Chapter 5 - The Girl in the Black Car
Emily disappeared without breaking a single lock.
That terrified Adrian more than any forced entry could have.
The estate had forty-seven cameras.
Twelve armed guards.
Motion sensors.
Thermal sensors.
Three controlled gates.
Yet someone had walked into the east wing and taken a three-year-old child without triggering an alarm.
That meant the enemy had not entered from outside.
They were already inside.
Adrian reached the estate in eleven minutes.
Sofia was standing in the main hall.
Barefoot.
Feverish.
Terrified.
“Where is she?”
Adrian stopped in front of her.
“We are finding her.”
Sofia grabbed his jacket.
“That is not what I asked.”
Daniel entered behind him.
Sofia looked past Adrian.
Everything in her face stopped.
Her fingers fell away.
Daniel did not move.
Neither did she.
For three years, Sofia Bennett had believed her husband was dead.
Now he stood twenty feet away.
Alive.
Older.
Scarred.
But alive.
Her voice came out as a whisper.
“No.”
Daniel took one step.
“Sofia.”
She slapped him.
The sound cracked through the hall.
Every guard looked away.
Daniel did not.
Sofia hit him again.
Then again.
“You were alive.”
Daniel caught her wrists gently.
“I’m sorry.”
“You were alive.”
Her knees weakened.
“You let me bury you.”
Daniel’s face broke.
“I know.”
“You let her grow up without you.”
“I know.”
“You watched us.”
Silence.
Sofia understood.
Her face changed.
“You watched us?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I had to.”
She ripped her hands away.
“You had to?”
Adrian stepped between them.
“Later.”
Sofia turned on him.
“My daughter is gone.”
“And every second we spend on anything else helps the people who took her.”
That stopped her.
Adrian turned toward Marco.
“Show me everything.”
They entered the security room.
Footage covered eight screens.
At 11:42 p.m., Emily appeared walking through the east hallway.
Alone.
Holding her stuffed rabbit.
She looked sleepy.
Then a woman entered the frame.
Housekeeping uniform.
Dark hair.
Average height.
Her back to the camera.
She crouched.
Spoke to Emily.
The little girl smiled.
Then took her hand.
Sofia leaned toward the screen.
“I know her.”
“Who?”
“Maria.”
Marco frowned.
“We don’t have a Maria on staff.”
Sofia stared.
“She works nights.”
“No.”
Marco pulled up employee records.
“There is no Maria.”
Adrian looked at Sofia.
“How long have you seen her here?”
“Months.”
Daniel cursed quietly.
The woman had been planted in the estate.
Possibly before Sofia ever arrived.
Adrian replayed the footage.
“Track her.”
Marco switched cameras.
Maria led Emily through the kitchen.
Down the service corridor.
Into the wine cellar.
Then disappeared.
“No exit footage.”
Daniel looked at the map.
“There’s a tunnel.”
Adrian turned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What tunnel?”
“Our grandfather built it during Prohibition.”
Adrian stared at him.
“You know about it?”
“I found it as a teenager.”
“Why didn’t I?”
“You were too busy trying to impress Father.”
Adrian ignored the insult.
“Where does it end?”
“Old carriage house.”
They ran.
The carriage house stood beyond the northern wall.
A concealed door opened beneath an old workbench.
Fresh tire marks covered the dirt outside.
Marco crouched.
“Vehicle left recently.”
Adrian pointed toward the gate camera.
“Check traffic.”
Two minutes later, they had it.
A black SUV leaving a service road at 11:49.
No plates.
Adrian called one of his city contacts.
“Find this vehicle.”
A voice answered.
“That may take time.”
“You have five minutes.”
He ended the call.
Sofia stared at Daniel.
“Who took her?”
Daniel looked at Adrian.
Adrian answered.
“Carlo.”
Sofia’s eyes widened.
“Your uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel spoke.
“Because Emily owns something he wants.”
“She is three.”
