CHAPTER 12 — The Trap
CHAPTER 12 — The Trap
The question followed us out of the hospital.
What had my father been forced to choose?
Nobody answered.
Not my mother.
Not Lauren.
Not even my father, who had finally been brought into the same private room after the doctors cleared him.
He sat against the bed, pale and exhausted.
The man who had always seemed unbreakable now looked old.
Too old.
I stood across from him.
"Dad."
He looked at me.
"Tell me."
His eyes lowered.
"Tell you what?"
"The choice."
My mother closed her eyes.
Lauren stood beside the window.
James remained near the door.
My father finally whispered:
"They had both of you."
My heart tightened.
"Who?"
"Richard."
"And Daniel?"
"Richard controlled Daniel."
"How?"
"My father had evidence against him."
"What evidence?"
"Financial crimes. Bribery. Murder."
I stared.
"And he threatened you with it?"
"He threatened your mother."
Dad's voice broke.
"He said if I didn't cooperate, he'd make one of my daughters disappear."
Lauren turned.
"One?"
Dad nodded.
"Only one."
My blood went cold.
"Why?"
"Because he wanted me to prove my loyalty."
"How?"
Dad looked at me.
"He made me choose."
The room became silent.
"Which daughter?"
Dad couldn't speak.
I stepped closer.
"Me?"
He shook his head.
"Lauren?"
He nodded.
Lauren's face went white.
"What?"
Dad covered his face.
"They told me they would take you."
Lauren whispered:
"Why me?"
"Because you were younger."
"And Evelyn?"
"They said they would leave her alone."
Lauren looked at me.
"So you chose me?"
Dad nodded.
"I thought I could save you."
"But Mom disappeared."
Dad looked at her.
"Because she tried to stop them."
Mom finally spoke.
"He couldn't choose."
She looked at Lauren.
"He tried to sacrifice himself instead."
Lauren's eyes filled with tears.
"What happened?"
Mom answered:
"Richard took me."
I stared at my mother.
"You weren't dead."
"No."
"You were imprisoned?"
"Not exactly."
"Then where?"
"In a house outside the city."
"For six years?"
She nodded.
"Why didn't you escape?"
"I tried."
"How many times?"
"Three."
"What happened?"
"Each time, they threatened you."
I felt sick.
"They showed me photographs."
Of me.
Of Lauren.
Of Emma.
"Then why did you return now?"
Mom looked toward the window.
"Because Richard made one mistake."
"What?"
"He believed the recording was still hidden."
James spoke.
"And it isn't."
Mom nodded.
"No."
She looked at me.
"You have it."
My phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
James immediately signaled for silence.
I answered.
"Hello?"
A man's voice.
"Did you enjoy your reunion?"
Richard.
My blood ran cold.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere you can't reach."
"You were arrested."
A quiet laugh.
"No."
I looked at James.
He shook his head.
"Then who did you arrest?"
Richard laughed again.
"One of my men."
My stomach dropped.
"The police don't know."
"No."
"Where's my father?"
"Safe."
"You have him?"
"No."
"Then what do you want?"
"You."
I closed my eyes.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"You already know."
The line went dead.
James immediately started tracing the call.
"Thirty seconds."
We waited.
Then he looked at the screen.
"Industrial district."
"Where?"
"An old warehouse."
My mother shook her head.
"No."
James looked at her.
"What?"
"That's a trap."
"How do you know?"
"Because Richard used it before."
"For what?"
"To make people disappear."
My stomach tightened.
"So what do we do?"
James looked at me.
"We don't go."
I nodded.
"Exactly."
Then I smiled.
"We make him come to us."
We returned home before dawn.
The house had been secured by police.
Emma was asleep upstairs with a temporary caregiver.
I stood in the nursery doorway.
Watching her breathe.
Six months old.
Six months of innocence.
Six months before our family became a battlefield.
I kissed her forehead.
Then I noticed something.
A small envelope beneath her crib.
My name was written on it.
EVELYN.
I picked it up.
James immediately joined me.
"Don't open it."
"I have to."
He looked at the envelope.
"Could be dangerous."
"I know."
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Standing beside Richard.
And beneath the photograph:
YOU TRUSTED THE WRONG MAN.
There was a second note.
COME TO THE WAREHOUSE ALONE.
I looked at James.
"We're going."
"No."
"We are."
"You're not going alone."
"I know."
He nodded.
"Then we have a plan."
The plan was simple.
Too simple.
I would go to the warehouse.
James and a tactical team would surround the building.
My mother and Lauren would stay at a secure location.
My father would remain under police protection.
Nobody would enter until Richard revealed himself.
At least, that was the plan.
We arrived at 2:00 a.m.
The warehouse was dark.
One door stood open.
I entered alone.
