Chapter 6 - MY MOTHER'S PRICE
I called my mother from Stellan’s office.
She answered on the third ring.
“Selene?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“At home.”
“You’re lying.”
Another pause.
Then: “Is he with you?”
I looked at Stellan.
“Yes.”
My mother began crying.
“Baby, listen to me. You need to leave that house.”
“Why were you with Victor Cross?”
Silence.
Stellan’s eyes hardened.
“Mom.”
“I didn’t know who he was at first.”
“What did he want?”
“Information.”
“About Fern?”
Her breath broke.
“He paid my medical debt.”
I closed my eyes.
“How much?”
“Eighty-two thousand.”
“And you sold him my daughter for eighty-two thousand dollars?”
“No! I told him where you worked. That’s all.”
Stellan mouthed, Keep her talking.
“When did you meet him?”
“Three months ago.”
“What else did you give him?”
“Pictures. A copy of Fern’s birth certificate. Your old phone number.”
I started shaking.
My mother whispered, “He said Fern might be in danger from her real father.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Then a door slammed on her end.
My mother gasped.
A man’s voice said, “Loretta?”
Stellan was already moving.
He signaled Elias.
“Mom, who is there?”
She whispered, “Victor.”
The call cut off.
Stellan grabbed his coat.
“You stay here.”
“No.”
“Selene.”
“That is my mother.”
“And Fern is your daughter.”
The words stopped me.
He handed Fern back and looked at Elias.
“Double the guard. Nobody enters this floor.”
Then he left.
Twenty minutes later, a message came from my mother’s number.
Not a text.
A video.
My mother sat tied to a chair.
May you like
Victor Cross stood behind her smiling.
“If you want Loretta alive,” he said, “bring me my grandniece.”