“She owns it by blood.”
Sofia looked sick.
Adrian stepped closer.
“He will not hurt her immediately.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if he wanted her dead, he would not have taken her.”
Daniel nodded.
“He needs something.”
Sofia wrapped both arms around herself.
“What?”
Adrian already knew.
“The archive.”
Marco’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
Then put the call on speaker.
A distorted male voice filled the room.
“Adrian.”
Carlo.
Adrian’s expression became cold.
“Where is she?”
Carlo laughed.
“You sound worried.”
“If she is hurt, there will be nowhere on this continent you can hide.”
“You always did enjoy dramatic threats.”
“Try me.”
Carlo paused.
Then Emily’s voice came through the phone.
“Mr. Adrian?”
Sofia covered her mouth.
Adrian’s face changed instantly.
“Emily.”
“I’m in a car.”
“I know.”
“The lady said Mama sent her.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Your mama is with me.”
Emily sounded confused.
“Oh.”
Carlo returned.
“She’s remarkably calm.”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Carlo.”
Silence.
Then a laugh.
“Daniel.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I wondered when you would crawl out of your grave.”
“You wanted me.”
“No.”
Carlo’s voice became colder.
“I wanted your daughter.”
Sofia made a broken sound.
Adrian took the phone back.
“What do you want?”
“The drive.”
“You already know it is incomplete.”
“I know you found the house.”
Adrian and Daniel looked at each other.
Someone had been watching.
Carlo continued.
“Bring the flash drive to the old Moretti packing warehouse at three.”
“And Emily?”
“You get her back.”
“Alive.”
“Of course.”
Adrian’s voice lowered.
“If I hear her cry once—”
Carlo hung up.
Silence filled the carriage house.
Sofia looked at Adrian.
“You’re giving him the drive.”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“What?”
“I’m giving him what he thinks is the drive.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“He will check it.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
Adrian looked at Marco.
“Can you clone it?”
Marco nodded.
“And add a tracker?”
“Yes.”
“A silent upload?”
Marco’s expression changed.
“If he opens it on a connected machine, we can copy anything attached to his network.”
Daniel slowly smiled.
Sofia did not.
“You’re gambling with my daughter.”
Adrian turned to her.
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I am making sure he can never take her again.”
Sofia stared at him.
Adrian stepped closer.
“I promised Emily you were not going to lose your home.”
His voice became quieter.
“I should have made a better promise.”
“What?”
“That nobody would touch either of you.”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
Adrian turned toward Marco.
“Prepare the drive.”
Then toward Daniel.
“You’re coming.”
Daniel nodded.
Adrian checked his watch.
2:06 a.m.
Fifty-four minutes.
Across the city, inside a black SUV, Emily Moretti sat between two armed men.
She hugged her rabbit tightly.
The woman called Maria offered her a bottle of water.
Emily shook her head.
“My mama says don’t take drinks from strangers.”
One of the men laughed.
Maria did not.
Emily looked out the window.
Then down at the stuffed rabbit.
Her tiny fingers found the loose seam Sofia had opened earlier.
Something was still inside.
Not the key.
Something smaller.
A tiny silver button Daniel had hidden years ago.
Emily pulled it out.
She did not know what it was.
But she remembered something her father had once told Sofia before he disappeared.
If you are ever scared, press this.
Emily pressed it.
A red light blinked once.
Then vanished.
Twenty miles away, Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He looked down.
His face changed.
Adrian noticed.
“What?”
Daniel slowly turned the screen around.
A map appeared.
One blinking dot moved across Chicago.
Daniel looked at Sofia.
Then at Adrian.
May you like
“My daughter just found herself.”
Nếu bạn muốn, mình có thể viết tiếp ngay Chapter 6–10, đẩy câu chuyện vào phần cao trào với cuộc giải cứu Emily, bí mật thật sự về Carlo và cú twist lớn liên quan đến cha của Adrian.
