Chapter 6 - Gone
Claire did not remember leaving the diner.
She remembered the roar of the freeway. Mara's voice through the speaker. Arthur shouting at someone in the background.
She remembered one sentence repeating in her head.
Sophie is gone.
A security camera showed a woman in hospital scrubs entering the Bellamy guesthouse through the service gate. She carried a clipboard and told a housekeeper she had been sent by Sophie's pediatrician.
Seven minutes later she left holding Sophie's hand.
Sophie was wearing her pink sneakers and carrying the stuffed rabbit.
"Why didn't she scream?" Arthur demanded.
Mara paused the footage.
The woman bent down to Sophie before they entered the car.
Sophie looked terrified.
"Because she was told something," Claire said.
They enhanced the audio from the gate microphone.
The woman's voice came through faintly.
"Your mommy had another episode. Your daddy said we have to hurry."
Claire closed her eyes.
They had trained Sophie to believe Claire could vanish at any moment.
An hour later, Julian's attorney called.
"Mr. Mercer categorically denies involvement."
"Put him on the phone."
"He has been advised not to speak directly with you."
Claire's voice shook. "Tell my husband if my daughter is hurt, there won't be a courthouse in this country far enough away to protect him from me."
Arthur took the phone and ended the call.
"Threats won't help."
Claire rounded on him. "Neither did your lawyers. Neither did your security. Neither did your money."
The words hit.
Arthur accepted them without defending himself.
Mara interrupted. "We got the vehicle. Stolen plates, but traffic cameras picked it up heading north on Pacific Coast Highway."
Lena, who had come back with Claire, suddenly stepped toward the screen.
"Pause."
Mara did.
Lena pointed at a sticker in the rear window.
A faded blue sailboat.
"Julian used to take Sophie to a rental house near Point Dume. He told Claire it belonged to a client."
Claire looked at her.
"It doesn't?"
"It belongs to Vivienne's brother."
They moved immediately.
Police approached from the road. Arthur's security covered the beach.
Claire was ordered to stay in the car.
She lasted thirty seconds.
Then she heard a child's scream from inside the house.
Claire ran.
A deputy grabbed for her. She slipped past him and reached the back deck just as a window shattered.
Smoke poured from the kitchen.
Someone had set the house on fire.
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Through the glass, Claire saw Sophie pounding both hands against a locked bedroom door.
And behind her, flames were climbing the curtains.
