Chapter 10 - MIDNIGHT
The FBI joined the search because Oliver had been taken across county lines.
Ryan sat at the lake house table staring at the documents.
Maya stood near the window.
“Sign them.”
Ryan looked up.
“No.”
“Ryan.”
“She’ll never stop if we give her what she wants.”
“I don’t care about the company.”
“Neither do I.”
“I don’t care about the trust.”
“I know.”
Maya turned toward him.
“I care about Oliver breathing.”
Ryan’s eyes filled.
“So do I.”
“Then sign the damn papers.”
Ryan stood.
“If I sign the declaration saying you’re dangerous, she can use it forever.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
“Ryan!”
Maya slammed both hands onto the table.
“My child is with the woman who took away his inhaler.”
Silence.
Ryan walked toward her.
“Our child.”
Maya’s anger broke.
She covered her face.
Ryan held her.
“We’ll sign fake copies.”
Detective Morris looked over.
“What?”
Ryan turned.
“She wants digital signatures.
We send altered documents.
Buy time.”
An FBI agent nodded slowly.
“We can embed tracking into the files if she opens them from a connected device.”
At 10:37 p.m., Ryan sent the documents.
At 10:41, Evelyn opened them.
Location found.
An abandoned private clinic forty miles north.
Ryan recognized the name.
Hawthorne Behavioral Center.
The same clinic where his father had been held years earlier.
Police surrounded the property.
Ryan and Maya waited in an armored command vehicle.
At 11:18, officers entered.
Gunshots were not heard.
No struggle.
Then the radio cracked.
“Building secure.”
Ryan grabbed the microphone.
“Child?”
A pause.
“Negative.
No child located.”
Maya broke down.
Ryan closed his eyes.
Then another officer found a hidden basement corridor.
A small room waited at the end.
Inside was a child’s bed.
An empty inhaler case.
And a television showing a live video feed.
Oliver was on-screen.
Sitting in a car seat.
Crying.
“Daddy.”
Ryan moved toward the screen.
“Oliver!”
His son couldn’t hear him.
Then Evelyn appeared beside the camera.
She looked exhausted now.
Her perfect mask was gone.
“You cheated,” she said.
Ryan stared at the screen.
“Where is he?”
“You sent false documents.”
“Where is my son?”
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“You’ve always been terrible at consequences.”
Maya stepped forward.
“Evelyn, please.”
Evelyn’s eyes shifted.
“You.”
Maya swallowed.
“Please give him his inhaler.”
“He’s fine.”
“He is not fine.”
“He needs discipline.”
Ryan exploded.
“He is three years old!”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“And he is a Whitmore.”
The FBI agent motioned for silence.
They were tracing the live feed.
Then Oliver coughed.
Once.
Twice.
His breathing turned ragged.
Maya screamed.
“Give him the inhaler!”
Evelyn looked down at the child.
May you like
For the first time, uncertainty crossed her face.
Then the screen went black.
