Chapter 6
We didn’t know which way they went.
But the AMBER Alert went out within the hour.
Richard Hale. Forty-eight.
Margaret Hale. Forty-five.
Silver 2024 Mercedes S-Class.
Texas license plate HALE-01.
Kidnapped child: Liam Miller, two weeks old.
I sat in the car and watched the alert go out on every news station.
Hannah was on the phone with the FBI agent who had been assigned to the case.
“They’re heading north, not south,” she said, hanging up. “Border patrol has been alerted. All airports. Train stations. Bus stations. They can’t leave the country without being caught.”
“But they can hide,” I said. “This is a big country. They could be in a motel in Oklahoma by morning. Or a cabin in Arkansas. We need a lead. Something.”
My phone rang.
My father.
“Daniel. I found something. In Diane’s safe. She had a second set of papers for the Hales. A backup identity. New names. New passports. They’re not Richard and Margaret Hale anymore. They’re James and Patricia Carter. From Chicago. And the baby’s name is Noah.”
My blood ran cold.
New identities.
Planned.
My mother had thought of everything.
“Where are they going, Dad? Did you find an address? A contact?”
“One name. A woman named Elena Voss. She runs a… a service for people who need to disappear. New lives. New papers. Everything. She has a compound outside a small town in northern Arkansas. In the Ozarks. Diane paid her two hundred thousand dollars last week. I think that’s where the Hales are heading.”
“Send me the address. And Dad… thank you.”
“Just find that boy, Daniel. Bring him home.”
The address came through a minute later.
A small town called Eureka Springs.
Eight hours from Dallas.
If they had left right after we did, they’d be halfway there by now.
“We’re going to Arkansas,” I said, starting the car.
“Daniel, wait. The FBI knows about the AMBER Alert on the Hales. But if they’ve already switched identities, the alert won’t help. We should wait for the agents. Let them do their job.”
“By the time the FBI gets a warrant and organizes a team, they’ll be inside that compound. And from what Dad said, this Elena Voss doesn’t let people in easily. She has security. Fences. Guards. By the time they get through all that, the Hales could be gone again. Vanished forever. I’m not waiting. My son is out there, scared, in the back of a car with people who are running from the law. I’m going to get him. Tonight.”
Hannah didn’t argue.
She just buckled her seatbelt.
“Drive fast.”
We drove through the night.
I pushed the car as fast as I dared.
Hannah took turns driving so I could sleep for an hour.
But I couldn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Emily’s face.
Terrified in that hospital bed.
And I saw my son.
Tiny. Helpless.
Being carried away from everything that was his.
We reached Eureka Springs at five in the morning.
The sun was just coming up over the Ozark mountains.
The town was quiet.
Tourist shops still closed.
The compound was ten miles outside of town, down a long dirt road.
We parked a mile away and walked the rest of the way through the woods.
Dawn was breaking by the time we reached the tree line overlooking the property.
It was surrounded by a twelve-foot chain-link fence with barbed wire on top.
Cameras every fifty feet.
Two large men with guns patrolled the front gate.
Inside, there were four small cabins.
And in the driveway of the largest cabin, I saw it.
The silver Mercedes.
They were here.
“Okay,” Hannah whispered. “We see them. Now we call the FBI. Tell them exactly where they are. Let them come in with SWAT and take them down.”
I looked at the cabins.
At the Mercedes.
Somewhere in one of those buildings, my son was sleeping.
“How long will it take the FBI to get here?”
“An hour? Maybe two.”
“Two hours is a long time. What if Elena Voss finds out the police are coming? What if she warns them? They could be gone through a back exit before anyone gets here.”
“Daniel, what are you thinking? You can’t go in there alone. They have guns. Guards. This isn’t some house in Dallas. These are dangerous people.”
“I have to try. I can’t just sit here and wait. Not when he’s so close.”
I started moving toward the fence.
“Daniel, wait!”
Hannah grabbed my arm.
“If you go in there, you’re going to get yourself killed. And then who’s going to raise Liam? Who’s going to make sure Diane pays for what she did? Think! We have the FBI on the way. We have proof. They’ll get him. I promise you.”
I looked at the compound.
At the guards pacing back and forth.
She was right.
As much as I wanted to kick down that door and grab my son, I was just one man.
And I had to be alive to raise him.
I pulled out my phone.
Sent the exact GPS coordinates to the FBI agent.
Then I called him.
“They’re here. Ten miles north of Eureka Springs. The Mercedes is in the driveway. There are armed guards. Fences. Cameras. You need to hurry.”
“We’re twenty minutes out. Stay hidden. Don’t do anything stupid. Do you understand me?”
“Understood.”
I hung up.
We waited.
Twenty minutes felt like twenty hours.
I watched the compound.
Saw movement in the windows of the main cabin.
A woman came out.
Long dark hair. Expensive clothes.
Elena Voss.
She talked to one of the guards.
Pointed toward the road.
She knew something was wrong.
“Daniel,” Hannah whispered. “Look.”
The back door of the main cabin opened.
Richard Hale came out.
He was carrying a large duffel bag.
Behind him, Margaret followed.
She had the baby strapped to her chest in a carrier.
They were running for the car.
“They’re leaving!”
I stood up.
The FBI wasn’t here yet.
If they got in that car, they’d be gone into the mountains before anyone could stop them.
There were a hundred roads they could take.
A hundred places to hide.
I would never find my son again.
“Stay here,” I said.
“Daniel, no!”
I ran.
Straight for the fence.
The guards saw me.
Shouted.
Raised their guns.
I didn’t stop.
I hit the fence at full speed, climbed it, ignoring the barbed wire tearing at my arms and shirt.
I dropped to the other side and ran for the Mercedes.
Richard had just thrown the duffel into the trunk.
He looked up and saw me coming.
His eyes went wide.
“Maggie! Get in the car! Now!”
Margaret scrambled for the passenger door.
I was twenty feet away.
Fifteen.
Richard pulled a gun from his waistband.
“Stop! Don’t come any closer!”
I kept running.
“Richard, don’t do this. You’re not a killer. Don’t make this worse than it already is.”
“I mean it! I’ll shoot!”
Ten feet.
Five.
He raised the gun.
I dove at him.
We hit the ground hard.
The gun went off.
The bullet whizzed over my head.
I punched him in the face.
Once.
Twice.
He went limp.
I scrambled up.
Margaret was screaming.
She had the car door open.
Was trying to get in.
I grabbed her arm before she could close it.
“Give him to me, Margaret. Now.”
She fought me.
Scratched. Kicked.
Screamed at the top of her lungs.
“He’s mine! He’s mine! You can’t have him!”
The baby started crying.
Loud. Terrified.
That sound broke me.
I reached into the carrier.
Unbuckled the straps.
Lifted my son into my arms.
He was warm.
So small.
He stopped crying for just a second when he felt me hold him.
Like he knew.
Margaret collapsed to the ground, sobbing.
Behind me, sirens wailed.
May you like
Red and blue lights flashed through the trees.
The FBI was here.
