Chapter 14 - The Night My Sons Disappeared
I don't remember most of the drive home.
I remember Marcus calling security.
I remember sirens.
I remember trying Annie's number again and again.
I remember a terrible pressure in my chest.
And one thought repeating louder than everything else.
Not my boys.
Please.
Not my boys.
When we reached the house, police vehicles lined the driveway.
The front gates stood open.
Two officers were speaking to the night guards.
Marcus got out before the car stopped.
I followed.
"Where are they?"
My voice sounded strange.
"Where are my children?"
A uniformed officer approached.
"Mr. Morrison?"
"Where are my sons?"
"We're securing the property."
I felt my temper break.
"I didn't ask what you're securing."
Marcus put a hand on my shoulder.
"Daniel."
I turned toward him.
His expression was grim.
"Annie is missing too."
For a moment, I couldn't understand the words.
Missing.
My children.
Annie.
Gone.
I pushed past him and ran upstairs.
The twins' bedroom door stood open.
One bed was empty.
The other had a blanket half-pulled onto the floor.
Justin's stuffed rabbit lay beside the dresser.
Jordan's painting of the three blue birds remained on the desk.
Everything looked ordinary.
Except the boys weren't there.
I picked up the rabbit.
It smelled faintly of the lavender soap Lauren used to buy.
My knees nearly gave way.
Marcus appeared behind me.
"Daniel, the police need us downstairs."
I shook my head.
"No."
"Please."
I stared at the empty beds.
"I promised them."
My voice broke.
"I promised I wouldn't leave."
Marcus said nothing.
I sank onto the edge of Jordan's bed.
For fourteen months, my boys had begged me to stay.
And the first night I left after promising them security, someone had taken them.
The guilt was unbearable.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A video attachment.
I opened it with shaking hands.
Annie appeared on the screen.
She was sitting in the back of a vehicle.
Her face was pale.
Jordan lay curled beside her.
Justin clutched her apron.
They were frightened.
But alive.
I nearly collapsed with relief.
Then Annie looked directly at the camera.
"Daniel."
Her voice trembled.
"Please listen carefully."
A shadow moved across the screen.
Someone stood outside the vehicle.
Annie glanced toward the window.
Then continued.
"The boys are safe for now."
I felt my heart hammer.
"Please don't do anything reckless."
Her eyes filled.
"They want the files Lauren left."
The camera shifted.
Justin looked up.
"Daddy?"
The sound nearly destroyed me.
"Daddy, Annie said you're coming."
I whispered to the screen.
"I'm coming, buddy."
Annie pulled him close.
Then the recording ended.
I stared at the black screen.
Marcus crouched beside me.
"We have proof of life."
I nodded numbly.
He continued.
"We need to preserve the message and let the investigators work."
I looked at him.
"They want Lauren's files."
"I heard."
"I'll give them everything."
Marcus gripped my shoulder.
"Daniel, we don't know whether they'll keep their word."
"I don't care about the company."
"I know."
"I don't care about the money."
"I know."
I looked at the empty beds.
"I just want my sons."
Marcus's voice softened.
"Then we do this carefully."
Downstairs, Keene and the responding officers coordinated with investigators already reviewing the financial case.
The video was preserved.
The sending number was examined.
Security recordings were collected.
Rebecca's access records were pulled.
For the first time in my life, I had no ability to solve the problem by writing a check or making a phone call.
All I could do was answer questions.
And wait.
An hour later, Keene entered the study.
"We found something."
I stood.
"What?"
"A vehicle was recorded leaving the service road behind the property."
"License plate?"
"Partially obscured."
"Driver?"
"Not clear."
He turned a tablet toward me.
A dark SUV appeared on the screen.
It was moving slowly.
Then it turned beneath a streetlight.
For a brief moment, I saw the rear window.
A red triangle.
Three white dots.
My stomach dropped.
"The research-security vehicle."
Keene nodded.
"The same marking Jordan described."
I stared at it.
"Charles."
"We're investigating that possibility."
I turned toward him.
"Where is he?"
"His office says he left this afternoon."
"Where did he go?"
"We're working on it."
I looked toward the window.
The night stretched black beyond the garden.
Somewhere out there, my sons were frightened.
Somewhere out there, Annie was holding them.
And somewhere out there, a man who had helped build my company was using my children as leverage.
I sat down.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then my phone rang again.
Unknown number.
Keene signaled for me to answer.
I put it on speaker.
"Hello?"
A man's voice spoke.
"Daniel."
Charles Voss.
I closed my eyes.
"Where are my children?"
"They're safe."
"Let me speak to them."
"Not yet."
I felt rage surge.
"If you've hurt them—"
"Daniel, listen."
"No."
My voice broke.
"You listen to me."
Silence.
I continued.
"Those boys have already lost their mother."
Charles said nothing.
"They wake up crying for her."
I could barely breathe.
"They think everyone they love is going to disappear."
My eyes burned.
"And now you've taken them."
A long silence followed.
Then Charles spoke.
"That wasn't the plan."
I went cold.
"What?"
"Annie complicated things."
I gripped the desk.
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing permanent."
I stared at Keene.
He shook his head slightly, urging me to remain calm.
Charles continued.
"I need the complete ledger."
"You can have it."
"And the original drive."
"Fine."
"No copies."
I looked toward Keene.
He was writing something.
"Charles, I want my boys."
"You'll get them."
"When?"
"After I have the evidence."
I swallowed.
"Where?"
A pause.
"The Northbridge facility."
My pulse accelerated.
I knew the property.
An abandoned research campus outside Stamford.
We had purchased it years earlier.
"Midnight," Charles said.
"Bring the drive."
The line went dead.
I turned toward Keene.
"That's where they are."
He nodded.
"We have a location to investigate."
I grabbed the edge of the desk.
"Then let's go."
He held up one hand.
"The safest approach is for the authorities to handle the recovery."
I stared at him.
"How long?"
He looked at the clock.
"We're moving as quickly as we can."
I turned toward the hallway.
For the first time that night, I felt something besides fear.
I felt purpose.
Not the kind that came from winning a negotiation.
Something simpler.
I had two boys who needed their father.
And I wasn't going to abandon them again.
Across town, inside a dark utility building on the Northbridge property, Annie Reed sat on the floor holding Jordan and Justin against her.
A man stood near the door.
He checked his phone.
Then looked at the children.
"Your father had better cooperate."
Justin started crying.
Annie pulled him closer.
"Don't talk to them."
The man glared.
"You don't give orders here."
Annie lifted her chin.
"Then talk to me."
He stepped closer.
Jordan hid his face against her shoulder.
Annie didn't move.
She was terrified.
Her hands were shaking.
But she refused to let the boys see it.
Because in the six days she had spent inside the Morrison home, she had learned something important.
These children didn't need another adult telling them to stop being afraid.
They needed someone who would stay.
Even when staying was dangerous.
Justin whispered, "Annie?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Will Daddy come?"
Annie kissed his forehead.
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
She closed her eyes.
Then answered with all the certainty she could manage.
"Because your daddy is learning how to come back."
And as she held both boys close, she noticed something beneath the door.
A thin strip of light.
Footsteps passed outside.
Then stopped.
A woman's voice spoke.
Low.
Familiar.
"Charles said to keep them quiet."
Annie froze.
She knew that voice.
Rebecca Vale.
May you like
But the next words made her blood run cold.
"Once we have the ledger, we won't need the children anymore."
