Chapter 4 - THE THREE TICKETS
Vanessa sat at the long dining table with two guards behind her.
Her hair was disheveled.
One side of her expensive blouse had torn near the shoulder.
Daniel placed the three airline tickets on the table.
“Explain.”
Vanessa looked at them.
Then at him.
“They aren’t what you think.”
“Interesting.”
“Because I think you planned to take my daughter out of the country with my brother.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with practiced tears.
“Daniel, please.”
“No.”
The single word stopped her.
Daniel pulled out the chair across from her.
“You locked Margaret inside a room.”
“She attacked me.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“Margaret is sixty-three.”
“She discovered private family documents.”
“Private family documents?”
“Elena’s accident?”
Vanessa’s tears disappeared.
For the first time, Daniel saw the calculation behind her eyes.
“You have no idea what those files mean.”
“Then tell me.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
“From Ethan.”
Daniel watched her carefully.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“You think Ethan is helping me?”
“You have it backward.”
“He has been using me.”
Daniel said nothing.
“He arranged the payments.”
“He arranged Elena’s car.”
“He arranged the doctors evaluating Lily.”
Daniel’s hand closed around the edge of the table.
“And you?”
“I was scared.”
“You locked Margaret in a wall because you were scared?”
Vanessa looked down.
“I panicked.”
Daniel pushed the airline tickets toward her.
“And this?”
“Ethan told me we had to take Lily away before something happened to her.”
“What?”
“He said people connected to Elena’s death were getting nervous.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That is an impressive story.”
“It’s true.”
“Then why did you cover Lily’s mouth when she tried to show me the door?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Daniel leaned closer.
“You made one mistake today.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“You let me see my daughter’s face while you were touching her.”
The room became silent.
Vanessa whispered.
“I love Lily.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I do.”
“People who love children don’t teach them to fear telling the truth.”
Vanessa looked away.
Daniel stood.
“Where’s Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
“He called you twenty-two minutes ago.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward him.
Daniel had guessed.
Her reaction gave him the answer.
“You’re communicating.”
“No.”
Daniel extended his hand.
“Phone.”
“I lost it.”
One of the guards stepped forward.
“We found a phone in the greenhouse.”
He placed it on the table.
It was not Vanessa’s usual phone.
It was a cheap black burner.
Daniel picked it up.
The device required a six-digit code.
He handed it to Vanessa.
“Unlock it.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know the code.”
Daniel looked at her for several seconds.
Then Lily’s small voice came from the doorway.
“Try Mommy’s birthday.”
Every adult turned.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Lily, sweetheart, you should be in the library.”
“I heard her.”
Vanessa suddenly stood.
“Lily doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Daniel immediately moved between them.
Lily stared at the burner phone.
“She always says the numbers when she opens it.”
Daniel entered Elena’s birthday.
The phone unlocked.
Vanessa slowly sat back down.
Daniel opened the messages.
Most were deleted.
One remained.
It had been sent by Ethan forty minutes earlier.
GET LILY OUT.
THE ROOM CAN’T BE FOUND.
IF DANIEL SEES FILE 17, WE LOSE EVERYTHING.
Daniel looked up.
“Where is File 17?”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
Before she could answer, the front gates exploded with alarms.
Adrian’s voice came over the radio.
“Sir.”
May you like
“Ethan Reed just arrived.”
“And he brought six armed security contractors with him.”
