Chapter 9 - The Night Ava Disappeared
The first thing I did was run upstairs.
Ava was coloring at the little desk in her bedroom.
Ethan sat nearby, building a model airplane.
For a moment, I stood in the doorway and watched them.
My children.
Alive.
Safe.
Laughing.
I wanted to freeze that moment.
Keep it forever.
Instead, I crossed the room and knelt beside them.
"Hey, guys."
Ava held up her drawing.
"Look, Mommy."
Three stick figures stood beside a large yellow house.
One had long brown hair.
One was tall.
One held a red balloon.
I smiled.
"That's beautiful."
"That's you, me, and Ethan."
"Who's the tall one?"
"Mr. Daniel."
Ethan glanced up.
"He's not that tall."
Ava giggled.
Then she added a fourth figure.
"This is Mrs. Alvarez."
I kissed the top of her head.
"Perfect."
I stayed with them until dinner.
For the first time since arriving at the estate, I told Daniel I wanted the children moved somewhere else.
Not forever.
Just until the investigation was finished.
He agreed immediately.
"We can use a smaller property outside Flagstaff."
"Who knows about it?"
"Almost no one."
"That's what you said about this house."
The hurt flashed across his face.
He deserved the reminder.
"I'll arrange independent security," he said.
"No employees connected to Richard."
"Agreed."
We planned to leave the next morning.
But Richard moved first.
At 7:42 that evening, the house's fire alarm sounded.
A shrill mechanical noise filled the halls.
Red lights flashed.
Mrs. Alvarez appeared outside the dining room.
"Everyone outside!"
I grabbed Ava's hand.
"Ethan, stay with me!"
People rushed toward the rear courtyard.
A guard opened the garden exit.
Smoke drifted from a storage room near the kitchen.
Not thick smoke.
Not enough to explain the chaos.
But enough to send everyone moving.
We reached the courtyard.
I counted heads.
Daniel.
Ethan.
Mrs. Alvarez.
Two guards.
Martin.
I looked down.
My hand was empty.
Ava was gone.
For one second, my brain refused to understand.
I looked behind me.
Then toward the door.
"Ava?"
No answer.
"Ava!"
Ethan turned.
"Where is she?"
I rushed back toward the house.
A guard caught my arm.
"Ma'am, we need to check the area."
"MY DAUGHTER IS INSIDE!"
Daniel pushed past him.
"Let her go."
We searched the dining room.
The hallways.
The kitchen.
Every bathroom.
Every closet.
No Ava.
Mrs. Alvarez began crying.
"She was right behind me."
Ethan was shaking.
"I saw someone."
I grabbed his shoulders.
"Who?"
"A woman wearing a staff jacket."
"What did she do?"
"She said Ava needed to go through the side door."
I felt the world collapse beneath me.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
"Lock the gates. No vehicle leaves."
A security guard's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Sir, a maintenance van exited two minutes ago."
Daniel froze.
"Who authorized it?"
"Victor Sloan's credentials."
I screamed.
Not a word.
Just a sound that seemed to tear itself out of my chest.
Daniel caught me as my knees buckled.
"I'll find her."
I pushed him away.
"Don't tell me that."
"Sarah—"
"Don't make promises you can't keep!"
He looked devastated.
But I didn't care.
My daughter was gone.
My baby.
The little girl who had wanted chicken nuggets and strawberries.
The little girl who thought the mansion was a castle.
Gone.
Ethan stood in the doorway, staring at me.
Then he began crying.
"It's my fault."
I turned.
"No, sweetheart."
"I saw the lady take her."
I wrapped him in my arms.
"You didn't know."
"I should've stopped her."
"You're eight years old."
I held his face.
"Listen to me."
He looked at me through his tears.
"This is not your fault."
Daniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered immediately.
Richard's voice filled the room.
"Daniel."
"Where is she?"
"Calm down."
"WHERE IS AVA?"
Richard sighed.
"Your uncle would think you understood negotiation better than this."
I moved toward the phone.
"Let me talk to her."
Richard paused.
"Sarah."
"If you hurt my daughter—"
"Your daughter is perfectly safe."
"Then let me hear her."
A rustling sound followed.
Then a tiny voice.
"Mommy?"
I nearly fell.
"Ava!"
"Mommy, I want to come home."
"I'm coming, baby."
"Mommy, the lady says I have to be quiet."
I pressed a fist against my mouth.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Okay, sweetheart. Be brave."
"I want Ethan."
"I know."
Then Richard returned.
"Enough."
Daniel's voice turned deadly.
"What do you want?"
"Sarah signs away any claim to Patrick Reed's trust interest."
My heart stopped.
"And you resign before the board hearing."
Daniel didn't hesitate.
"Fine."
Richard laughed.
"That was easy."
"Give us Ava."
"Not yet."
A pause.
"There's one more condition."
I looked at Daniel.
Richard continued.
"Sarah comes alone."
The call ended.
And a text arrived with an address.
May you like
An abandoned industrial facility outside Tucson.
The same facility where my father had died.
