Chapter 16 - The Burning GuesthouseFlames climbed the guesthouse roof.
Police rushed across the lawn.
Richard followed until Ward shouted at him to stop.
“Vanessa is inside!”
“You don't know that.”
“Nathan said—”
“Nathan wants you emotional.”
Richard stared at the burning structure.
“He knows me.”
“That doesn't mean you give him what he wants.”
Firefighters arrived minutes later.
Smoke poured from the upstairs windows.
Then someone screamed.
A woman.
Vanessa.
Richard moved before anyone could stop him.
Ward caught his shirt.
“Richard!”
“She'll die.”
“And you will too.”
Firefighters entered.
Thirty seconds later, two emerged carrying Vanessa.
She was coughing, conscious, wrists bound with plastic zip ties.
Richard watched paramedics treat her on the lawn.
Her eyes found him.
“Richard.”
He did not move closer.
“Where's Nathan?”
“He left.”
“How?”
“Woods.”
Ward approached.
“Why did he tie you up?”
Vanessa coughed.
“He thought I had Claire's documents.”
“You told him?”
“I said I didn't.”
Ward crouched.
“Where was he going?”
“I don't know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Vanessa looked toward Richard.
“Ethan.”
Richard's entire body tightened.
“What about Ethan?”
“Nathan said the boy is the only witness who can place him at the freezer.”
Maria's voice came from behind them.
“Ethan is with police.”
Vanessa gave a bitter smile.
“Nathan doesn't care.”
Richard looked toward Ward.
“Where is Ethan?”
“At the lake house with two officers.”
“Move him.”
Ward was already calling.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Richard felt terror rise.
The lake house was almost an hour away.
Ward contacted dispatch.
The two officers assigned to Ethan had stopped responding eight minutes earlier.
Nathan had anticipated them again.
Richard ran toward his car.
This time Ward didn't stop him.
They drove together.
Police surrounded the lake property for the second time that day.
One officer was found unconscious near his cruiser.
The second lay injured inside.
Ethan was gone.
Maria arrived shortly after and found Richard standing beside the empty wheelchair.
He looked destroyed.
“He took him.”
Maria touched his shoulder.
Richard pulled away.
“I keep failing him.”
“Richard.”
“I trusted Nathan.”
“You didn't know.”
“I trusted Vanessa.”
“Stop.”
“I hit you instead of listening.”
“Yes.”
Richard looked at her.
Maria's voice remained steady.
“And now you're standing here deciding whether guilt helps Ethan.”
He stared.
“It doesn't.”
“No.”
“So stop making this about what you should have known six years ago.”
Richard breathed hard.
Maria continued.
“Think about what Nathan wants now.”
“The documents.”
“He knows police have them.”
“To escape.”
“He could already run.”
Richard frowned.
Maria looked toward the lake.
“He wants something else.”
Richard's phone buzzed.
A video message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
Ethan sat in the back seat of a vehicle.
His hands were free.
He looked frightened but unharmed.
Nathan appeared beside him.
“Richard.”
Richard turned the volume up.
“I need one thing.”
The camera shifted.
Nathan's face filled the screen.
“Claire made copies.”
Richard froze.
“She always made copies.”
Maria whispered,
“He's right.”
Nathan continued.
“The documents police recovered aren't everything. Claire had a second file.”
Richard looked at Maria.
She was pale.
Nathan smiled.
“You know where it is, don't you, Maria?”
Maria stopped breathing.
Richard turned.
“What is he talking about?”
The video continued.
“Bring me Claire's second file by midnight.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“Or this time no one opens the freezer door.”
The video ended.
Richard stared at Maria.
“You know where it is?”
Maria looked toward Ethan's frozen image on the phone.
Then slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
Richard's voice dropped.
“Where?”
May you like
Maria swallowed.
“With me.”
