Chapter 5 - The Boy in the Back Seat
Ethan woke with a headache.
The car was moving fast.
His wrists weren’t tied.
Vanessa didn’t need to tie them.
The child locks were on.
“Where are we going?”
She drove with both hands locked around the wheel.
“You should sleep.”
“I want my dad.”
“He’s the reason this is happening.”
“No. You are.”
Vanessa looked at him through the mirror.
“You think you understand your father because he hugs you when cameras aren’t around?”
“He loves me.”
“You don’t know what people like him love.”
Ethan sat up.
Streetlights flashed across the window.
“You lied about Lily.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“I don’t know who told you that name.”
“My dad.”
“Your father knows nothing.”
“He found the letter.”
The car swerved slightly.
Vanessa corrected.
“What letter?”
Ethan stayed quiet.
For once, he understood that information had power.
Vanessa glanced at him.
“What letter, Ethan?”
“I thought you knew everything.”
She laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
“You sound like him.”
“Good.”
Her expression changed.
For three years, Ethan had been afraid of her anger.
Tonight, he saw something beneath it.
Panic.
They left the city.
Buildings disappeared.
Dark hills rose around them.
Ethan slipped one hand into his pocket.
His smartwatch was still there.
Vanessa had forgotten about it.
He turned the brightness all the way down.
Then opened the emergency contact screen.
Dad.
He pressed it.
At Union Station, Stallone’s phone buzzed.
One notification.
Ethan - Emergency Location Shared.
Stallone stared at the map.
“I’ve got him.”
Bell leaned in.
The dot moved north.
“Send it to dispatch.”
They ran.
Back in the car, Ethan kept his face toward the window.
Vanessa’s phone rang.
She ignored it.
Again.
Again.
Finally she answered.
“What?”
A man’s voice came through the speakers.
Ethan recognized it.
The gunman from the mansion.
“You weren’t supposed to take the kid.”
“You failed.”
“I got caught.”
“And yet somehow you’re calling me.”
“I had help.”
Vanessa’s voice went cold.
“Then use it.”
“You opened the wrong door, Vanessa. Bell found the locker.”
Silence.
Ethan’s heart hammered.
The man continued.
“They know about the twins.”
Vanessa looked in the mirror.
Straight at Ethan.
His stomach dropped.
The voice said, “Take him to Keller’s place.”
“I’m already going there.”
“Do not let Stallone find him.”
Ethan touched the emergency button again.
The watch vibrated.
Location updated.
Vanessa heard it.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Give me your hands.”
Ethan froze.
“Ethan.”
He shoved the watch under the seat.
Vanessa hit the brakes.
The car stopped on the empty road.
She turned around.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing!”
She climbed halfway over the console.
Ethan kicked the watch farther beneath the seat.
Vanessa grabbed his wrist.
Then headlights appeared behind them.
Fast.
Bright.
Vanessa looked back.
Another SUV was racing toward them.
For one second Ethan smiled.
“Dad.”
But Vanessa’s face showed something else.
May you like
“That isn’t your father.”
The SUV slammed into the rear of their car.
