Chapter 17 - Sophie Leaves a TrailPolice traced the call.
Burner phone.
Tower west of Chicago.
Then the phone went dead.
Daniel paced inside the operations room while officers tracked cameras, toll records, bank activity, and Peter's SUV.
Detective Ruiz didn't let him leave.
“If they contact you, we need you here.”
“My daughter is out there.”
“And running into traffic won't find her faster.”
Daniel hated her for being right.
Thirty-seven minutes later, an officer called from a gas station near Rockford.
They had found something.
A small piece of paper beside pump six.
Written in purple marker:
DADDY I AM OK.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“Sophie.”
Ruiz nodded.
“She left it.”
Under the words was a star.
Megan's star game.
Daniel's throat tightened.
“She knows we're looking.”
Security video showed Peter filling the tank.
Vanessa never exited.
Sophie got out briefly to use the restroom.
She dropped the note.
Then the SUV continued west.
Another camera picked them up.
Wisconsin.
“Where are they going?” Ruiz asked.
Daniel stared at the route.
Then he knew.
“Elise.”
Ruiz frowned.
“Denver?”
“No.”
“Elise said Vanessa grew up in Wisconsin.”
They pulled records.
Vanessa's mother had owned a house near Lake Geneva.
Sold eight years ago.
But her father still had property nearby.
A cabin.
The team moved.
Daniel was not permitted to join the tactical unit.
He went anyway.
Ruiz discovered him following twenty minutes later.
She called.
“Turn around.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
“You could compromise this.”
“I'll stay back.”
“If you get within half a mile, I'll have a trooper stop you.”
“Fine.”
Ruiz cursed and hung up.
The cabin sat in dense woods near a private lake.
By dusk, police had surrounded it.
Peter's Highlander was outside.
Thermal imaging showed three people inside.
Three.
Daniel's heart dropped.
“Vanessa, Peter, Sophie.”
Ruiz nodded.
Police called.
No answer.
Called again.
Then a curtain moved.
Sophie appeared briefly at a window.
Daniel saw her through binoculars.
Alive.
His knees almost gave out.
“She is okay.”
“For now.”
Negotiators tried Vanessa.
Nothing.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
Her.
He put it on speaker.
“You brought police.”
“You kidnapped my daughter.”
“I told you what I wanted.”
“You know I can't get the original evidence.”
“You could have tried.”
“What do you really want?”
Silence.
Daniel looked at Ruiz.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“I want Megan gone.”
Daniel frowned.
“She is dead.”
“No.”
Vanessa's voice cracked.
“She is everywhere.”
Daniel finally understood.
The flash drive wasn't only legal evidence.
It was Megan's voice.
Her truth.
Her existence surviving Vanessa's attempt to erase her.
“You cut Sophie's hair because she looks like Megan.”
Silence.
“You hid the photos.”
Silence.
“You destroyed our marriage.”
“Stop.”
“You couldn't make me love you while Megan still existed.”
“Stop.”
“And even after she died, you still lost.”
Vanessa's breathing changed.
“Daniel.”
“I never loved you the way I loved her.”
Ruiz looked sharply at him.
Daniel kept going.
“You knew it.”
“Shut up.”
“That is why you hated Sophie.”
“I don't hate her!”
“She reminded you that Megan gave me something you never could.”
Vanessa screamed.
“I SAID I DON'T HATE HER!”
Then Daniel heard Sophie crying.
His stomach dropped.
“Vanessa.”
No answer.
“Listen to me.”
Silence.
“You want me?”
Ruiz shook her head violently.
Daniel ignored her.
“Then let Sophie walk outside.”
“What?”
“Keep me instead.”
Ruiz grabbed his arm.
He pulled away.
“You wanted me for fifteen years. Fine.”
Daniel's voice shook.
“Let Sophie go and I'll come inside.”
Vanessa was silent.
Then:
“No police.”
“Fine.”
Ruiz mouthed: absolutely not.
Daniel continued.
“You get me. Sophie walks away.”
Another long silence.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Would you really do that?”
Daniel looked at the cabin.
“Yes.”
He meant it.
A curtain moved.
The front door opened.
Peter appeared.
Behind him stood Sophie.
Her hands weren't tied.
But Vanessa had one hand gripping her shoulder.
Daniel's heart stopped.
Vanessa looked out toward the darkness.
Then she shoved Sophie forward.
“Daddy!”
Sophie ran.
Police rushed to intercept her.
Daniel started forward.
Ruiz grabbed him.
“No.”
“She let Sophie go.”
“And now we negotiate.”
But Vanessa saw Daniel remain behind the police line.
Her expression changed.
Betrayal.
“You lied!”
She stepped backward.
Peter shouted something.
Vanessa turned on him.
Even from a distance, Daniel saw the argument erupt.
Then Peter ran.
Out the back door.
Police moved.
Vanessa disappeared inside.
May you like
Seconds later a gunshot cracked across the lake.
Daniel's entire body went cold.
