Chapter 4 - SOMEONE WANTED THE BOY

Ortiz drew her weapon.

"Police. Step away from the door."

The shadow vanished.

She opened the vault corridor just in time to see a man in a maintenance jacket disappear around the corner.

Daniel ran after him.

"Stop!"

The man shoved a cart into Daniel's path and escaped down the stairwell. By the time Ortiz reached the alley, a motorcycle was tearing away.

Claire looked at Daniel. "Somebody knew we'd come."

Daniel stared at the letters in his hands. "My father knew about the key."

Back at the hospital, Ryan was gone.

His blanket lay on the chair.

The officer assigned to watch him was unconscious in a supply room.

Claire's stomach dropped.

"Where is he?"

A nurse ran toward them. "A woman from child services signed him out. She had credentials."

Ortiz swore. "No one from child services was authorized."

Daniel's phone rang.

Conrad.

He answered on speaker.

"You're making a mess," his father said.

"Where is Ryan?"

"Come home. We'll discuss this privately."

"You knew he existed."

"I knew there was a complication."

Claire's face changed at the word.

Daniel's voice went low. "A child is not a complication."

"No. But inheritance law can be."

Ortiz held up a hand, signaling Daniel to keep him talking.

Conrad continued. "Your grandmother built a ridiculous succession clause. If Ryan is legally established as your firstborn, control of the company moves into a trust for him. A ten-year-old could destabilize everything."

"So you buried him?"

"I protected the family."

Daniel almost crushed the phone.

Then a text arrived from an unknown number.

A photo.

Ryan sat in the back of a dark vehicle, eyes wide, duct tape across his mouth.

Below it:

BRING THE VAULT PAPERS TO 18 HARBOR STREET. ALONE.

Claire grabbed Daniel's arm.

"Don't."

Another photo arrived.

This one showed Lily sleeping in her hospital bed.

Taken from inside the room.

Claire spun toward the doorway.

Someone had been close enough to photograph their daughter.

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The message beneath it contained six words.

WE CAN TAKE THE OTHER ONE TOO.