Chapter 2 - Willa Was Already on the Pickup ListAlistair called the Greenwich police before he pulled back onto the road.
He hated doing it.
Not because he doubted what he'd seen.
Because the second he said the words aloud, they became real.
“My wife may be attempting to remove my children without my knowledge.”
The dispatcher asked whether anyone was in immediate danger.
“My eight-year-old son is at home with her. My housekeeper recorded her mistreating him.”
“Is he injured?”
“I don’t know.”
“And your other child?”
“At school. My wife arranged for her brother to pick her up without telling me.”
The dispatcher’s tone changed.
“Do you have legal custody of both children?”
“Yes. I’m their father.”
“Is your wife their legal guardian?”
Alistair tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
“Stepmother. I never gave her custody.”
“Do you have reason to believe she intends to take them out of state?”
“I just saw two airline tickets.”
That accelerated everything.
A patrol unit was dispatched to the house.
Another officer contacted the school.
Alistair called Beatrice again.
No answer.
He called twice.
Still nothing.
Panic crawled up his throat.
Then she finally answered.
She was whispering.
“I have Theo.”
“Where?”
“Laundry room.”
“What happened?”
“I told Corinne there was water leaking downstairs.”
Alistair almost laughed from relief.
“Is Theo okay?”
“He’s frightened.”
“Put him on.”
There was a pause.
Then a small voice.
“Dad?”
Alistair closed his eyes.
“Hey, buddy.”
Theo began crying immediately.
“Are you mad?”
The question hit him harder than the video.
“At you?”
Theo sniffed.
“I made Corinne mad.”
“No.”
Alistair slowed his voice.
“No, Theo. Listen to me. You did not make anything happen.”
“She said—”
“I know what she said.”
Silence.
Theo whispered:
“You saw?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“I’m sorry.”
Alistair’s throat closed.
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“But I called her Mom.”
Alistair stared through the windshield.
That was what Theo thought he had done wrong.
Not crying.
Not resisting.
Calling his stepmother Mom.
“Buddy, you are allowed to call people whatever feels right to you.”
Theo sniffed.
“Corinne says Mommy would hate me.”
Alistair’s vision blurred.
“What?”
Beatrice took the phone.
“Mr. Grant.”
He struggled to breathe.
“What else has she been saying to him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve worked there every day.”
“I know.”
There was pain in Beatrice’s voice now.
“I should have understood sooner.”
Alistair didn't have time to explore guilt.
“Police are coming.”
“I’ll keep Theo with me.”
“Lock the laundry room if you need to.”
“What if Corinne asks?”
“Tell her you’re fixing the machine.”
Beatrice hesitated.
“Mr. Grant…”
“What?”
“Someone just pulled into the driveway.”
Alistair’s pulse spiked.
“Who?”
“I can’t see yet.”
Footsteps.
Then Beatrice whispered:
“It’s Malcolm.”
Twenty-eight minutes early.
“Do not let Theo out of your sight.”
“I won’t.”
Alistair ended the call and immediately called the school.
The receptionist answered.
“This is Alistair Grant again. Has anyone arrived for Willa?”
“Not yet.”
“Do not release her.”
“We’ve been contacted by police. She’ll remain with the principal.”
“Thank you.”
Alistair reached the highway exit.
He was ten minutes from the school.
A police cruiser was closer.
He forced himself not to drive recklessly.
At the Grant house, Malcolm Vale stepped through the front door without knocking.
Beatrice heard Corinne meet him in the foyer.
“You’re early.”
Malcolm’s voice was lower.
“Plans changed.”
“What happened?”
“I got a call from the school.”
Beatrice froze.
“What call?”
“They said Alistair contacted them.”
Silence.
Then Corinne:
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Beatrice looked toward Theo.
The boy was sitting on top of the dryer, arms around his knees.
She held one finger to her lips.
Theo nodded.
Malcolm’s voice sharpened upstairs.
“We need to go.”
“What about Theo?”
“Bring him.”
“Willa?”
“I’ll get her.”
“No. If Alistair called the school, they’ll be watching.”
“Then we do it another way.”
Beatrice’s blood went cold.
She quietly started recording again.
Corinne spoke.
“The flight is tomorrow.”
“Forget the flight.”
“What?”
“We drive.”
“No.”
“Corinne.”
“I didn’t plan all of this to improvise.”
Malcolm laughed bitterly.
“You planned badly enough for Alistair to know.”
“How would he know?”
Silence.
Beatrice heard Corinne move.
Then:
“Beatrice.”
Her own name.
Theo's eyes widened.
Beatrice held still.
Corinne called louder:
“Beatrice!”
She whispered to Theo.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“I’ll be right outside.”
Theo caught her hand.
“Please don’t leave me.”
That sentence ended the debate.
Beatrice locked the door.
Corinne reached it seconds later.
“Beatrice?”
She rattled the handle.
“What are you doing?”
Beatrice didn’t answer.
The door shook.
“Open this.”
Then Malcolm's voice.
“Is Theo in there?”
Theo started crying silently.
Beatrice moved in front of him.
Corinne pounded once.
“Open the door now.”
Beatrice raised her phone.
“I called the police.”
Silence.
Complete.
Then Malcolm cursed.
Footsteps hurried away.
Corinne remained.
Her voice softened suddenly.
“Beatrice.”
Beatrice almost laughed at the transformation.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand what’s happening.”
“I understand enough.”
“Alistair is dangerous.”
Beatrice stared at the door.
“What?”
“He doesn’t want you to know.”
“Know what?”
Corinne’s voice dropped.
“He’s been planning to send the children away himself.”
Beatrice said nothing.
“And if you send him that video, you’re helping him.”
Another lie.
Or maybe another secret.
Before Beatrice could respond, sirens became audible outside.
Corinne stopped talking.
A car door slammed.
Then another.
Malcolm shouted something from the foyer.
Police voices followed.
Beatrice unlocked the laundry-room door only when an officer identified himself.
Theo ran directly into the hallway.
One officer crouched beside him.
Beatrice looked toward the foyer.
Malcolm was standing near the front door with his hands visible.
Corinne stood several feet away.
Still composed.
Still perfectly dressed.
Then she saw Beatrice.
The look in her eyes was not fear.
It was fury.
She turned toward the officer.
“This woman has misunderstood a family situation.”
Beatrice stared at her.
The officer asked:
“Where are the airline tickets?”
Corinne’s face changed.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But everyone saw it.
May you like
And when police searched the hallway table—
the tickets were gone.
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