Chapter 9 - TRADE YOUR DAUGHTER FOR YOUR SON
Claire ran.
She didn’t remember leaving the room.
Didn’t remember the elevator.
Didn’t remember screaming at people to move.
All she knew was that Lily’s hospital bed was empty.
The blanket lay on the floor.
Her stuffed hospital bear had been left behind.
“No!”
Claire ripped open the bathroom door.
Empty.
“Lily!”
Daniel arrived seconds later.
Two security officers followed.
“Where is she?”
A nurse was crying.
“I checked her ten minutes ago.”
“Who came in?” Daniel demanded.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“They were wearing scrubs.”
Claire turned.
“Who?”
“A man. I thought he was transport.”
Daniel slammed his fist into the wall.
“Daniel!” Ramirez shouted.
Security footage answered the question.
A man in blue scrubs pushed a wheelchair down a service corridor.
Lily sat in it wearing a baseball cap.
Her face was turned away from the camera.
But Claire recognized her pink pajama pants.
The man wore a surgical mask.
At one camera, he looked directly into the lens.
Then pulled the mask down.
Travis.
He smiled.
Claire nearly threw up.
Ramirez immediately triggered an Amber Alert.
Every patrol unit in three counties got Travis’s picture.
Every highway camera searched for the gray Explorer.
Daniel stood completely still.
Too still.
Claire knew that look.
“Don’t.”
He turned.
“What?”
“Whatever stupid thing you’re thinking, don’t.”
“He wants me.”
“He wants you desperate.”
“He has Lily.”
“So you running off alone is exactly what he wants.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
A text.
COME ALONE.
Then another.
BRING RYAN.
Claire stared at the message.
“No.”
Daniel read the next one.
TRADE YOUR DAUGHTER FOR YOUR SON.
Claire’s face twisted.
“He wants Ryan?”
Ramirez grabbed the phone.
“Don’t answer.”
Another message arrived.
MIDNIGHT.
Then an address.
An abandoned building outside town.
Bennett Construction Storage Yard No. 4.
Daniel’s face changed.
“That place belongs to my company.”
Ramirez looked at him.
“Security?”
“Almost none. We stopped using it two years ago.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Why there?”
Daniel stared at the address.
“Because Megan met me there once.”
Claire felt another knife twist inside her.
“When?”
“Before we broke up.”
“You took her there?”
“No. Her brother worked temporary jobs for us. She came to pick him up.”
Daniel suddenly stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Travis worked there.”
Ramirez immediately called tactical units.
“We’re not bringing Ryan.”
Daniel nodded.
“Obviously.”
But a small voice behind them said:
“You have to.”
Everyone turned.
Ryan stood in the hallway beside Ms. Howard.
His face was pale.
His eyes were swollen from crying.
Claire walked toward him.
“No.”
“He won’t give Lily back unless I go.”
“You are ten years old.”
“He wants me.”
“He has already used you enough.”
Ryan’s mouth trembled.
“This is my fault.”
Claire looked at him for a long moment.
“No.”
Ryan blinked.
“You hit her. That part is your fault.”
He lowered his eyes.
“But Travis put the hate in your head. And right now, he is the man who took my daughter.”
Ryan started crying.
“I can help.”
“How?”
Ryan looked at Daniel.
“Uncle Travis always says Dad took something from him.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Ryan swallowed.
“He says there’s one thing Dad stole that he’ll never forgive.”
Daniel’s face went blank.
“I never took anything from him.”
Ryan shook his head.
“He says you did.”
“What?”
May you like
Ryan answered.
“My mom.”
