Chapter 15 - THE CHILD THEY WERE REALLY AFTER
We made it out before the smoke reached the tunnel entrance.
But Edward was injured.
My father wanted to take him to the hospital.
Edward refused.
“They'll find me there.”
“You're bleeding.”
“I've survived worse.”
We returned to my house before sunrise.
Claire was waiting by the window.
The moment she saw me, she ran outside.
“Where were you?”
I hugged her.
“We found the ledger.”
Her eyes widened.
“Did you find out who was behind everything?”
“Not yet.”
Edward stepped inside.
Claire immediately stepped backward.
“You.”
Edward looked at her.
“I didn't hurt you.”
“You took me.”
“To protect you.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He looked at Ethan.
“I expect you to protect him.”
Claire pulled the child closer.
“What do you know about my son?”
Edward didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Ethan is not important because he's Bradley's son.”
Claire frowned.
“Then why?”
“Because his mother is.”
She looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I felt a chill.
Edward continued.
“The organization doesn't want Ethan.”
“They want you.”
Claire looked confused.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your family once owned a controlling interest in the financial network before it disappeared.”
My father stared at him.
“That can't be.”
Edward nodded.
“Your mother knew.”
Claire began crying.
“So Bradley didn't marry me because he loved me.”
“No.”
“He wanted access to my family.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan?”
“Ethan is leverage.”
Claire looked down at her son.
Then her face hardened.
“No one is taking my child.”
Edward nodded.
“That is exactly why I came.”
He handed her a document.
It was a birth record.
But Ethan's name was not the only one listed.
Claire's mother's name appeared beside it.
Then a second beneficiary.
Me.
I stared.
“What?”
Edward explained.
“Your mother and Claire's mother were part of the same trust structure.”
My mind raced.
The entire family history had been connected.
Not through marriage.
Through money.
Through protection.
Through a trust designed decades ago.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
FROM MARTIN:
YOU HAVE THE LEDGER.
WE HAVE ETHAN.
Claire screamed.
We ran to the nursery.
The window was open.
The crib was empty.
I froze.
“No.”
Claire collapsed.
My father grabbed my shoulder.
“Think.”
I forced myself to breathe.
There had been security everywhere.
How had someone entered?
Then I saw the baby monitor.
The screen showed a man carrying Ethan through the garden.
His face was hidden.
But his coat was familiar.
Edward looked at it.
“That isn't Martin.”
“Who is it?”
Edward's expression changed.
“Bradley.”
I stared at the screen.
Impossible.
Bradley was supposedly in federal custody.
Then another message arrived.
YOU WANTED THE TRUTH.
COME GET YOUR SON.
Claire grabbed my arm.
“Please.”
I nodded.
“We're bringing him home.”
Edward looked at me.
“There's one problem.”
“What?”
“This is exactly what they wanted.”
“Then we'll give them what they expect.”
I opened the red ledger.
Inside was one name I hadn't noticed before.
A code.
V-17.
I called my father.
“Find out who V-17 is.”
He stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because whoever took Ethan is following the instructions in this ledger.”
My father turned pale.
“V-17 isn't a person.”
“What is it?”
He whispered:
“An operation.”
“What operation?”
He looked at me.
“The operation your mother created to destroy the entire network.”
I understood.
My mother hadn't merely built a trap.
May you like
She had built a final move.
And somehow, the people who kidnapped Ethan had activated it themselves.
