Chapter 6 - The Pickup
Mara killed the lights.
"Both of you, behind the file cabinets. Now."
Ethan pulled Lily down beside him.
Heavy footsteps crossed the sidewalk below.
The office door rattled once.
Then twice.
Mara whispered into her phone to 911.
A man's voice came through the door.
"Mara. Open up."
She didn't move.
The voice belonged to Raymond Vale.
"The kids are scared. Amanda only wants them home."
Ethan pressed a hand over Lily's mouth because she had started breathing too fast.
Raymond tried the handle again.
"Daniel trusted the wrong people, Mara. Don't make the same mistake."
Sirens sounded in the distance.
The pickup peeled away.
When police arrived, Mara showed them the threatening message and copied audio from the recorder.
An officer named Detective Cole listened without interrupting.
"We need the original device," he said.
Ethan immediately pulled it closer.
"Dad said not to give it away."
Cole crouched. "Then keep it. We'll make a forensic copy with you present."
That answer mattered.
By sunrise, Amanda had reported Ethan and Lily missing and claimed Mara had abducted them.
The story hit local Facebook groups before breakfast.
Amanda appeared in a tearful livestream asking people to help "bring our children home."
Lily watched it once.
Then she turned the phone over.
"She's pretending."
Mara sat beside her. "I know."
A second notification appeared.
This one came from the county court system.
Mara opened it and went still.
"What?" Ethan asked.
She turned the screen toward him.
A petition had been filed three weeks earlier.
PETITION FOR EMERGENCY GUARDIAN AUTHORITY OVER THE MINOR ASSETS OF ETHAN REED.
The petitioner was Amanda Reed.
Attached to it was a statement claiming Ethan suffered severe behavioral instability after Daniel's death.
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At the bottom was a signature from Ethan's school counselor.
Mara whispered, "This signature is fake too."
