Chapter 3
Daniel dragged the stranger into the house.
The man fought until Daniel shoved him against the entry table.
A lamp crashed to the floor.
Upstairs, one of the girls cried out.
Daniel tightened his grip.
“You woke them.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will.”
He forced the man into a chair and used a leather belt to bind his wrists.
Then he called the police.
“This is Daniel Whitmore. An armed intruder came onto my property and photographed two sleeping children. Send officers now.”
The stranger laughed bitterly.
“You think the police will save you?”
Daniel stared at him.
“No. I think they’ll keep me from killing you.”
The man’s smile disappeared.
Daniel rushed upstairs.
Ivy sat upright, breathing hard.
Skye crouched beside the bed, clutching the medallion.
“There was a loud,” Ivy whispered.
“I know.”
“Bad lady?”
“No.”
Daniel sat between them.
“No one will hurt you.”
Skye looked at the doorway.
“Mommy said that too.”
The words cut him deeply.
“Where is Mommy Helen?”
Ivy’s lip trembled.
“She went to get medicine.”
“When?”
“Dark time.”
“Tonight?”
Ivy shook her head.
“Many dark times.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“How many?”
Skye held up all ten fingers.
Then she did it again.
And again.
Three weeks.
Possibly longer.
“Did someone come to your house?”
Ivy nodded.
“Men broke window.”
“Mommy hid us.”
“Where?”
“In little room.”
Skye whispered, “No light.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“Then what happened?”
Ivy looked at Skye.
Skye shook her head violently.
“She doesn’t talk about the red,” Ivy said.
“What red?”
Skye covered her face.
“Mommy’s dress.”
Daniel understood.
Blood.
He pulled them into his arms.
He wanted to ask more, but their bodies were trembling.
“Enough,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”
Sirens approached in the distance.
Daniel returned downstairs after securing the bedroom door and turning on the hallway lights.
The stranger had managed to free one hand.
He was reaching for the fallen phone.
Daniel kicked it away.
The man glared.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.”
“I know my mother hired you.”
The man’s expression changed.
Daniel held up the message.
“Her mistake was using an initial.”
“You can’t prove who sent it.”
“I don’t have to. You will.”
The police arrived minutes later.
The lead officer was Sergeant Naomi Reyes, a sharp-eyed woman in her forties.
Daniel explained everything.
He showed her the note.
The medallion.
Claire’s letter.
The recording.
The photographs on the stranger’s phone.
Reyes listened without interruption.
Then she looked at the intruder.
“What’s your name?”
He remained silent.
Another officer searched his pockets.
They found a wallet.
“Calvin Ross,” the officer said. “Private security license. Former county deputy.”
Reyes’s jaw tightened.
“Ross.”
He looked away.
“You know him?” Daniel asked.
“He left the department six years ago.”
“Why?”
Reyes did not answer immediately.
“Evidence tampering.”
Ross smiled.
“Never convicted.”
Reyes leaned close.
“You should have stayed away.”
Daniel caught the familiarity.
“You know what he does?”
“I know what he’s accused of doing.”
“Who hired him?”
Reyes looked at the phone.
“We’ll find out.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Not tomorrow. Not after paperwork. Tonight.”
“I understand your fear.”
“No, you don’t.”
His voice broke.
“Those girls are my daughters.”
Reyes’s expression softened.
Then became professional again.
“We need DNA confirmation.”
“I have Claire’s records.”
“You also have an unverified letter and two traumatized children.”
“They knew my name.”
“Which matters. But I need you to stay calm.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“Calm?”
He stepped toward Ross.
“This man photographed them through a bedroom window.”
Reyes blocked him.
“And he is going to jail. Don’t give him a reason to turn this against you.”
Daniel forced himself to stop.
Ross was taken outside.
Before entering the patrol car, he looked back at Daniel.
“She won’t let you keep them.”
Daniel stepped onto the porch.
“Who?”
Ross smiled.
“You already know.”
The patrol car drove away.
Reyes remained behind.
She looked toward the second floor.
“I need to speak with the girls.”
“Not tonight.”
“The sooner we document their statements, the better.”
“They’re terrified.”
“I’ll be gentle.”
Daniel hesitated.
Every instinct told him to protect them from more questions.
But Claire had left evidence because she knew the truth needed witnesses.
“All right,” he said. “But I stay.”
Reyes spoke with Ivy first.
She sat on the floor instead of towering over her.
“What is your mommy’s name?”
“Helen.”
“Do you know her other name?”
Ivy thought hard.
“Mommy Helen Carter.”
Daniel’s heart jumped.
The surrogacy agreement listed Helen Carter.
Reyes noticed his reaction.
“Where do you live?”
“Blue house.”
“What town?”
Ivy did not know.
Skye whispered, “Bell church.”
“Was there a church near your house?”
Skye nodded.
“Big bell.”
“Did Mommy Helen bring you here?”
Ivy shook her head.
“Bus man did.”
“What bus man?”
“The man with one eye.”
Daniel looked at Reyes.
She wrote it down.
“What did Mommy Helen tell you?”
