Chapter 7 - What Serena Was Afraid Of
Victor nearly crushed the phone in his hand.
“Where is my son?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Serena’s breathing shook through the line.
“I was supposed to scare Clara. That’s all.”
Clara went cold.
Victor’s eyes found hers.
Serena continued, “Daniel told me Clara was getting too close to Ethan. He said if she was fired, everything would go back to normal.”
“You dragged my son across a floor.”
“I lost my temper.”
“You drugged him.”
“No. I gave him what Daniel told me was prescribed.”
Clara stepped toward the phone. “And the fake reports with my name?”
A pause.
“I signed some things. I didn’t write them.”
Victor’s voice cracked like ice. “Why?”
“Because Daniel said once we were married, Ethan’s trust would be protected from your enemies.”
Marcus muttered, “That’s not how the trust works.”
Serena began crying harder.
“I know that now.”
“Where are you?” Victor asked.
“I can’t tell you.”
“Serena.”
“If Daniel finds me, he’ll kill me.”
The call ended.
Marcus checked the phone’s metadata. The call had bounced through an internet service and gave no location.
Clara looked at Victor. “She’s lying about something.”
“Yes.”
“But not everything.”
Victor’s face was hollow. “You think Daniel took Ethan?”
“I think Daniel wants us to believe Serena did. Then Serena wants us to believe Daniel did.”
Marcus frowned. “So who do you believe?”
Clara looked at the empty gym.
“The person Ethan was scared of before any of this started.”
Victor turned sharply.
“What do you mean?”
Clara swallowed.
“For the last month, whenever Daniel entered the nursery, Ethan hid behind me.”
Victor stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought he was shy.”
A sound came from the hallway.
A child’s cough.
Clara ran.
Behind a locked music room door, they found Ethan sitting alone on the floor.
Alive.
May you like
And beside him lay Daniel Kline.
Bleeding from the head.
