Chapter 10 - LINDA DISAPPEARS
Linda's escape was not dramatic.
No gunmen.
No crash.
A forged medical transfer.
A fake nurse.
A driver who had been paid.
The same kind of plan she loved.
Paper first.
People second.
Police traced the fake nurse to Cress's clinic.
"This suggests she had an exit plan before the incident with Noah."
My skin went cold.
"Why would she need one?"
"Maybe because she knew something else was coming."
We found out that evening.
My bank account was frozen.
Not by Linda.
By a court order.
The order claimed I had stolen seventy-five thousand dollars from the Emily Rose Trust.
"I have never touched that trust."
"Doesn't matter. The transfer is in your name."
The money had been moved three weeks earlier.
Into an online account opened using my Social Security number.
Then withdrawn.
Linda had framed me.
If she had taken Noah and fled, she could point to financial theft as proof I was unstable and criminal.
Plan B had layers.
"She used my laptop."
"How do you know?"
"The transfer authorization came from my office IP."
The login occurred while Ryan was at work.
Linda had been home.
Everything was inside our house.
Nora got the freeze lifted.
The fraud investigation shifted toward Linda.
But Linda herself remained missing.
"Sarah, there's a woman outside."
My blood went cold.
"What woman?"
"Older. Blond. Says she's Ryan's mother."
"Lock the door."
"She says she brought Noah something."
"Mom, listen to me. Do not open the door."
Police were dispatched.
By the time they arrived, Linda was gone.
On the porch she left a gift bag.
Inside was a stuffed elephant.
A baby blanket.
And a letter.
FOR NOAH WHEN HIS MOTHER FINALLY BREAKS.
I did not open it.
Warren did.
The letter was written as if I were already gone.
Your mother was sick. Your father was weak. I was the only person willing to save you.
Then Warren examined the blanket.
Sewn into the hem was a small GPS tracker.
Maybe into Noah's room.
It had already pinged one location.
A motel outside Waco.
They rushed there.
The room was empty.
But on the bed was a photograph of Noah.
May you like
Taken yesterday.
Through my mother's kitchen window.
