Chapter 5
“Noah, lock the door.”
“I did.”
His breathing came fast.
“Where are you?”
“Hotel room.”
“What hotel?”
“I don’t know the name.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was already texting someone.
“Can you see anything outside?”
“Water.”
Charleston.
Maybe waterfront.
“Noah, listen carefully. People are coming for you.”
“Police?”
“People who can help.”
His voice trembled.
“Dad said police are liars.”
“Your father has lied about many things.”
Silence.
Then a heavy knock sounded through the phone.
“Noah!”
Ellis.
My blood turned cold.
“Open this door.”
Noah whispered, “Mom.”
“I’m here.”
Another knock.
Harder.
“Noah, I know you’re talking to her.”
My son started crying.
Not loudly.
That made it worse.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For court.”
My heart cracked.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“I know.”
“I had to make him think I hated you.”
“I know.”
“You promise?”
Tears rolled down my face.
“I promise.”
The door rattled.
Ellis shouted again.
“Noah!”
Daniel grabbed my shoulder.
“Agents are less than ten minutes away.”
Ten minutes sounded like ten years.
“Noah, move away from the door.”
“I am.”
“Is there another exit?”
“A balcony.”
“Don’t climb anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
Then Ellis stopped knocking.
Silence.
That frightened me more.
“Noah?”
“I’m here.”
A beep sounded.
Electronic lock.
Someone was opening the door.
Noah gasped.
The line went muffled.
I heard movement.
Then Ellis’s voice.
“Give me the phone.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“No!”
I pressed the phone against my ear.
“Ellis!”
He must have heard me.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then his voice came through.
“Sabrina.”
“Do not touch him.”
“He’s my son.”
“He is terrified of you.”
“He’s confused.”
“No.”
My voice shook with rage.
“He understands exactly who you are.”
Ellis laughed softly.
“You always wanted to turn him against me.”
“He came to me.”
“Noah is a child.”
“Yes. So why is a child cleaning up your crimes?”
Silence.
Daniel motioned for me to continue talking.
“You have something that belongs to me,” Ellis said.
“The card?”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t belong to you.”
His voice sharpened.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.”
“I know about the client money.”
Silence.
“I know about the offshore accounts.”
No response.
“And Martin.”
That changed everything.
Ellis breathed differently.
“What did you say?”
“Martin Vale.”
Daniel stared at me.
I continued.
“I know he discovered what you were doing.”
Ellis’s voice dropped.
“Who are you talking to?”
“No one.”
“You’re lying.”
“You taught me.”
Then Noah shouted in the background.
“Dad, stop!”
My entire body tensed.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Let him go.”
“You think you’ve suddenly become powerful because you found a bank card?”
“No.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Because I finally stopped believing you were.”
Ellis went silent.
Then he said something I would remember forever.
“You should have taken the two hundred thousand.”
The call ended.
I screamed Noah’s name.
Nothing.
Daniel immediately called someone.
“They lost contact.”
“What does that mean?”
“Agents reached the hotel.”
“Is Noah there?”
“They’re checking.”
Five minutes later, Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
I grabbed his arm.
“What happened?”
He listened.
Then lowered the phone.
“The room is empty.”
I felt my knees weaken.
“No.”
“Security footage shows Ellis leaving through the service garage.”
“With Noah?”
“Yes.”
I could barely breathe.
“He took my son.”
Daniel steadied me.
“They’re tracking his vehicle.”
“Where?”
“North.”
I wanted to collapse.
Instead, I grabbed my bag.
“I’m going.”
“Sabrina—”
“I’m going.”
We drove toward Charleston with Denise following separately.
Federal agents called me twice.
They asked about Ellis.
Places he might go.
Property.
Friends.
I remembered something.
“A cabin.”
Daniel glanced at me.
“What?”
“Ellis’s father owned a cabin near Lake Marion.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know.”
I searched old emails.
Years earlier, we had planned a weekend there.
I found directions.
Daniel forwarded them.
Agents changed course.
Three hours into the drive, my phone rang from a blocked number.
Ellis.
I answered.
“Where is Noah?”
“Safe.”
“Let me hear him.”
“He’s sleeping.”
“Ellis.”
“You always underestimate me.”
My hand tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The card.”
“Then bring Noah to me.”
“No.”
“Then you get nothing.”
He laughed.
“You think this is a negotiation?”
“Yes.”
That surprised him.
I continued.
“You need that card more than I need the money.”
“You can’t access anything without authentication.”
“Then why are you chasing it?”
Silence.
I had hit something.
“The physical card authorizes a transfer,” I said, guessing.
Ellis did not respond.
My old compliance instincts woke up.
“The account is restricted.”
Still nothing.
“You need the card because the bank flagged the transfer.”
Ellis cursed quietly.
I knew I was right.
“For someone incapable of providing a future,” I said, “I’m figuring this out pretty quickly.”
His breathing became heavier.
“Careful, Sabrina.”
“No.”
That word felt powerful now.
“You be careful.”
Then I heard Noah in the background.
“Mom?”
My heart exploded.
“Noah!”
“I’m okay.”
Ellis grabbed the phone away.
“Tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock.”
“Where?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“The card for Noah.”
“Yes.”
“If you hurt him—”
“I’m his father.”
“That stopped meaning safe a long time ago.”
He ended the call.
Daniel had recorded everything.
He sent it to investigators.
An hour later, agents reached the Lake Marion cabin.
Empty.
But inside they found something else.
Documents.
Burned files.
Two passports under false names.
And photographs of me.
Hundreds of them.
Leaving court.
Shopping.
Entering my apartment.
Meeting Denise.
Sitting beside Daniel in the park.
Someone had been following me for weeks.
Then an agent called Daniel with an even worse discovery.
One photograph showed Noah.
Taken months earlier.
May you like
On the back, Ellis had written:
IF SABRINA FIGHTS, USE THE BOY.
