Chapter 10 - VANESSA’S DEAL
“Where are you?”
Vanessa whispered.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Mason is with you?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Then why are you calling me?”
“Because everything went wrong.”
I almost laughed.
“You locked my son in a car.”
“I know.”
“You helped steal from me.”
“I know.”
“You planned my death.”
Silence.
“Vanessa.”
“I didn’t plan the last part.”
“You wrote the email.”
“He made me.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Her answer surprised me.
“No?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything.”
For the first time, she sounded tired.
“I was greedy. I lied. I cheated. I stole. I let him back into my life. I thought I could control him.”
“You used Noah.”
“I know.”
“Don’t say ‘I know’ like that fixes something.”
“I know.”
I nearly smashed the phone.
Ramirez signaled for me to keep her talking.
“Where’s my mother?”
“She’s alive.”
“Let me hear her.”
Seconds later, Mom’s voice came faintly.
“Ethan?”
“Mom.”
“I’m okay.”
Then Mason grabbed the phone.
“Enough.”
His voice was exactly like the one from the garage phone.
Flat.
Cold.
“You bring the encrypted phone and the flash drive.”
“What do I get?”
“Your mother.”
“And Vanessa?”
He laughed.
“You can have her too.”
I looked at the officers.
“Where?”
“You already know.”
“Unit 214?”
Silence.
Then Mason’s voice changed.
“You brought cops.”
My blood froze.
“How would you know?”
“Because cops are predictable.”
The line disconnected.
Ramirez swore.
His radio erupted.
“Movement!”
Then another voice.
“Vehicle exiting rear gate!”
We ran outside.
Too late.
A black pickup tore away from the storage facility.
Police units chased it.
Inside Unit 214, they found blood.
Rope.
A broken chair.
But nobody.
Then an officer found a phone taped underneath a table.
A video was already playing.
Mason appeared on screen.
Behind him were Vanessa and my mother.
“Ethan,” he said, “you keep making this harder.”
Then he smiled.
“So let’s simplify it.”
He held up a gun.
“You give me what I want by sunrise.”
The camera moved toward my mother.
“Or she dies.”
Then toward Vanessa.
“She dies next.”
Then Mason leaned close to the camera.
“And after that, I visit your little boy.”
The video ended.
I stood there shaking.
Ramirez grabbed my shoulder.
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“He knows where Noah is.”
“We’ll move him.”
“He knew about the red phone.”
“We’ll move him now.”
My own phone buzzed.
Another message.
This one was a photo.
Lauren’s house.
Taken from across the street.
Timestamp: two minutes ago.
May you like
My blood went ice cold.
“NOAH.”
