Chapter 7 - THE TRUST
Ethan wanted to run out of the hospital.
Detective Ruiz stopped him.
“You can’t go alone.”
“They have my son.”
“And they want you frightened.”
“They already succeeded.”
Ruiz took the photograph and sealed it in an evidence bag.
“Did Victoria know about the trust?”
“She knew Lily had money from her mother.”
“How much?”
“Enough to make people dangerous.”
Ethan’s late wife had left Lily a protected trust worth more than two million dollars. Ethan could manage it, but he could not withdraw the principal without court approval.
Victoria had asked questions about it during their first month together.
At the time, Ethan had thought she was trying to understand his family.
Now he remembered her exact words.
“What happens to the money if Lily’s guardian changes?”
He had ignored the question.
Richard had not.
Detective Ruiz contacted the hospital security team. The baby had been taken through a service corridor by a woman wearing a nurse’s jacket.
The hospital cameras showed only the back of her head.
But one camera caught Victoria waiting near the staff entrance.
“She planned this,” Ruiz said.
Ethan’s phone rang.
Victoria’s number appeared.
He answered.
“Where is my son?”
Victoria’s voice sounded calm.
“He’s with me.”
“Put him on the phone.”
A baby cried in the background.
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Please.”
“Bring the trust papers to the old train station at noon.”
“You know I can’t transfer the money.”
“You don’t need to transfer it. You only need to sign the documents.”
“What documents?”
“Guardianship. Asset control. Full authority.”
“You’re not getting anything.”
Victoria sighed.
“Then Lily disappears first.”
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing. Yet.”
Detective Ruiz signaled for him to keep talking.
Ethan forced his voice to remain steady.
“If I bring the papers, you release both children.”
“You’ll see the baby. Lily comes after I know you signed.”
“No.”
Victoria laughed softly.
“You still think you’re negotiating.”
The line went dead.
Detective Ruiz immediately began tracing the call.
The signal bounced through three towers.
Then Ethan noticed something in the background of the recording.
A train horn.
Not a city train.
A long, low freight horn.
Ruiz looked at him.
“Do you know a place with an old station?”
Ethan nodded.
“There’s one outside Millbrook.”
His phone buzzed again.
This time, the message contained a live video.
May you like
Lily was sitting alone in a dark room.
And behind her, a door slowly began to open.
