Chapter 13 - Not Emma
James grabbed my wrist before I could panic.
"Listen."
The child cried again.
It wasn't Emma.
It was older.
Lauren's youngest son, Ben.
Mom put the phone on speaker.
"Where are you?"
Lauren's breathing was ragged. "I messed up. Martin lied to me. He said the trust money was guaranteed. He said nobody would get hurt."
"Where are the children?" Mom asked.
"With me."
"All three?"
"Yes."
James mouthed, Keep her talking.
I texted the detective handling the fraud report.
Mom asked Lauren where she was.
"I can't tell you."
"Are the kids safe?"
"Of course they're safe! I'm their mother."
The words landed badly after everything we had learned.
Then Lauren's voice changed.
"Rachel is ruining my life."
I stepped closer to the phone.
"No, Lauren. You did that."
Silence.
"You're there?"
"Yes."
"You always get everything."
I almost laughed. "You tried to steal custody of my baby."
"Because Grandma left her everything!"
"A piece of land is not everything."
"You don't understand what I owe."
James wrote a question on a notepad.
WHERE IS MARTIN?
I asked.
Lauren went quiet.
Then she whispered, "That's why I'm calling."
A car door slammed on her end.
She gasped.
"He found me."
"Lauren, where are you?"
"Mom's lake cabin."
The line went dead.
James was already moving.
I caught his arm.
"You're not going alone."
"I'm not going at all. Police are."
Then another message hit my phone.
A photo of the lake cabin.
May you like
Taken from outside.
Someone was watching Lauren through the window.
