Chapter 6 - THE NIGHT LILY DISAPPEARED
They reached the south exit less than three minutes later.
A black sedan waited beyond the hedges with its lights off. Marcus had arranged for a private security driver, but he was still inside the library with Diane.
Rosa opened the rear door.
“Get in.”
Lily remained on the stone path.
“I need Ethan.”
“Marcus will contact him.”
“Diane has already convinced him I’m imagining things.”
“Then you must survive long enough to show him the truth.”
Lily looked back at the mansion.
Every window reflected darkness. From the outside, the estate appeared peaceful, elegant, and completely secure.
It was the kind of place where nobody would believe a woman could disappear.
Lily entered the car.
Rosa joined her.
The driver moved toward the front gate.
They had traveled less than a mile when a vehicle appeared behind them.
Its headlights flashed twice.
Then four times.
The driver glanced into the mirror.
“That is one of the estate SUVs.”
“Do not stop,” Rosa said.
The SUV followed them along the private road but made no attempt to pass.
Lily’s phone rang.
Ethan.
She answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice was tense.
“I’m leaving the house.”
“Mother said you disappeared through a wall.”
“There are service corridors.”
“She said you attacked the nurse.”
“I never touched her.”
“She has a damaged sleeve and says you threatened her.”
“She was working for someone named Vale.”
Silence.
“Who told you that name?” Ethan asked.
“The nurse did.”
“Lily, listen to me carefully. Where are you?”
“Why?”
“Because I am coming home.”
Her anger weakened.
“When?”
“I left the meeting. I’m at the airport.”
“You believed her.”
“I believed you were frightened.”
“I was frightened.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. She created emails in my name. She practiced my signature. She locked me in the bedroom.”
Ethan exhaled sharply.
“Marcus sent me copies of the documents.”
“Then you know.”
“I know something is wrong.”
“Something?”
“I also know Marcus moved a trust meeting without telling me, Rosa entered the house through a hidden corridor, and someone hired a nurse using my family’s private accounts. I don’t know who is telling the truth.”
“I am your wife.”
“And I am trying to get home to you.”
The vehicle behind them moved closer.
Lily looked through the rear window.
“Someone is following us.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell the driver to go directly to the police.”
Rosa leaned forward.
“Turn at the next road. Do not go to the station.”
The driver hesitated.
“Why?” Lily asked.
“Because Mr. Vale owned the private company that installed the city’s police communication system.”
“That does not mean he controls the police.”
“It means he may know where they are sending patrols.”
Ethan heard her through the phone.
“Is that Rosa?”
“Yes.”
“Put her on.”
Lily handed over the phone.
Rosa listened.
“No,” she said. “We cannot go to the airport. Diane will expect that.”
She listened again.
“You do not understand who Vale is.”
Another pause.
Then Rosa looked at Lily.
“You should tell her yourself.”
She returned the phone.
Ethan spoke quietly.
“Lily, Adrian Vale was my father’s business partner.”
“Rosa said he was believed to be dead.”
“He disappeared after a boating accident twenty-one years ago.”
“Was his body found?”
“No.”
The SUV behind them accelerated.
The driver turned onto a narrower road.
Ethan continued.
“My father believed Adrian had stolen money from the original hotel company. There was an investigation. Before charges were filed, Adrian’s boat was found empty.”
“Why would he be involved with your mother?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa looked away.
Lily noticed.
“You do know,” she said.
Rosa did not respond.
“Ethan, your mother knew the name. She was afraid.”
The phone crackled.
Then the call disconnected.
At the same moment, the sedan’s dashboard went dark.
The engine continued running, but the navigation screen, interior lights, and phone connections all failed.
The driver pressed several controls.
“Someone disabled the system.”
The SUV moved alongside them.
Its rear window lowered.
A man raised one hand.
He was not holding a weapon.
He held a phone.
On the screen was a live video of Ethan standing at the airport.
Lily leaned toward the glass.
Ethan was speaking to a security officer near the departure gate. He had no idea he was being filmed.
The man in the SUV pointed toward Lily’s phone.
A message appeared.
COME WITH US OR ETHAN DOES NOT BOARD.
Lily showed it to Rosa.
“This could be a threat,” Rosa said.
“It is a demonstration.”
“Of what?”
“That they can reach him.”
The sedan slowed as the road narrowed ahead.
A construction barrier blocked both lanes.
The SUV pulled in front of them.
A second vehicle appeared behind.
They were trapped.
Lily opened the door.
Rosa grabbed her arm.
“No.”
“They want me. If I stay here, they take all of us.”
“You do not know what they want.”
“I know they want the baby.”
She looked at the driver.
“When I get out, reverse as soon as the road clears.”
“I cannot leave you.”
“You can take Rosa to Marcus.”
The man from the SUV approached.
He wore a black coat and carried no visible identification.
“Mrs. Calder,” he said. “You are not in danger.”
“That sentence has become very popular today.”
“We only need your cooperation.”
“With what?”
“A conversation.”
“With Adrian Vale?”
The man’s expression revealed nothing.
Lily placed a hand against her stomach.
“Show me Ethan.”
The man raised his phone.
The video feed was still live.
Ethan had moved toward the airport exit.
A second man watched him from near a row of taxis.
Lily understood the message.
They were not merely following Ethan.
They were waiting for instructions.
“I’ll go,” Lily said. “But you leave him alone.”
Rosa opened her door.
“Then I am coming.”
“No,” the man said.
Lily looked at Rosa.
“Find Marcus. Find the camera recordings.”
“Lily—”
“Please.”
Rosa’s eyes filled, but she nodded.
Lily entered the SUV.
The door locked beside her.
As the vehicle pulled away, she looked back through the rear glass.
Rosa stood in the road.
The last thing Lily saw was Rosa taking a photograph of the license plate.
The last thing Rosa saw was Lily lowering her hand toward the seat.
When the SUV disappeared, Rosa approached the place where it had stopped.
On the ground lay a small silver charm from Lily’s bracelet.
May you like
It was shaped like a star.
Taped beneath it was the brass key from the antique clock.
