Chapter 4 - The Missing Child
For one second, my mind refused to process the words.
“What do you mean Toby is gone?”
The security guard’s face tightened.
“Your sister says he was sitting beside her near the lobby. There was confusion when guests began leaving the ballroom. She turned away for less than thirty seconds.”
Thirty seconds.
That was all it took.
I ran.
Not walked.
Ran.
At sixty-three, with a wedding boutonniere pinned to my chest and a red USB drive in my pocket, I sprinted through a luxury hotel while guests stepped aside in confusion.
Sarah met me near the elevator.
She was shaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where did you last see him?”
“Right there.”
She pointed toward a sofa.
“He was coloring. A staff member came to ask about Genevieve. I answered her. Then he was gone.”
“Did you see Daniel?”
“No.”
Security was already reviewing cameras.
Detective Morales appeared from the ballroom.
Late forties.
Dark suit.
Badge clipped at his belt.
“Thomas Vance?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Morales.”
“Find my grandson.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Work faster.”
His eyes hardened, but he didn’t argue.
He led us toward the security room.
Evelyn followed.
I turned.
“You’re not coming.”
“If Daniel took Toby, I can help.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
The answer surprised me.
She looked pale.
“But I know Daniel.”
Morales studied her.
“You’re Evelyn Kensington?”
She gave a bitter smile.
“Apparently that depends which passport you’re holding.”
Morales’ expression changed.
“You know?”
“Thomas found them.”
I handed Morales the passports.
He looked at each.
“Where did these come from?”
“Her jewelry box.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Rebecca Sloan is my real name.”
“Why the others?”
Her eyes dropped.
“Because I’ve done things I’m not proud of.”
“Fraud?”
“Yes.”
“Identity theft?”
“Yes.”
“Corporate theft?”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
I felt something break again.
Not because I still loved her.
Because I finally understood how completely my reality had been manufactured.
Morales pocketed the passports.
“You’re staying with us.”
“Fine.”
Security footage appeared on a wall of monitors.
Timestamp 3:47 p.m.
Sarah sat beside Toby.
Crowds moved around them.
Then Daniel entered frame.
No jacket.
Tie loosened.
He crouched behind a decorative column.
My fists clenched.
“He’s watching Toby.”
Three seconds later, a hotel employee approached Sarah.
Morales paused the video.
“Do you know her?”
Security zoomed.
The employee wore a hotel uniform.
The manager shook his head.
“That’s not one of ours.”
Evelyn whispered, “Melissa.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Who?”
“Daniel’s sister.”
My stomach turned.
Footage resumed.
Sarah turned to the woman.
Daniel walked to Toby.
He knelt.
Said something.
Toby looked toward Sarah.
Daniel pointed.
Then took Toby’s hand.
My grandson followed him.
I could barely stand.
“What did he tell him?”
Evelyn spoke quietly.
“Probably that he was taking him to his mother.”
The footage showed Daniel and Toby entering a service corridor.
Security switched cameras.
Parking garage.
Daniel emerged two minutes later carrying Toby.
The boy wasn’t struggling.
He trusted him.
A black SUV waited.
License plate obscured.
They drove away.
I turned toward Morales.
“Track him.”
“We are.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Use my company security team.”
“Mr. Vance—”
“I have six retired federal agents working corporate protection. Use them.”
Morales nodded.
“Make the call.”
I did.
Then I remembered the red USB.
“Evelyn said this contains evidence Daniel planned to kill me.”
Morales looked at her.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you keep it?”
“Insurance.”
Against Daniel.
Of course.
Nobody trusted anyone.
We connected the drive.
Folders appeared.
Bank records.
Voice recordings.
Photographs.
Then a document titled VANCE TIMELINE.
Morales opened it.
Wedding: September 1.
Medical event: September 18–25.
Transition: October.
Board restructuring: November.
My mouth dried.
“What is medical event?”
Evelyn stared at the screen.
“I never saw that.”
Morales opened another file.
Medication schedule.
The capsules Evelyn had given me.
My stomach twisted.
I looked at her.
“What were they?”
“Vitamins.”
“That’s what you told me.”
“That’s what Daniel told me.”
Morales examined the document.
The file suggested replacing legitimate supplements with a medication capable of creating dizziness, confusion, and cardiac complications when combined with another prescription I took.
I sat down.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“No.”
“You expect me to believe you didn’t know?”
“I didn’t.”
“You lied about your name.”
“Yes.”
“You stole from me.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with Daniel.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“But poisoning me crossed some moral line?”
She flinched.
“I never wanted you dead.”
“That’s supposed to comfort me?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“I know what I did.”
Morales interrupted.
“Argue later.”
He opened an audio recording.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“When he has the episode, doctors will think it’s age and stress.”
Another voice responded.
Male.
Unknown.
“What about the daughter?”
“Already handled.”
My blood froze.
Morales replayed it.
What about the daughter?
Already handled.
Genevieve’s injuries had not been an accident.
Maybe Daniel planned more.
I called the hospital immediately.
A nurse answered.
I identified myself.
Then heard words that made my heart stop.
“Mr. Vance, your daughter was transferred.”
“What?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Transferred where?”
There was a pause.
“Let me check.”
Morales grabbed another phone.
“Lock down St. Matthew’s.”
The nurse returned.
“I’m sorry. I don’t see an authorized transfer.”
My vision narrowed.
“Where is my daughter?”
“I’m calling security.”
The room erupted.
Morales shouted instructions.
My company team began tracking Daniel’s vehicle through traffic cameras.
Then Sarah screamed.
“Toby!”
Everyone turned.
One monitor showed a live feed from the hotel loading area.
A tiny figure stood beside a dumpster.
Powder-blue suit.
Brown hair.
Toby.
He was alone.
I ran downstairs.
When I reached him, he burst into tears and ran toward me.
I dropped to my knees.
He crashed into my arms.
“Grandpa!”
I held him so tightly I was afraid I might hurt him.
“Where’s Daniel?”
He sniffed.
“Bad man said wait.”
“Did he hurt you?”
Toby shook his head.
“He said Mommy needed me. Then he got mad on phone.”
Daniel had abandoned him.
Why?
Morales arrived seconds later.
“Toby, did the man say anything?”
Toby buried his face against me.
I rubbed his back.
“It’s okay.”
Then he whispered.
“He said he had Mommy.”
Every person around us froze.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Daniel.
“Thomas.”
My entire body went cold.
“Where is my daughter?”
“You have something that belongs to me.”
“The red drive.”
“Yes.”
“Genevieve?”
“She’s with me.”
“If you touch her—”
“Thomas, please. We’re beyond threats.”
His voice was calm.
Almost bored.
“You’re going to bring the USB to me.”
“Where?”
“I’ll send the address.”
“No police.”
I looked at Morales.
He was already signaling his team to trace the call.
Daniel laughed softly.
“And before you get clever, remember something.”
“What?”
“I spent six years inside your company.”
Silence.
“I know exactly how your security works.”
The call ended.
A message arrived.
An address in New Jersey.
Then a photograph.
Genevieve sitting in the backseat of a car.
Alive.
Frightened.
And beside her sat the fake hotel employee.
Melissa.
May you like
Under the image was one sentence.
COME ALONE OR YOUR DAUGHTER DOESN’T COME HOME.