My footsteps echoed.
"Evelyn."
Richard's voice came from the darkness.
I stopped.
"Where are you?"
"Above you."
I looked up.
A catwalk.
Richard stood there.
No weapon visible.
"You're alone."
"Yes."
He smiled.
"Good."
I looked around.
"Where's my father?"
"Not here."
"You lied."
"I wanted to know whether you'd come."
"You knew I would."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you're your grandfather's granddaughter."
I stared at him.
"What do you want?"
"The recording."
"I don't have it."
Richard smiled.
"You're lying."
"So are you."
He laughed.
"You've learned."
Then the warehouse doors slammed shut.
One after another.
BANG.
BANG.
BANG.
My heart pounded.
Richard disappeared.
The lights came on.
I was surrounded.
Men stepped out from behind crates.
At least ten.
My earpiece remained silent.
James wasn't responding.
I touched it.
"James?"
Nothing.
Richard's voice came through a speaker.
"You brought soldiers."
My blood ran cold.
"How?"
"I knew you'd use the police."
"You've been watching us."
"For years."
A screen dropped from the ceiling.
It showed James.
He was unconscious.
My breath stopped.
"No."
Richard appeared on the screen.
"He walked into the trap first."
I clenched my fists.
"What did you do to him?"
"Nothing permanent."
I stared at the screen.
"You want the recording?"
"Yes."
"Then let him go."
Richard smiled.
"You're still negotiating."
"I am."
"You really think you have power?"
I reached into my coat.
Pulled out the memory card.
"I have this."
His expression changed.
"Give it to me."
"No."
"Then he dies."
My heart broke.
But I remembered James's warning.
Never react to what they show you.
I took a breath.
"Fine."
I held up the card.
"You want it?"
"Yes."
"Come get it."
Richard slowly descended the stairs.
He approached me.
One step.
Two.
Three.
Then stopped.
"Hand it over."
I smiled.
"No."
His eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because it's a copy."
He froze.
I continued:
"The original is already somewhere else."
Richard's face changed.
"Where?"
"With someone you can't reach."
"Who?"
I leaned closer.
"My mother."
For the first time, Richard looked afraid.
He stepped backward.
"Your mother is dead."
"No."
"She's not."
His face hardened.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
I smiled.
"You'll never know."
Richard raised his hand.
One of his men grabbed me.
Another pointed a weapon at my head.
Richard approached.
"You have no idea what you've started."
"I know exactly what I started."
"What?"
"The hunt."
Suddenly—
every light in the warehouse turned red.
A siren screamed.
Richard looked around.
Then the doors exploded open.
Police stormed inside.
James entered behind them.
Alive.
Armed.
Richard stared.
"But..."
James smiled.
"You should have checked the cameras."
Richard turned toward me.
I lifted the real device hidden beneath my sleeve.
"The video feed you showed me?"
I smiled.
"It was never James."
His face went pale.
"It was a recording."
The police surrounded him.
Richard dropped his weapon.
But he was smiling.
That frightened me.
"You're too late."
James frowned.
"Why?"
Richard looked at me.
"Because the trap wasn't here."
He laughed.
"The trap was already inside your house."
We rushed home.
The front door was open.
My heart stopped.
"Emma!"
I ran upstairs.
The nursery was empty.
The crib was empty.
The blanket was on the floor.
I screamed.
"No!"
James searched the room.
Nothing.
Then I saw it.
A note taped to the crib.
I opened it.
Three words.
YOU CHOSE WRONG.
Lauren appeared behind me.
"What happened?"
I couldn't speak.
I handed her the note.
Her face collapsed.
Mom came running.
"Where's Emma?"
I looked at her.
"She's gone."
My mother's face turned white.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
Richard's voice came through.
"You should have stayed dead."
Mom froze.
"Where is my granddaughter?"
A pause.
Then:
"Ask your husband."
The call ended.
Everyone looked at my father.
He stood in the doorway.
His face was devastated.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
"Tell me the truth."
"I don't know where she is."
"Then why did Richard say to ask you?"
"I don't know."
I stepped toward him.
"Who took my daughter?"
My father looked at me.
And for the first time—
I saw genuine terror in his eyes.
Not fear for himself.
Fear for me.
Then he whispered:
"There is one person Richard has been afraid of all these years."
"Who?"
My father looked toward my mother.
She was crying.
Then he said:
"Your grandmother."
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
"My grandmother died twenty years ago."
My father shook his head.
"That's what everyone was told."
A phone rang upstairs.
Not mine.
Not Mom's.
Not Dad's.
Emma's baby monitor.
James ran toward the sound.
We followed.
The monitor screen flickered.
A woman's face appeared.
Old.
Pale.
Calm.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then smiled.
May you like
And spoke four words:
"Bring me the heir."
