Chapter 15 - THE MOVING DOT
The tracker moved north.
Daniel’s convoy followed from a distance.
Owen had sent them toward the abandoned laboratory while transporting Lily somewhere else.
Grant studied the map.
“He’s trying to separate us from her.”
Natalie leaned forward.
“Where does that road lead?”
Adrian answered.
“The private airfield.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
Owen had never intended to negotiate.
He was taking Lily out of the country.
Daniel called Vanessa.
“Did Owen have access to a plane?”
“He has access to several.”
“Which airfield?”
Silence.
Then Vanessa whispered.
“Reed North.”
Daniel knew it.
His father had built the private runway twenty-five years earlier.
It was rarely used anymore.
“We’re heading there.”
Vanessa suddenly said.
“Daniel, wait.”
“What?”
“There’s an old medical hangar beside the runway.”
Daniel frowned.
“So?”
“Owen used it to store documents.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
Daniel understood.
“He may destroy the evidence before leaving.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s voice shook.
“He used it for more than documents.”
Daniel waited.
“When Owen wanted people to disappear, he brought them there.”
Grant looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
Vanessa whispered.
“Paul Mercer.”
The mechanic.
Daniel’s grip tightened around the phone.
“You saw him?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After Elena’s crash.”
Grant’s expression changed.
That meant Mercer had survived long enough to speak.
Daniel asked.
“What happened?”
“Owen questioned him.”
“About what?”
“The brakes.”
Vanessa began crying.
“Paul kept saying he only disabled the starter.”
Daniel went completely still.
“He didn’t cut the brake line?”
“No.”
Vanessa whispered.
“Someone changed the plan after Ethan paid him.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
Ethan’s face collapsed.
“I told you.”
Grant asked Vanessa.
“Who changed it?”
“I never heard a name.”
“But Paul said one thing before Owen took him away.”
“What?”
“He said the person who cut Elena’s brake line was already inside the family.”
Daniel looked from Ethan to Natalie.
Natalie whispered.
“Owen?”
Vanessa answered.
“No.”
“Paul told Owen, ‘You know who did it.’”
Daniel felt a new layer of dread.
If Owen had arranged the cover-up but had not personally sabotaged the car, then someone else had.
Someone close enough to Elena to access the mansion garage.
The vehicles reached the private airfield.
A jet sat on the runway.
Its engines were running.
Daniel saw a black SUV beside it.
The rear passenger door opened.
Owen stepped out.
He was holding Lily’s hand.
Daniel nearly ran toward them.
Grant stopped him.
“Not yet.”
Owen lifted a phone.
Daniel’s rang.
“Come alone.”
Daniel answered.
“You lied about the laboratory.”
“I changed my mind.”
“You don’t get to change anything.”
Owen smiled from across the runway.
“I have Lily.”
Daniel looked at his daughter.
She was clutching something against her chest.
Her stuffed rabbit.
Owen had not noticed the tracker.
“Let her go.”
“Bring me Elena’s evidence.”
Daniel raised the copied case.
Owen smiled.
“Good.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Then Lily suddenly looked at him.
She pointed behind Owen.
Daniel followed her finger.
A woman was standing in the open hangar.
Daniel’s heart stopped.
He knew that face.
Not from life.
From photographs.
From Elena’s old family albums.
Natalie whispered behind him.
“Oh my God.”
The woman was Elena and Natalie’s mother.
May you like
Rose Vale.
A woman everyone believed had died twelve years earlier.
