Chapter 10 - He Came for Ethan
David drove faster than he had ever driven in his life.
Morales and three patrol cars followed.
He barely stopped before jumping from the vehicle.
Margaret’s front door was open.
Broken glass covered the foyer.
“Ethan!”
No answer.
David ran upstairs.
“Ethan!”
The nursery was empty.
The crib blanket lay on the floor.
Margaret was found unconscious in the hallway.
Alive.
Bleeding from the scalp.
David dropped beside her.
“Mom.”
Her eyes opened.
“Kessler.”
“Where did he go?”
“He took Ethan.”
David went white.
“Why?”
Margaret grabbed his sleeve.
“He said Sarah left something with him.”
“With Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
Police immediately issued an Amber Alert.
Roadblocks went up.
Kessler’s vehicles were flagged.
Within twenty minutes, investigators found his sedan abandoned behind a grocery store.
He had switched cars.
David stood in the street shaking with rage.
Morales grabbed his shoulders.
“Listen to me. We are going to find him.”
“He has my son.”
“I know.”
“He killed Sarah.”
“I know.”
“And now he has Ethan!”
David’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Morales motioned for silence.
David answered.
“Kessler.”
The doctor’s voice was calm.
“You always were impatient.”
“If you touch him—”
“He’s fine.”
A baby whimpered in the background.
David’s knees nearly buckled.
“Daddy!”
“Ethan!”
Morales started tracing the call.
Kessler continued.
“Sarah was stubborn until the very end.”
David’s teeth clenched.
“You murdered her.”
“She created a problem.”
“You murdered my wife.”
“And your brother created another problem when he hid her little collection of evidence.”
“What do you want?”
“The drive.”
“I don’t have it.”
“Neither did I.”
“Then why take Ethan?”
“Because Sarah was clever.”
David said nothing.
“Do you remember the stuffed elephant she bought before Ethan was born?”
David’s mind raced.
Gray elephant.
Blue ears.
Ethan slept with it every night.
“The one in his room?”
“Yes.”
David’s stomach dropped.
Kessler laughed softly.
“She hid something inside it.”
Morales mouthed: Keep him talking.
David asked, “How do you know?”
“Because Linda finally remembered seeing Sarah sew it closed.”
“The elephant was in the house.”
“And now the police have it.”
David glanced at Morales.
She shook her head.
Evidence technicians had taken objects from the nursery.
Kessler continued.
“I want it.”
“You trade Ethan first.”
“No.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No. I expect you to love your son.”
The line went quiet.
Then Kessler said, “Bring the elephant to the old Warren Foundry at midnight.”
David knew the place.
An abandoned industrial property owned by the company.
“No police.”
Kessler hung up.
Morales exhaled.
“We got part of the signal. South industrial district.”
David looked at her.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He asked for me.”
“We can control the exchange.”
“If he sees police, he’ll hurt Ethan.”
Morales stared at him.
“We’re not letting you walk in alone.”
David looked toward the evidence van.
“Do you have the elephant?”
An officer brought it out sealed in a bag.
David took it.
His fingers found a rough section along the back seam.
Sarah had sewn it by hand.
Morales cut the stitches carefully.
Inside the stuffing was a small plastic tube.
Inside the tube—
a flash drive.
David stared at it.
Sarah had hidden the truth inside their unborn son’s toy.
Cole inserted the drive into an isolated laptop.
Folders appeared.
BANK RECORDS.
KESSLER.
TOM.
MILL CREEK.
And one video file.
FOR DAVID.
David clicked it.
Sarah appeared on screen.
Pregnant.
Tired.
Beautiful.
“If you’re watching this,” she said, “then I was right to be afraid.”
David stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Sarah said something that changed everything.
“Tom isn’t the person you need to fear most.”
