Chapter 5 - THEY TOOK LILY AGAIN
Alexander did not remember leaving Greenhaven.
One moment he stood beside Catherine.
The next he was in the back of a speeding SUV, Marcus beside him, police vehicles ahead.
Catherine sat opposite him.
Her hands were shaking.
“Who took her?”
Jenkins had provided surveillance footage.
A woman arrived at the penthouse claiming to be from child services.
Her identification passed building security.
She carried court documents stating Lily needed emergency placement pending formal custody verification.
The papers were fake.
But sophisticated.
Thomas had protested.
Lily had become frightened.
The woman convinced Lily that Alexander had authorized everything.
By the time Jenkins called Marcus, she was gone.
“Who knew Lily was there?” Alexander asked.
Marcus stared at his phone.
“Your staff. Child advocate. My team. Your father.”
Catherine’s expression changed.
“Not Edmund.”
Alexander looked at her.
“What?”
“He doesn’t use women for things like that.”
“How can you possibly know?”
“Because I spent seven years learning how he works.”
Catherine closed her eyes.
“He gives orders. Someone else executes them.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Who?”
Catherine whispered a name.
“Dr. Evelyn Cross.”
Alexander frowned.
“Who is that?”
“She worked at Bennett Medical Holdings.”
Marcus began typing.
Catherine continued.
“She supervised clinical trials. I discovered she and Edmund were falsifying patient consent forms.”
“Why wasn’t she in your letter?”
“I only knew Edmund controlled her. I didn’t know how much.”
Marcus found a photograph.
Catherine pointed.
“That’s her.”
Alexander’s stomach dropped.
The woman on the penthouse surveillance video was older.
Different hair.
Glasses.
But unmistakably the same.
Marcus called police immediately.
Dr. Cross owned a property in Long Island.
They arrived just after dark.
The house was empty.
Inside, investigators found fresh food.
A child’s coat.
Lily’s.
Catherine held it against her chest.
“She was here.”
Alexander searched every room himself despite police orders.
In the basement, Marcus discovered a laptop still powered on.
One file was open.
A message addressed to Alexander.
WITHDRAW ALL COOPERATION WITH POLICE. TRANSFER THE MEDICAL HOLDINGS ARCHIVE TO THE ACCOUNT PROVIDED. CATHERINE RETURNS TO GREENHAVEN. THEN THE CHILD GOES HOME.
Alexander stared.
“They want the evidence.”
Catherine shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“They want me back.”
“I’m not sending you anywhere.”
“If it gets Lily home—”
“No.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And my daughter.”
Catherine stepped close.
“We lost seven years with her.”
“Which is why we do not lose you too.”
Marcus interrupted.
“The message contains metadata.”
“Can you trace it?”
“Maybe.”
Police cybercrime analysts began working.
Thomas was brought to a secure location.
Alexander found him sitting on a couch, furious tears streaking his cheeks.
“I should have stopped them.”
Alexander knelt.
“You are eight.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“This is not your fault.”
“I told Lily she was safe.”
Alexander pulled him into his arms.
“She will be.”
“You don’t know that.”
Thomas’s words cut because they were true.
Alexander looked at his son.
“No. I don’t.”
He refused to lie.
“But I know something else.”
“What?”
“We are not going to stop looking.”
Thomas wiped his face.
“Mom?”
Alexander turned.
Catherine stood in the doorway.
For a second, neither moved.
Thomas had been one year old when she vanished.
Most of his memories came from photographs.
Dreams.
Stories.
Yet recognition crossed his face immediately.
“Mom?”
Catherine covered her mouth.
“Oh, Thomas.”
He ran.
Catherine dropped to her knees.
Thomas slammed into her arms.
Her sob echoed through the room.
Alexander turned away, overwhelmed.
Marcus quietly stepped beside him.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Marcus nodded.
“Fair.”
Behind them, Catherine kissed Thomas’s hair again and again.
“You got so big.”
“You were in my dreams.”
“I know.”
“How?”
She held his face.
“Because I dreamed about you too.”
Thomas started crying.
“Lily is gone.”
Catherine hugged him tighter.
“We’re getting her back.”
The trace came shortly after midnight.
Dr. Cross had connected briefly through an industrial network near Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Bennett Medical Holdings once operated a private warehouse there.
Alexander remembered it.
His father used it for archived medical equipment.
Police moved cautiously.
Alexander refused to stay behind.
Catherine refused too.
The warehouse looked abandoned.
Inside, rows of empty shelving stretched into darkness.
Officers found Dr. Cross in an upstairs office.
Alone.
She raised her hands immediately.
“Where is Lily?” Alexander demanded.
Cross smiled.
“You still think I’m in charge?”
Marcus grabbed Alexander’s arm before he could move closer.
Cross looked toward Catherine.
“You should have stayed quiet.”
Catherine stared at her.
“You helped drug me.”
“I followed treatment protocols.”
“You knew I wasn’t psychotic.”
“You were inconvenient.”
Alexander’s hands curled.
“Where is my daughter?”
Cross nodded toward a monitor.
A live camera feed appeared.
Lily sat inside a small room somewhere else.
She was frightened but unharmed.
Alexander rushed toward the screen.
“Where?”
Cross smiled.
“Edmund made arrangements years ago.”
Catherine frowned.
“What arrangements?”
“If Lily was ever found, there was a contingency.”
Alexander turned slowly.
“My father knew she was alive.”
“Of course.”
Catherine looked sick.
“He spent seven years searching.”
Cross continued.
“Ruth was better at hiding the child than we expected.”
“Where is Lily?”
Cross’s expression became almost amused.
“Ask your father.”
“He’s in police custody.”
“For now.”
Marcus’s phone rang.
His face darkened.
“The guardianship injunction was suspended, but Edmund has not been arrested. He’s being questioned.”
Alexander swore.
Cross laughed.
“You still don’t understand your father.”
Catherine stepped forward.
“No. You don’t.”
Cross’s smile disappeared.
“Edmund sacrifices everyone.”
Catherine looked her directly in the eye.
“You think you’re his partner?”
Silence.
“You’re evidence.”
Cross’s face changed.
Catherine pressed.
“The moment police connect you to Lily, he says you acted alone.”
Cross looked toward the officers.
Alexander saw uncertainty.
“He already blamed you at Greenhaven,” Marcus lied smoothly.
Cross went pale.
“He what?”
Marcus shrugged.
“Said you became obsessed with Catherine.”
Cross stared.
Then something inside her collapsed.
“He promised me protection.”
Catherine’s voice softened.
“He promised everyone.”
Dr. Cross looked toward the live feed.
“Fine.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
Cross swallowed.
“Bennett Island.”
Alexander froze.
His family owned a private island off the Maine coast.
He had not visited since childhood.
Marcus stared.
“Your father sent Lily there?”
Cross nodded.
“With two men.”
Catherine closed her eyes.
Alexander immediately turned toward the door.
Then Cross shouted:
“Wait!”
He stopped.
“If Edmund realizes I talked, he’ll activate the final protocol.”
Alexander stared.
“What final protocol?”
Cross whispered:
May you like
“The house burns.”
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