Chapter 9 - THE STORAGE FACILITY
The storage facility looked abandoned because it mostly was.
Broken sign.
Rusty gates.
Rows of gray metal units.
Cole wanted a tactical team.
I wanted my daughter.
“We do this carefully,” he said.
“She told me alone.”
“She expects you to be emotional.”
“I am emotional.”
“Exactly.”
I walked toward unit 42 with a hidden microphone taped under my shirt.
Every step felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too exposed.
Unit 42 was open.
Inside sat a single chair.
Emma was tied to it.
“Dad!”
I ran toward her.
“Stop.”
Vanessa stepped from behind a concrete pillar.
She held a pistol.
My body stopped before my brain did.
“Let her go.”
“Put your phone on the floor.”
I did.
“Kick it away.”
I did.
Emma was crying.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“No, sweetheart. Look at me. You did nothing wrong.”
Vanessa frowned.
“That’s sweet.”
I looked at her.
“What do you want?”
“You already know.”
“Money?”
“Money is simple.”
“Then take it.”
She smiled.
“I tried.”
“You stole forty-eight thousand.”
“That was a test.”
“A test for what?”
“To see how quickly you noticed.”
I felt sick.
“I didn’t.”
“No.”
She laughed.
“That was when I knew you were perfect.”
Emma whispered, “You’re disgusting.”
Vanessa pointed the gun toward her.
“Watch your mouth.”
I stepped forward.
“Point it at me.”
She looked at me.
“Gladly.”
The gun shifted.
I kept my eyes on hers.
“Why the stroller?”
Her jaw tightened.
“Maria.”
“What about her?”
“She kept watching me.”
“Because she knew you were lying.”
“She knew too much.”
“So you framed her.”
“I needed her gone.”
“And you risked Lily.”
“I knew she’d catch the stroller.”
“How?”
“Because she never takes her eyes off that baby.”
Vanessa smiled.
“That’s the irony.”
I wanted to hit her.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I kept talking.
“You used the person who loved my daughter most to frame herself.”
“She almost made it easy.”
“What went wrong?”
“Your other daughter.”
She looked at Emma.
“I underestimated her.”
Emma stared back.
“Yeah. You did.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You think you won?”
Emma’s face changed.
Vanessa saw it too.
“What?”
Nothing.
Emma looked at me.
Then toward the ceiling.
I followed her eyes.
A small red light blinked.
Camera.
Vanessa spun around.
Too late.
Emma smiled through tears.
“I turned on the storage camera before you tied me up.”
Vanessa’s face went pale.
Outside, police sirens erupted.
She raised the gun.
May you like
“YOU LITTLE—”
I charged her.
