Chapter 9 - THE TUNNEL
The mansion had an old service tunnel running from the wine cellar to a carriage house.
Ethan had forgotten it existed.
Richard had not.
A cellar door stood open.
Outside, one estate vehicle was missing.
So was Celeste.
Police issued an alert.
Ethan’s first instinct was to chase them.
Then Sophie appeared at the top of the cellar stairs.
“Daddy?”
He stopped.
Ethan went upstairs.
State police handled the roads.
Mara stayed with the documents.
Forty minutes later, the missing SUV was found at a private airfield.
Empty.
A charter plane had not taken off.
Security video showed Richard and Celeste entering Hangar Four.
Police surrounded it.
Inside, they found Celeste alone.
She was crying.
Richard was gone again.
There was an access door to the neighboring maintenance yard.
Celeste asked for a lawyer.
Before the lawyer arrived, she gave one voluntary sentence:
“He said if I stayed, Ethan would make sure I lost everything.”
Ethan heard the recording later.
It told him something important.
Celeste still saw herself as the person at risk.
Police searched her luggage.
Inside were clothes, cash, Sophie’s passport, and a folder labeled FAMILY TRANSITION.
The first page was a draft petition prepared for a Swiss family court.
It claimed Ethan was emotionally unstable after Amelia’s death.
It claimed Sophie feared him.
It requested temporary recognition of Celeste as protective guardian during treatment.
Attached was a psychologist’s letter.
Ethan recognized the name.
Dr. Paul Mercer.
He had never met Sophie.
Yet the letter described her in detail.
Then Mara read the signature line.
May you like
Referring source:
RICHARD COLE.
