.
Laura blocked the door.
"No."
"My son is there."
"Maybe."
"I'm going."
"You'll interfere."
"I don't care."
Ethan stood.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"If I hadn't written it down, you wouldn't know where she went."
Daniel looked at him.
"You're not going near her."
"I'm not staying here."
Laura stepped between them.
"Both of you stop."
Rachel arrived ten minutes later.
She knew arguing would not keep Daniel home.
Instead she drove.
The cabin sat behind a long gravel road bordered by trees.
Police vehicles were already there.
Daniel jumped out.
An officer stopped him.
"You cannot go closer."
"Is my son inside?"
"We believe so."
"Is he okay?"
"We don't know."
Those four words almost destroyed him.
Ethan stood beside Laura.
He stared toward the cabin.
One upstairs window glowed.
Then movement appeared behind it.
A woman.
Beatrice.
Something in her arms.
Daniel shouted.
"Noah."
Officers moved.
The front door opened.
Vanessa stepped onto the porch.
She held nothing.
"Daniel."
He surged forward.
Police stopped him.
"Where is my son?"
Vanessa looked calm.
"This is your fault."
"Bring him out."
"You took him from his mother."
"You kidnapped him."
"He's mine."
Daniel's entire body shook.
Then Ethan stepped forward.
"Vanessa."
She looked past Daniel.
Her expression changed.
"You."
Ethan's fear returned instantly.
But he did not retreat.
"Why the fan?"
Daniel looked at him.
Vanessa frowned.
"What?"
"You keep saying you're his mother."
Ethan's voice trembled.
"So why did you put the fan beside his crib?"
Vanessa stared.
Police body cameras recorded everything.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"I saw you."
"You see things."
"You unplugged the camera."
"Because it was broken."
"You deleted footage."
"No."
"You diluted his formula."
"Shut up."
The words came sharper than she intended.
Everyone heard.
Ethan continued.
"You hit me because I tried to feed him."
Vanessa stepped off the porch.
"Shut your mouth."
Daniel moved.
Officers blocked him.
Ethan did not stop.
"You hated me before Noah was born."
Vanessa's eyes filled with fury.
"You were never supposed to be part of this family."
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
Ethan looked as if he had been slapped again.
Vanessa realized what she had said.
Too late.
Rachel whispered, "Keep talking."
Ethan swallowed.
"Why?"
Vanessa laughed.
"Because your father was stupid enough to think guilt made him responsible for you."
Daniel's face drained.
"You wanted Ethan gone."
Vanessa looked at him.
"I wanted our son protected."
"From what?"
"From losing everything to a child who barely lives here."
Daniel finally understood.
The estate.
The notes.
The false accusations.
Ethan was not inconvenient.
He was competition.
Daniel's voice became quiet.
"You married me for my company."
Vanessa's composure cracked.
"I built this life with you."
"You were documenting custody before Noah was born."
"Martin was planning contingencies."
"You tried to disinherit my son."
"He has Laura."
Daniel flinched.
Ethan looked away.
Then a cry came from inside the cabin.
Noah.
Daniel moved toward the sound.
Vanessa blocked the porch.
Police ordered her aside.
She refused.
A second officer entered from the rear.
Moments later Beatrice emerged carrying Noah.
The baby was crying but alive.
Daniel collapsed to his knees.
An officer brought Noah to him.
Daniel pressed his face against the baby's head.
Ethan knelt beside him.
For several seconds nothing else existed.
Then Vanessa screamed.
"You can't take him."
Daniel looked up.
Police restrained her.
She fought.
For the first time Ethan watched without fear.
Because this time adults were not asking him to prove what he knew.
They had heard Vanessa reveal it herself.
But the story was not over.
Not yet.
May you like
Because the original nursery incident still had not happened.
And three weeks later, a judge would make one decision that put Vanessa back inside Daniel's house.
