Chapter 12 - THE ABDUCTION
Evelyn woke to an empty bed.
That was the image she would remember forever.
Not the broken kitchen window.
Not the blood on the back step.
Not Officer Ruiz shouting into his radio.
The bed.
Small.
Pink blanket pulled halfway to the floor.
Benny gone.
Maisie gone.
Evelyn screamed her name until her throat hurt.
“MAISIE!”
Police filled the house.
Neighbors came outside.
Dogs arrived.
Cars blocked the street.
Morales reached Evelyn twenty minutes later.
“Who was hurt?”
“Officer outside. Hit from behind. He’s conscious.”
“Camera?”
“Disabled.”
“How?”
“Remote access.”
Morales froze.
“Grant.”
“He’s in custody.”
“Vanessa?”
“Secure.”
“Then who had system access?”
Evelyn stared.
“Gideon.”
Morales ran outside.
A statewide alert went out.
By 2:00 a.m., they had a vehicle.
By 2:25, traffic cameras picked up a dark blue Tahoe heading south.
At 3:10, the Tahoe was found abandoned behind a strip mall.
Inside, police found one thing.
Benny.
Evelyn almost collapsed when Morales showed her the evidence photograph.
“No.”
“Evelyn—”
“She doesn’t go anywhere without him.”
“I know.”
“He took her rabbit.”
“We’re looking.”
“No, you don’t understand. If Benny is there, she is terrified.”
Morales’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Morales.”
Gideon Voss said, “Put Evelyn on.”
Morales signaled the room to start tracing.
“You’re making a serious mistake.”
“Put Evelyn on.”
Evelyn grabbed the phone.
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“If you touch her—”
“Evelyn.”
His voice was almost friendly.
“You and I have wasted enough years.”
“She is three years old!”
“And none of this has anything to do with her.”
“Then give her back!”
“I will.”
“What do you want?”
“You know.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Calloway Place.”
“The deed. Signed transfer. Full release of all claims.”
“And Maisie?”
“You get your granddaughter.”
Morales mouthed: KEEP HIM TALKING.
Evelyn gripped the phone.
“Why now?”
Gideon laughed softly.
“Because now you finally understand what losing feels like.”
Evelyn’s voice shook with rage.
“You have been using children against me for twenty years.”
“Children grow up.”
“Not when men like you get hold of them.”
Silence.
Then Gideon said, “Midnight tomorrow. You’ll receive instructions.”
The line died.
Morales looked at the trace technician.
He shook his head.
Burner.
Evelyn sank into a chair.
“We give him the building.”
Morales said, “We’re not giving him anything.”
“I don’t care about the building!”
“I know.”
“My granddaughter is somewhere with him!”
“I know.”
Evelyn stood.
“Then don’t tell me about procedure.”
Morales stepped closer.
“Listen to me. If we give Gideon exactly what he wants, we lose the only leverage keeping Maisie alive.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“And if we don’t?”
Morales did not answer.
Across the city, in a closed motel outside county limits, Maisie sat on a bed beside a woman she did not know.
The woman had short blond hair and smoked near the window.
Maisie’s hands were empty.
“No crying,” the woman said.
“I want Benny.”
“He’s gone.”
“I want Grandma.”
“Go to sleep.”
Maisie looked at the bathroom.
The door was closed.
A faucet dripped.
Her breathing quickened.
“Open it.”
The woman ignored her.
“Open the door.”
“What?”
“Open it!”
Maisie began to scream.
The woman stood.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
Then someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
The woman opened the motel door.
May you like
Vanessa stood outside.
And she was holding a gun.
