Chapter 6 - ETHAN
Hannah called Ethan’s school.
No answer.
She called again.
Voicemail.
Her hands shook.
Nicholas took the phone.
“Hannah.”
“Give it back.”
“Listen.”
“Give me my phone!”
“Hannah!”
His voice snapped through the room.
She stopped.
Nicholas looked at Walter.
“Get the school.”
Walter dialed a private number.
Hannah paced.
“He’s eight.”
“I know.”
“He has a heart condition.”
“I know.”
“He gets tired when he’s scared.”
“Hannah.”
“Don’t say my name like that.”
Walter lifted one hand.
“They have him.”
Her face emptied.
“What?”
“School receptionist says Ethan was picked up forty minutes ago.”
“By who?”
“A woman.”
Hannah couldn’t breathe.
“What woman?”
“She said she was your cousin.”
“I don’t have a cousin.”
Nicholas’s expression turned cold.
Walter asked another question into the phone.
Then looked up.
“The authorization form had your signature.”
Hannah shook her head.
“No.”
“They had a copy of your driver’s license.”
“No.”
Nicholas grabbed his phone.
This time Hannah didn’t stop him.
He called Hector.
“Lock every gate.”
A pause.
“Yes. Now.”
Another call.
“Get me traffic cameras around Reed Elementary.”
Hannah looked at him.
“You can do that?”
Nicholas didn’t answer.
Within minutes, screens in the mansion security room showed intersections around the school.
Hannah stood behind Nicholas, arms wrapped around herself.
A black SUV appeared at 4:17.
Ethan climbed in.
The angle was poor.
But the passenger door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Blonde.
White coat.
Large sunglasses.
Claire was blonde.
Hannah stared.
“That’s her.”
Nicholas said nothing.
Walter leaned toward the screen.
“Can’t prove it.”
Hannah rounded on him.
“I know her walk.”
Nicholas looked up.
“So do I.”
The SUV disappeared west.
Hector entered the room.
Broad shoulders.
Dark suit.
Expression controlled.
“What’s going on?”
Hannah studied him differently now.
Rebecca had written his name.
The missing flash drive had been taken from inside a connected wall.
Hector knew every hidden room in the estate.
Nicholas said, “Ethan was taken.”
Hector’s expression changed instantly.
“The kid?”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
“Find out.”
Hector turned toward the monitors.
His jaw tightened.
“I’ll get people moving.”
Hannah stepped in front of him.
“No.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“Where were you twenty minutes ago?”
Hector looked at Nicholas.
Nicholas didn’t help him.
“East side of the property.”
“Doing what?”
“Checking the loading gate.”
“Anyone with you?”
“No.”
Hannah stared.
Hector leaned closer.
“You think I took the kid?”
“I think someone inside this house is helping Claire.”
Hector’s eyes hardened.
“I’ve taken bullets for Nicholas.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No, nurse. I did not take your brother.”
Hannah held his gaze.
Then Nicholas’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone went silent.
Nicholas answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You opened Rebecca’s safe.”
Nicholas looked at Hannah.
“Yes.”
“Then you know this is bigger than Claire.”
Hannah’s skin went cold.
Nicholas said, “Where is the boy?”
“Safe.”
“For now.”
“What do you want?”
“The notebook.”
Nicholas glanced at the red book on the desk.
“The flash drive too.”
“You already took it.”
A pause.
Then laughter.
“No, Nicholas.”
The voice became clearer.
“We don’t have the drive.”
Every person in the room froze.
“If it wasn’t you,” Nicholas said, “who took it?”
The caller ignored him.
“Bring the notebook to the old St. Vincent parking garage at midnight.”
“No.”
“Hannah’s brother has surgery scheduled next month, doesn’t he?”
Hannah’s knees weakened.
The voice continued.
“Be a shame if he missed it.”
Nicholas’s face became murderously calm.
“You touch that child and there will be nowhere—”
The caller interrupted.
“You still think you’re the man you were before the crash.”
Silence.
Then:
“You’re not.”
The line died.
Hannah gripped the desk.
Nicholas looked at Walter.
“Who knew about Ethan’s surgery?”
Walter counted slowly.
“The agency.”
“Claire?”
“Probably.”
“Dr. Burke?”
“Yes.”
“Hector?”
Hector looked insulted.
“Yes.”
Hannah whispered, “And Rebecca.”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the notebook.
“There are initials beside every medication change.”
She flipped through pages.
C.
H.
B.
W.
Nicholas leaned closer.
“Claire. Hector. Burke. Walter.”
Hannah shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed to a fifth mark they had missed.
D.
The letter appeared only once.
On the page dated the day before Nicholas’s crash.
May you like
Beside it, Rebecca had written four words.
HE IS STILL ALIVE.
