Chapter 15 - The Trap
Detective Reed proposed using the trust document as bait.
Adrian hated the idea.
Clara hated it more.
“You want her to believe the document is still here?”
“Yes.”
Reed pointed to the listening device they had intentionally left active.
“We feed her information.”
“And wait for her to come into a house with two children?”
“The children won’t be here.”
Olivia overheard.
“I’m staying.”
“No.”
Adrian and Clara spoke at the same time.
Olivia folded her arms.
“You need me.”
Adrian almost laughed.
“For what?”
“Vanessa thinks I don’t understand anything.”
Clara crouched beside her.
“This isn’t a game.”
“I know.”
Olivia’s expression was suddenly older.
“She pushed Emma.”
The room went quiet.
“She hurt Clara.”
Olivia looked at Adrian.
“And she lied to all of us.”
Adrian sat beside her.
“That’s why I need you somewhere safe.”
Olivia did not like it.
But she agreed.
The children were moved to David Chen’s home under police protection.
Clara was supposed to leave too.
She refused.
“Vanessa’s threat was about me.”
Reed frowned.
“Exactly.”
“She’ll be suspicious if I disappear.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
Clara looked at him.
“You don’t get to decide for me.”
He stopped.
Old Adrian would have argued.
New Adrian asked.
“Do you understand the risk?”
“Yes.”
“And you still want to stay?”
“Yes.”
He hated the answer.
He respected it.
The plan began at 7:00 p.m.
Adrian sat in the library with Clara.
The active microphone remained behind a bookcase.
He spoke loudly enough for it to capture every word.
“I’m moving Rachel’s original amendment tomorrow.”
Clara played along.
“Where is it now?”
“In the old safe behind Rachel’s portrait.”
The safe existed.
The document inside was fake.
Police waited in adjoining rooms.
Security cameras covered every entrance.
Hours passed.
Nothing happened.
At midnight, Reed considered ending the operation.
Then a motion sensor triggered near the greenhouse.
A figure entered through a side door.
Not Vanessa.
Derek.
Police detained him before he reached the library.
He laughed as officers handcuffed him.
“You people really think Vanessa would come herself?”
Adrian’s blood chilled.
Reed grabbed Derek.
“Where is she?”
Derek smiled.
“Somewhere smarter.”
Adrian’s phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered.
“You disappoint me.”
She sounded amused.
“You sent your brother.”
“Half brother.”
“Where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
Adrian looked around.
Then Vanessa said something that made him stop breathing.
“Emma looks beautiful in yellow.”
Adrian turned toward Reed.
Emma had been wearing yellow pajamas when she left.
Vanessa knew.
“Where are my daughters?”
Clara stood.
Vanessa laughed.
“You moved them to David Chen’s house.”
Reed’s expression changed.
The trap had failed.
Vanessa had used it to empty the Mercer house.
Police immediately called David.
No answer.
Adrian ran toward the door.
Reed blocked him.
“Wait.”
“My daughters are there.”
“So are officers.”
The radio crackled.
An officer reported movement at David’s property.
Another voice shouted.
Then the transmission cut out.
Adrian shoved past Reed.
Clara followed.
They reached the cars.
Before Adrian climbed inside, his phone received a video.
Olivia appeared on the screen.
She was hiding inside a dark closet.
May you like
She whispered into the camera.
“Dad, Vanessa is here.”
