Chapter 10 - The Video
Nora moved so close to the laptop her knees hit the desk.
“Lily.”
On the screen, Lily looked frightened but unharmed.
Evelyn sat behind her.
Margaret’s hand rested on the girl’s shoulder.
“There are things children should never inherit,” Margaret said.
“Debt.”
“Shame.”
“Weakness.”
Her eyes fixed on the camera.
“And there are things families must protect.”
Daniel whispered:
“She recorded this here?”
Naomi shook her head.
“Uploaded remotely.”
Margaret continued.
“Nora, if you are watching, you have finally learned what your daughter was worth.”
Nora clenched her jaw.
“She isn’t worth money.”
As if answering her, Margaret smiled on screen.
“Not money.”
She looked down at Lily.
“Legacy.”
Then the video ended.
Naomi searched the file metadata.
“Uploaded from a cellular network.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Not precisely.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
“Play it again.”
Nora looked at him.
“Why?”
“The background.”
They replayed it.
Behind Margaret was a stained-glass window.
Blue and gold.
Daniel froze.
“I know that window.”
“Where?”
“My grandfather’s chapel.”
Nora frowned.
“The Bennett estate has a chapel?”
“Not this estate.”
“Where?”
“A private family property near Ocala.”
Naomi grabbed her keys.
The property sprawled across hundreds of acres.
By the time they arrived, local deputies had obtained emergency authority to enter.
The chapel doors were locked.
Police broke them.
Inside, they found Evelyn.
Alive.
Alone.
Nora rushed toward her.
“Where is Lily?”
Evelyn looked dazed.
“She took her.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Naomi crouched beside her.
“What happened?”
Evelyn focused on Nora.
“She wants you to find out.”
“Find out what?”
“Why Lily was really taken.”
Nora stared.
“I know why.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“The trust wasn’t the beginning.”
“What was?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
His expression changed before she even spoke.
“She was never supposed to survive the delivery.”
Silence.
Nora slowly turned toward Daniel.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel backed away.
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You know.”
“No.”
“Your mother told Mercer to make sure Nora never left that hospital with a child.”
Daniel went pale.
Nora felt the world tilt.
“She wanted Lily dead?”
“Not Lily.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You.”
Nora stopped breathing.
“Me?”
“Mercer increased the medication after your hemorrhage.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret believed if you died, Daniel would inherit your shares in Bennett-Hale Technologies.”
Nora stared at Daniel.
Before marrying him, Nora had inherited a minority stake in the engineering firm founded by her father.
It had been valuable.
Very valuable.
She had sold most of it after the divorce.
Daniel whispered:
“I didn’t know.”
Nora looked at him.
“You keep saying that.”
“I swear.”
Evelyn continued.
“But Mercer wouldn’t finish it.”
Nora’s hands became cold.
“What happened?”
“He panicked.”
“Why?”
“Because you stabilized.”
“And Lily?”
“Margaret changed the plan.”
“She took her.”
“Yes.”
“To control the Bennett trust.”
Evelyn nodded.
“She turned one failed crime into another.”
Nora sat down.
Her daughter had not been stolen because of one motive.
She had been stolen because Margaret saw people as assets.
Nora.
Daniel.
Lily.
All pieces on a board.
Naomi stood.
“This is attempted murder.”
Evelyn nodded.
“And kidnapping.”
“Yes.”
“And a baby trafficking operation.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Naomi’s phone buzzed.
She read the message.
Then her face hardened.
“What?”
Nora asked.
Naomi showed her the screen.
A statewide alert had been issued.
Not for Margaret.
For Nora.
WANTED FOR QUESTIONING IN CONNECTION WITH CHILD ABDUCTION.
Nora stared at her own photograph.
“They’re saying I abducted Lily?”
Naomi read further.
A judge had issued an emergency restraining order.
Margaret had reported that Nora was a mentally unstable stranger stalking her granddaughter.
Attached was Nora’s forged relinquishment document.
Daniel whispered:
May you like
“She’s turning the police against you.”
Outside, sirens approached.
