Chapter 4 - THE ABDUCTIONTheo arrived at St. Clare's seven minutes too late.
The courtyard was empty.
Lily's wheelchair lay overturned near the gate.
Benny was gone.
Theo ran.
“LILY!”
No answer.
A caregiver was crying beside the entrance.
“They took her.”
Theo grabbed the gate.
“Who?”
“A black van.”
“License plate?”
She shook her head.
Theo's security team spread through the neighborhood.
Then Theo noticed something beneath the wheelchair.
A small pink ribbon.
Lily's.
And beside it, a muddy footprint.
Theo picked up the ribbon.
His phone rang.
“Mr. Walker.”
The same voice.
“She's alive.”
Theo's entire body tightened.
“Where is she?”
“You're going to bring us something.”
“What?”
“The original Walker file.”
Theo froze.
“What file?”
“The one your mother hid.”
Theo said nothing.
“You have twenty-four hours.”
“And if I don't?”
A pause.
“You'll receive Benny one piece at a time.”
The line went dead.
Theo's security chief looked horrified.
“Sir…”
Theo raised a hand.
“Find them.”
“We're already tracing—”
“No.”
Theo looked toward the empty road.
“Don't trace the phone.”
He opened his laptop.
“Trace the photograph.”
His chief frowned.
Theo explained:
“The photo was taken by a device. Metadata. GPS. Cloud synchronization. Whoever sent it made one mistake.”
He smiled coldly.
“They photographed Lily near the gate.”
Twenty minutes later, they had a location.
An abandoned warehouse.
Theo went alone.
He entered through a side door.
“Lily?”
A light switched on.
Lily sat in a chair.
Benny rested in her lap.
A man stood behind her.
Theo recognized him.
Richard Hale.
Former chairman of the Walker Foundation.
The man everyone believed had retired fifteen years ago.
“You,” Theo whispered.
Richard smiled.
“Your family always had such terrible memories.”
Theo stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
“You brought the file?”
“No.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“Then you're not as smart as your reputation suggests.”
Theo looked at Lily.
She was frightened, but her eyes were strangely calm.
Then she whispered:
“Mr. Walker…”
“Yes?”
“Look at Benny.”
Theo did.
The teddy bear's missing eye was gone.
Lily smiled faintly.
“He has another key.”
Richard turned sharply.
“What did you say?”
Lily's hand moved beneath Benny's torn ear.
She pulled out a tiny flash drive.
Richard lunged.
Theo moved first.
He tackled him.
Security stormed through the warehouse.
Within seconds, Richard was restrained.
Theo grabbed Lily.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Mom said you would come.”
Theo stared.
“Your mother knew?”
Lily nodded.
“She said you always come back for family.”
Theo hugged her.
For the first time in fifteen years, he cried.
Not because he was weak.
Because he had finally found his family.
But the flash drive contained something far worse.
A video.
May you like
Recorded by Evan.
And in it, Evan named the person behind everything.
