Chapter 13 - The Wrong Child
The man at the school ran before police arrived.
He had used a forged authorization bearing Mark's signature and Lucas Grant's photograph with a different name.
But Clara was safe at home.
That should have been comforting.
It wasn't.
"He didn't know she wasn't there," Ruiz said. "Which means whoever is directing him doesn't have real-time access anymore."
Mark looked toward Elena.
"Unless someone inside the house is still talking."
They questioned every employee.
The chef cried. The gardener became angry. Two housekeepers volunteered their phones.
Elena hated the suspicion spreading through people who had worked together for years.
Then Clara's new security guard, Ben, admitted Victoria had called him three days earlier from an unknown number.
"What did she want?" Mark asked.
Ben stared at the floor.
"She offered me fifty thousand dollars for the schedule."
"Did you take it?"
"No."
"Did you tell anyone?"
Ben hesitated.
Mark's face changed.
"Did you?"
"Peter Lang. I thought he was still handling company security issues."
Peter again.
Ruiz went to the hospital.
Peter's room was empty.
The guard outside had been relieved by a man wearing a forged police credential.
Peter was gone.
At 6:40 that evening, Mark received a video message.
Peter sat tied to a chair in a concrete room.
A bruise darkened one side of his face.
A distorted voice spoke from behind the camera.
"Withdraw the complaint against Victoria. Restore her access to the family foundation. Stop the forensic audit."
Mark stared at the screen.
The voice continued.
"You have until midnight."
Then Peter looked directly into the camera.
"Mark, don't do it."
Someone struck him from behind.
The video cut.
Elena covered her mouth.
Ruiz replayed the final three seconds.
"Wait."
He increased the volume.
Behind Peter's breathing was a low mechanical bell.
Elena recognized it.
She had heard the same sound every summer when Mark took Clara to the family's old lake property.
"That's the boat lift," she said.
May you like
Mark looked at her.
"At the Lake Geneva house."
