Chapter 14 - The Choice Vincent Made
Vincent called Mara and offered her a list of men who owed him favors. "I could have that van stopped in twenty minutes."
"Then you'd put armed strangers near a frightened child," she said. "Give the detective the list if those men know the route. Don't send them yourself."
He looked ready to argue. Instead he put his phone down, collected himself, and said, "I thought money and power made people safe. I've been wrong about almost everything that mattered."
I watched him through the video call. This was the same man who'd ordered someone to lift my work schedule when he discovered I was pregnant. A kind act had not made him all-knowing. A frightening reputation had not helped him recognize the person beside him.
"Grace needs you to be better than Richard," I told him. "Not louder."
He nodded. "I can do that."
He opened the Moretti company's records to investigators. Among the invoices was a recurring payment for "estate transport security," routed through an intermediary connected to Richard. The transport code matched the number written on the van's commercial plates.
The detective used the information to identify a roadside service stop. Officers obtained footage showing the vehicle taking an exit toward a defunct lakeside conference center. Emergency units approached from two roads while a child-protection team waited nearby.
A message finally arrived from the detective.
We have eyes on the building. A child is visible upstairs.
Elena began to shake. "Is it her?"
A still photograph appeared. Behind a rain-streaked window stood a little girl with dark curls. A rabbit dangled from one hand.
May you like
"That's Grace," Elena whispered.
And just as the officers began moving in, the upstairs light went out.
