Chapter 17 - Missing
Emily was already running before Rachel finished reading the message.
They reached the hospital in fourteen minutes.
Henry's room was empty.
The nurse station was chaos.
Security footage showed a man in scrubs pushing Henry's wheelchair through a service elevator.
But his left hand wore a heavy gold signet ring.
Paul Bennett.
Gloria's brother.
The detective issued an alert.
Emily stood in the hospital lobby shaking with rage.
"This is because of me."
Rachel gripped her shoulders. "No. This is because they are criminals running out of options."
Tyler called.
"I think I know where Paul would take him."
"Where?"
"The old Mercer model home outside Kingston. It's been empty since the development stalled. Paul uses the garage to store equipment."
Police were notified.
Emily was told to stay at the hospital.
She lasted three minutes.
Nora drove while Emily tracked the police units through updates from the detective.
The model home sat at the end of an unfinished street beneath gray winter sky.
By the time Emily arrived, officers surrounded it.
"Paul has Henry inside," the detective said. "He claims he only wants to talk to Gloria."
"Is Henry alive?"
"We heard his voice."
A window shattered upstairs.
Everyone ducked.
No gunshot followed.
Then Emily's phone rang.
Henry's number.
She answered.
Paul's voice said, "Tell them to back off."
"Let Henry go."
"Your father ruined my sister's life. Now you're doing it again."
"My father is dead."
"Because he couldn't leave things alone."
Emily stopped breathing.
Rachel, beside her, heard it too.
Emily switched the phone to speaker.
"What did you say?"
Paul laughed shakily. "You think that boat hit a piling by accident?"
The detective's eyes widened.
"Tell me what happened."
"Robert found the transfers. Gloria asked me to scare him. That's all."
"How?"
Paul's breathing became ragged.
"I loosened the steering assembly. He wasn't supposed to die."
Emily's knees almost gave out.
Then Paul whispered, "But Daniel knew."
A loud crash sounded through the phone.
Henry shouted.
May you like
The line went dead.
And smoke began pouring from the upstairs window.
