Chapter 7 - THE SECOND TIME THEY TOOK MIA
Elena could not remember getting into Detective Hale’s car.
She remembered the siren.
She remembered Michael shouting something from the back of another police vehicle.
She remembered calling Mia’s name even though her daughter was miles away.
The safe residence had been chosen precisely because nobody outside the court and police team was supposed to know where it was.
Rachel knew.
Rachel had helped choose it.
“She planned this,” Elena whispered.
Hale drove through a red light.
Detective Grant was on three phones at once.
“We have the vehicle. Black Mercedes. Registered to Donovan Legal Group.”
Elena looked up.
“Where?”
“Traffic camera caught it heading east eleven minutes ago.”
“Toward what?”
Grant’s fingers flew across the screen.
“The private airport.”
Elena’s stomach turned.
“No.”
Hale accelerated.
Elena called Rachel again.
This time, she answered.
“Elena.”
Mia was crying in the background.
Elena almost stopped breathing.
“Mia!”
“Mommy!”
Elena pressed the phone against her ear.
“Baby, I’m here.”
Rachel’s voice cut in.
“She’s fine.”
“If you touch her…”
“I am not Clara.”
“No. You’re worse.”
Rachel was silent.
Elena continued.
“You sat beside me in court.”
“I did my job.”
“You helped me get Mia back.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara was becoming unpredictable.”
Elena felt sick.
“You needed Mia away from Clara.”
“We needed the shares protected.”
“We?”
Rachel sighed.
“You still don’t understand how large this is.”
“Explain it.”
“Elena, Bellweather employs fourteen thousand people. If Adrian’s files become public overnight, the company collapses.”
“So?”
“So pensions vanish. Projects stop. Thousands lose jobs.”
“And that justifies murder?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You helped Charles.”
“I helped prevent panic.”
“My husband is dead.”
Rachel went quiet.
Elena’s voice broke.
“You looked me in the eye while I cried about him.”
“I didn’t know they would kill Adrian.”
The same words Michael had used.
Elena almost laughed.
Apparently nobody knew.
Nobody knew, yet everyone had taken exactly the actions that placed Adrian on that road.
“What do you want?”
“The flash drive.”
“And if I give it to you?”
“Mia comes back.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Hale motioned for her to keep Rachel talking.
“Where?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Bellweather’s old river warehouse.”
Hale immediately sent the address to tactical units.
“Bring the original drive.”
“What guarantees Mia is safe?”
“You have my word.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“Your word is worthless.”
“Then consider this. Charles does not want Mia hurt.”
“Because she controls twelve percent of his company.”
“Yes.”
The honesty startled Elena.
“Then why take her?”
“Because you stopped being controllable.”
The line disconnected.
Elena looked at Hale.
“I’m going in.”
“No.”
“She asked for me.”
“We can stage it.”
“No.”
“Elena, this is not a movie.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“And going in without a plan could get both of you killed.”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I lost Adrian while I was sitting eighteen inches away from him.”
Hale said nothing.
“I woke up and Mia was gone.”
Her voice shook.
“I will not sit somewhere safe while someone takes her from me again.”
Hale stared at her.
Then finally nodded.
“But you follow every instruction I give you.”
The warehouse stood beside a black river on the industrial edge of town.
Broken windows.
Rusting steel.
Abandoned loading docks.
Elena entered through the main door carrying a flash drive inside her closed fist.
A wire rested beneath her blouse.
Police tactical teams surrounded the building.
But Elena felt utterly alone.
“Mia?”
Her voice echoed.
“Mommy!”
Elena turned.
Mia sat in a chair near the center of the warehouse.
She wasn’t tied.
Rachel stood beside her.
And behind Rachel stood Charles Voss.
Elena had seen him dozens of times.
At company Christmas parties.
At Adrian’s funeral.
Once at Mia’s fourth birthday.
He had brought a pink bicycle.
Now he wore a charcoal coat and held a pistol at his side.
Elena stopped.
“Mia, look at me.”
The little girl was crying.
“Mommy.”
“You’re okay.”
Charles smiled faintly.
“She has your stubbornness.”
Elena stared at him.
“You killed Adrian.”
Charles’s smile disappeared.
“Adrian killed himself.”
“You forced our car off the road.”
“He made choices.”
“So did you.”
Rachel whispered, “Charles, get the drive and let them go.”
He looked at her.
Something passed between them.
Elena noticed.
Fear.
Rachel was afraid of him too.
“You told her Mia wouldn’t be hurt,” Elena said.
Charles shrugged.
“Mia is valuable.”
Elena’s stomach turned.
“My daughter is not a stock certificate.”
“To you, no.”
He extended his hand.
“The drive.”
Elena held it up.
“Let Mia walk to me.”
“Elena.”
“Do it.”
Charles glanced at Rachel.
Rachel took Mia’s hand.
“Mia, go to your mommy.”
Mia ran.
Elena dropped to her knees.
Mia crashed into her arms.
She held her.
Kissed her hair.
Counted her breaths.
Alive.
Safe.
For one precious second.
Then Charles raised the gun.
“The drive.”
Elena stood with Mia behind her.
“You’re being recorded.”
Rachel’s face went white.
Charles smiled.
“You think I came here without checking for a wire?”
Elena’s heart stopped.
He stepped forward.
“Take it off.”
She didn’t move.
Charles aimed toward her.
Rachel stepped between them.
“No.”
Charles stared.
“Move.”
“You promised.”
“I said the child would live.”
Rachel’s face changed.
“You said Elena too.”
“I changed my mind.”
For the first time, Rachel seemed to understand.
She had never been Charles’s partner.
Only another disposable tool.
Rachel looked toward Elena.
Then lunged.
She struck Charles’s arm.
The gun fired.
Mia screamed.
Elena threw herself over her daughter.
Tactical officers burst through the loading doors.
“POLICE!”
Charles grabbed Rachel by the hair and dragged her backward.
The gun pressed against her neck.
“Stay back!”
Hale entered with his weapon raised.
“Drop it, Charles.”
Charles laughed.
“No.”
Rachel was shaking.
“You’re surrounded.”
“I know.”
Charles looked at Elena.
“You think this changes Bellweather?”
Elena held Mia behind a concrete pillar.
“The files already left this building.”
Charles’s expression shifted.
Elena continued.
“The drive you wanted is a copy.”
His face went blank.
“The originals were sent to federal investigators this morning.”
That was a lie.
But Charles didn’t know.
His grip on Rachel loosened.
Just enough.
Rachel slammed her heel into his foot and dropped.
A tactical officer fired.
Charles’s gun spun across the concrete.
Officers tackled him.
Mia buried her face against Elena.
The warehouse filled with shouting.
Handcuffs.
Radios.
Rachel lay on the floor crying.
Elena stared at her.
Rachel looked up.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena’s face hardened.
“You don’t get to ask me for forgiveness.”
“I know.”
Police lifted Rachel.
Before they took her away, she whispered something.
“Elena.”
Elena didn’t answer.
“Adrian’s files contain a video.”
Elena looked at her.
“What video?”
“His final board meeting.”
“What’s on it?”
Rachel swallowed.
“Clara.”
Elena froze.
“She wasn’t only protecting Mia from Charles.”
May you like
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“She was protecting herself.”
