Chapter 5
I didn’t accuse Sarah.
I wanted to.
The message from my father had hit exactly where he intended.
But fourteen months of suspicion had already destroyed enough of my family.
So I handed Sarah the phone.
“Tell me why he would send this.”
She read the message twice.
Then she sat down.
“I don’t know.”
“Sarah.”
“I don’t.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
She closed her eyes.
Ruiz stood near the door.
“This conversation can wait.”
“No,” Sarah said.
She looked at me.
“There is something.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
“Two weeks before Leo disappeared, your father came to our house.”
“I remember.”
“You were at work.”
I didn’t remember that.
“What happened?”
“He asked about Leo.”
“In what way?”
“He wanted to know whether Leo had mentioned seeing anything strange at the ranch.”
I stared at her.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I thought Robert was being dramatic.”
“What did you say?”
“That Leo had been having nightmares.”
My anger surged.
“What nightmares?”
“David, I didn’t know.”
“What nightmares?”
She started crying.
“Leo said he saw Grandpa fighting with someone.”
I turned away.
I couldn’t breathe.
“You knew?”
“I knew he saw an argument. I didn’t know someone died.”
“You never told me.”
“Because Robert told me Thomas stole money and disappeared.”
“And you believed him?”
“You did too!”
She was right.
I hated that she was right.
Sarah stood.
“Robert told me Leo was confused. He said Thomas tripped while drunk, got angry, and threatened him. I thought it was family drama.”
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
Her voice cracked.
“I should have.”
I looked at her.
“Did Dad threaten you?”
She hesitated.
That was enough.
“What did he say?”
“He told me sometimes children destroy families when adults encourage their imagination.”
My fists clenched.
“And you let Maya go to his house after Leo disappeared?”
“I hated myself for that every day.”
She broke down.
“I thought maybe I caused it.”
“What?”
“Maybe if I had told you, you would’ve confronted him. Maybe Leo would never have disappeared. I was ashamed.”
My anger began collapsing beneath something worse.
We had all been manipulated.
Different lies.
Different guilt.
Same man.
Ruiz stepped in.
“Robert’s message is designed to divide you.”
I nodded slowly.
“Then we use that.”
Ruiz looked at me.
“How?”
“I answer him.”
“No.”
“He wants me alone.”
“And that’s exactly why you don’t go.”
“I didn’t say I would actually be alone.”
Ruiz stared at me.
An hour later, we had a plan.
The address Dad sent was an abandoned roadside motel outside town.
Police would surround the area without being visible.
I would enter wearing a wire.
Sarah hated it.
“This is insane.”
“He might confess.”
“He might kill you.”
“He’s my father.”
“That doesn’t make him less dangerous.”
I kissed her forehead.
“No. It makes him more predictable.”
I hoped I was right.
The motel looked dead.
Dust covered the parking lot.
Half the windows were boarded.
I entered room twelve.
Dad sat inside.
Robert Vance had always seemed enormous to me.
Even at seventy-two, he carried himself like a man accustomed to controlling every room.
But now he looked tired.
Unshaven.
His expensive shirt was wrinkled.
A duffel bag sat by his feet.
“David.”
“Dad.”
He smiled weakly.
“Thank God.”
I stayed near the door.
“Why did you take my son?”
He flinched.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite sentence.”
“Elena told you I started this.”
“She said enough.”
“She’s unstable.”
“You paid her every month.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’ve seen the records.”
“Why?”
“To care for Leo.”
I almost crossed the room and hit him.
Instead, I forced myself still.
“You say his name like you didn’t lock him underground.”
“I never wanted him harmed.”
“He weighs almost nothing.”
“That was Elena.”
“He said you kept him too.”
Dad looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Did you kill Thomas Reed?”
His face hardened.
“Thomas was stealing.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“He attacked me.”
“Did you kill him?”
“It was an accident.”
There it was.
My pulse hammered.
“What happened?”
“He came at me near the barn. We struggled. He fell.”
“And Leo saw.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“So you kidnapped your grandson.”
“I panicked.”
“For fourteen months?”
“I needed time.”
“To do what?”
“To protect this family!”
I laughed.
The sound scared even me.
“You destroyed this family.”
Dad stood.
“Thomas had documents.”
“What documents?”
“Proof of financial crimes. Mine. Elena’s. Others.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Elena do?”
“She helped move money through her design company.”
“So she was trapped.”
“She was involved.”
That distinction mattered.
Dad continued.
“Thomas threatened to expose everything.”
“So you killed him.”
“I said it was an accident.”
“And Leo?”
“Elena suggested we hide him temporarily.”
I stared at him.
“Elena suggested it?”
“She said children’s memories change. She said if Leo stayed away long enough, we could convince everyone he had run off and later bring him back with a story.”
I felt physically ill.
“You both planned this?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Dad looked toward the window.
“Elena became attached to having him.”
“What?”
“She stopped cooperating.”
My blood went cold.
“She moved him to her house without telling me.”
“Why?”
“She said she was protecting him from me.”
“That’s what Leo said.”
Dad gave a bitter laugh.
“She was protecting herself.”
“From what?”
“He knew she helped take him.”
I stared.
Dad moved closer.
“She was never going to return him.”
I thought about the hidden room.
The photos.
Maya’s pictures.
“What about Maya?”
His face changed.
I stepped toward him.
“What about my daughter?”
“I had nothing to do with that.”
“Her name was on a schedule.”
“Elena wrote it.”
My stomach dropped.
“What schedule?”
“She wanted Maya too.”
“No.”
“She believed the children loved her more than anyone else.”
“That’s insane.”
“Yes.”
The door behind me suddenly slammed shut.
I turned.
A woman stepped from the bathroom.
Brown hair.
Thin face.
A scar above one eyebrow.
The woman from Leo’s story.
She held a gun.
My father raised his hands.
“Claire, don’t.”
I stared at her.
“Who are you?”
May you like
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Thomas Reed was my husband.”
