Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WITH THE BADGE
I stopped breathing.
Mercer grabbed his radio.
“Verify Detective Nora Blake.”
A reply came almost immediately.
“No officer by that name is assigned to the department.”
My knees nearly gave way.
“She had a badge.”
“She had hospital credentials.”
“She knew your name.”
Mercer was already calling the hospital.
The officers stationed on the floor had been diverted by a false report of a weapon in the parking garage.
By the time they returned, Sophie was gone.
The security footage showed Detective Blake leading her calmly through a rear exit.
A dark sedan waited outside.
My mother sat in the back seat.
I turned toward Cassandra.
“How did you know?”
“Preston told me.”
“Why?”
“He wanted me to think he was still in control.”
“Where are they taking her?”
“I don’t know.”
I grabbed Cassandra’s coat.
“You helped them.”
“Not this.”
“You helped start it.”
“I know.”
“Then help me end it.”
Mercer pulled me back.
The tactical team prepared to enter the tunnel.
“We need Rachel.”
“I need Sophie.”
“If Rachel knows Preston’s plan, she may know where they took her.”
The tunnel smelled of damp concrete.
Old lights buzzed overhead.
Cassandra led us through two locked gates.
At the third door, she stopped.
“There are cameras beyond this point.”
Mercer signaled to the team.
The power was cut.
They moved quickly.
A door burst open.
Then another.
Shouts echoed underground.
A gunshot cracked through the corridor.
I ducked behind the wall.
Mercer disappeared into the room ahead.
Seconds later, he shouted, “Clear!”
I ran inside.
Rachel was tied to a metal chair.
Blood covered one side of her face.
She was alive.
I dropped beside her.
“Where is Sophie?”
Rachel blinked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Preston say anything?”
“He kept talking about the trust.”
“What trust?”
“Your grandmother’s.”
Mercer cut the restraints.
Rachel coughed.
“He said Sophie was the final obstacle.”
My blood turned cold.
“What does that mean?”
Rachel looked at Cassandra.
Cassandra’s face had gone pale.
“Tell her,” Rachel whispered.
Cassandra backed toward the wall.
“I didn’t know until tonight.”
“Tell me what?”
“The trust does not pass directly to you.”
“It passes to your legal heir if you are declared unfit.”
I stared at her.
“Sophie.”
Cassandra nodded.
“If you are accused of raising a criminal child, the board can challenge your control.”
“But if Sophie is removed from your custody…”
Rachel finished the sentence.
“Your father becomes temporary trustee.”
My hands began to shake.
The false theft had never only been about humiliating us.
They wanted to discredit me.
Take Sophie.
Control the trust.
And complete the acquisition.
“Where would my mother take her?”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Preston mentioned a place called Lake Wren.”
I knew it immediately.
My parents owned a house beside Lake Wren.
We had spent summers there when Preston and I were children.
No one had used it in years.
Mercer gave the address to the officers.
Then one of the tactical agents opened a steel cabinet.
Inside were shredded documents.
Burned hard drives.
And a laptop still connected to a secure video call.
The screen turned on.
My father’s face appeared.
He looked directly at me.
“Evelyn.”
“Where is Sophie?”
“She is safe.”
“Let me see her.”
“No.”
Mercer stepped forward.
“Mr. Whitmore, release the child.”
My father ignored him.
“The acquisition closes in ninety minutes.”
“You will sign away your voting rights.”
“In exchange, Sophie comes home.”
I stared at him.
“And if I refuse?”
His face remained calm.
“Then the state will receive evidence proving you trained your daughter to steal.”
“That evidence is false.”
“Truth is less important than presentation.”
He glanced at his watch.
“You have one hour.”
The screen went black.
Then Rachel gasped.
On the desk beside the laptop sat a printed map of Lake Wren.
A red circle marked the boathouse.
May you like
And beneath it, someone had written:
NO WITNESSES AFTER CLOSING.