Ivy’s eyes filled with tears.
“She put bread in bag. Said go to Daddy Daniel’s lake house.”
“How did you get from your house to the bus?”
“Miss Ruby.”
“Who is Miss Ruby?”
“Lady downstairs.”
“Your neighbor?”
Ivy nodded.
“Where is she?”
Ivy looked confused.
“Men took her.”
Reyes stopped writing.
“What men?”
“Black coats.”
Skye suddenly crawled under the bed.
Her breathing became fast.
Ivy began to cry.
“No more.”
Reyes closed her notebook.
“That’s enough.”
Daniel helped Skye out and held both girls until they calmed.
Reyes stood.
“I’ll send someone to search for Helen Carter.”
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And Miss Ruby.”
“Yes.”
Daniel walked her downstairs.
At the door, Reyes lowered her voice.
“Do not let anyone inside.”
“I won’t.”
“Not family. Not staff. No one.”
“Why?”
“Because Ross knew exactly which room the girls were sleeping in.”
Daniel looked up the staircase.
Only a few people knew that.
Margaret.
Ethan.
Lauren.
And Daniel’s longtime house manager, Beatrice, whom he had called that morning to bring clothing and food.
Beatrice had served Claire for ten years.
Daniel trusted her completely.
But trust suddenly felt like a dangerous luxury.
Reyes left.
Daniel checked every lock and security camera.
The camera covering the east side of the house had gone offline at 9:14 p.m.
The same side as the twins’ bedroom.
Someone had disabled it remotely.
He called the security company.
After twenty minutes, a technician confirmed the login came from an authorized administrator account.
Daniel’s account.
He had not used it.
“Reset everything,” he ordered.
“Sir, the administrator also downloaded internal camera maps.”
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
Before Daniel arrived at the house.
Someone had known he was coming.
Someone had prepared.
Daniel went back to Claire’s study.
He spread every document across the desk.
The clinic records showed that Claire and Daniel’s embryos had been transferred to Helen under confidential names.
The agreement was witnessed by Dr. Samuel Vale, Claire’s fertility specialist.
Daniel called the clinic’s emergency number.
A nurse answered.
He asked for Dr. Vale.
There was a long silence.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Dr. Vale died two years ago.”
“How?”
“A car accident.”
“When exactly?”
She gave him the date.
Daniel looked at Claire’s letter.
It was three days after Claire recorded her final message.
“Was anyone else involved?”
“His vehicle went off a bridge.”
“Was there an investigation?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who took over his patient files?”
“Dr. Miranda Shaw.”
Daniel wrote down the name.
“Is she still there?”
Another silence.
“She left last year.”
“Where did she go?”
“I’m not allowed to give personal information.”
“This concerns kidnapped children.”
The nurse’s voice changed.
“What?”
Daniel explained only enough to frighten her.
She placed him on hold.
When she returned, she gave him a forwarding address for a medical office in Milwaukee.
Daniel searched the address online.
The office had closed six months ago.
He called Reyes.
She answered immediately.
“Any update?”
“Helen Carter’s last official address is in Delavan,” Reyes said. “Local police are sending a unit.”
“I found another name. Dr. Miranda Shaw.”
“I’ll look into her.”
“And Dr. Samuel Vale died in a car accident days after Claire recorded evidence.”
Reyes was silent.
“You think it’s connected?”
“I think everyone who knew about my daughters either disappeared or died.”
A noise came from the kitchen.
Daniel froze.
“Someone’s in the house.”
“Get upstairs and lock yourself in.”
Daniel put the phone down without ending the call.
He picked up a fireplace poker and moved toward the kitchen.
The light was off.
A shadow moved near the pantry.
Daniel raised the poker.
The pantry door opened.
Beatrice stepped out.
She screamed.
Daniel lowered the weapon.
“What are you doing here?”
Beatrice pressed a hand to her chest.
“You asked me to come this morning.”
“That was twelve hours ago.”
“I returned because I forgot my phone.”
Daniel saw it on the counter.
He had not noticed it earlier.
“How did you get inside?”
“My key.”
“I locked the deadbolt.”
Beatrice hesitated.
“The rear door was open.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Her face changed.
Footsteps thundered upstairs.
Ivy screamed.
Daniel ran.
The bedroom door stood open.
The bed was empty.
The window curtains blew in the cold night air.
Daniel rushed to the window.
A rope ladder hung outside.
Below, a dark figure carried one child toward the trees.
Another figure dragged the second.
Daniel did not think.
He climbed through the window and slid down the rope, tearing his hands open.
“Ivy!”
One of the figures turned.
A mask covered his face.
Daniel tackled him.
The man released Skye and struck Daniel across the jaw.
Daniel fell.
The second figure continued running with Ivy.
Skye crawled toward Daniel, screaming.
Daniel grabbed the first man’s leg.
The attacker kicked him in the ribs.
Then Beatrice appeared at the window above.
She looked down.
Daniel shouted, “Call the police!”
Beatrice did not move.
May you like
The masked man looked up at her.
And Beatrice whispered, “Take them both.”
