Chapter 7 - The Breached Estate
Ethan slammed his foot onto the accelerator, sending his heavy SUV weaving through highway traffic at ninety miles per hour.
He dialed his home security chief, Marcus Vance, who was stationed inside the Greenwich compound with two armed guards.
"Marcus! Check Lily's room immediately!" Ethan roared over the speakerphone, his heart pounding frantically against his ribs.
On the third floor of the estate, Marcus Vance unsheathed his sidearm and sprinted down the carpeted hallway toward Lily's suite.
He kicked the bedroom door open, finding the nurse unconscious on the floor and the large glass window shattered wide open.
"The girl is gone, Ethan!" Marcus reported into his radio headset, his voice laced with intense panic. "They breached the perimeter from the forest!"
Outside in the dense woodland behind the property, a black windowless van sped away down a gravel service road without headlights.
Inside the cargo area, Veronica sat wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, holding a damp chemical rag over Lily's face to keep her asleep.
"Your daddy thought he was so smart," Veronica whispered cruelly, stroking the terrified girl's blonde ponytail with a cold finger.
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"Now he's going to give me every single dollar in his bank accounts if he ever wants to see you alive again," she laughed sinisterly.
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