Chapter 14 - THE RUNAWAY BRIDE
Victoria’s car was found near the private airport.
Empty.
Her passport was gone.
Her father had been detained two hours earlier.
Agent Shaw believed she was trying to leave the country.
Ethan stood in Rosa’s kitchen while Lily slept down the hall.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Shaw answered through the phone.
“She accessed one of your estate vehicles.”
“So?”
“There’s something else.”
Ethan waited.
“We found a second phone in her apartment.”
Rosa watched his face.
Shaw continued.
“There are messages about Lily.”
Ethan’s blood turned cold.
“What messages?”
“A plan to send Rosa an offer.”
Rosa whispered, “What offer?”
Shaw heard her.
“Two million dollars to relocate overseas.”
Rosa laughed in disbelief.
“And if I said no?”
Silence.
Ethan’s face changed.
“Agent.”
“We found language suggesting she intended to create a custody emergency.”
Rosa went pale.
“What does that mean?”
“She planned to have someone report you for neglect.”
Rosa sat down.
Ethan’s anger returned.
“Where is she?”
“We’re looking.”
The call ended.
Rosa rubbed both hands over her face.
“She won’t stop.”
Ethan crouched beside her.
“Then we make sure she can’t reach you.”
“No guards outside Lily’s school.”
“Rosa.”
“I don’t want her growing up surrounded by men with guns.”
“One plainclothes officer.”
She looked at him.
“One.”
“Done.”
At 11:40 p.m., a noise came from the hallway.
Ethan stood.
Rosa froze.
Another sound.
Footsteps.
He moved toward the door.
“Stay here.”
He opened it.
Nothing.
Then the stairwell door slammed.
Ethan ran.
A woman in a dark coat was moving down the stairs.
“Victoria!”
She turned.
It was her.
She bolted.
Ethan followed.
“Stop!”
She reached the parking garage.
A car engine roared.
Rosa appeared at the stairwell door.
“Ethan!”
Victoria jumped into an SUV.
Ethan ran toward it.
The vehicle shot backward.
He barely jumped aside.
Tires screamed.
The SUV slammed through the exit gate.
Rosa raced to Ethan.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Police sirens approached.
Victoria had made one mistake.
She had used a stolen estate SUV.
It had GPS.
Forty minutes later, officers stopped her near the interstate.
She was arrested.
The next morning, Ethan sat beside Lily while she ate cereal.
The television was off.
No news.
No drama.
Just cartoons on a tablet.
Rosa poured coffee.
Ethan looked at her.
“It’s over.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
He frowned.
She glanced toward Lily.
“The ugly part is over.”
Then she looked back at him.
“The hard part starts now.”
He understood.
Being a father.
Showing up.
Not just during emergencies.
Every ordinary day after them.
Ethan nodded.
“Okay.”
Rosa studied him.
“You’re not scared?”
“Terrified.”
For some reason, that answer made her smile.
Then Lily held up her spoon.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we get a piano?”
Ethan stared at Rosa.
Rosa pointed at him.
“Don’t even think about buying a grand piano.”
He smiled.
“I wasn’t.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You’re lying.”
May you like
“I was thinking baby grand.”
Rosa threw a napkin at him.
