Chapter 9 - Ethan Sets a Dangerous Trap
Nothing else in the nursery had been touched.
Not the jewelry.
Not the tablet.
Not the silver picture frames.
Only the old white music box was missing.
Detective Ortiz looked at the window lock.
No damage.
“Someone opened it from inside.”
Ethan stared toward the hallway.
They searched the entire house.
No intruder.
No hidden door.
No broken entry point.
Then one of the security guards checked the basement.
A narrow service door behind the utility room stood unlocked.
Claire knew that door.
So did Mark.
So did the housekeeping staff.
But a small camera above the back corridor had caught a figure leaving.
Baseball cap.
Gray sweatshirt.
White sneakers with a black stripe.
The same shoes from the nursery reflection.
Lauren looked sick.
“They’re copying me.”
Ortiz nodded.
The plan was obvious now.
Mark wanted Lauren blamed for breaking in and stealing the music box.
But why steal something only after planting evidence inside the rabbit?
Noah answered before the adults did.
“The music box matters more.”
Ethan looked at him.
Noah had been quiet for nearly an hour.
Now he pointed toward an old family photograph hanging beside the nursery door.
Sarah was eight months pregnant.
Noah stood beside her holding the blue rabbit.
On the shelf behind them sat the white music box.
Its lid was open.
Inside, reflected in a small mirror, was a black square.
Ethan took the photograph from the wall.
“What is that?”
Noah squinted.
“A memory card?”
Ortiz enlarged a photo of the picture with her phone.
It did look like one.
Sarah had used an old non-Wi-Fi baby monitor.
The kind that recorded locally.
The music box had not held the second record.
It had hidden the device that held it.
Whoever stole the box believed the card was still inside.
Ethan looked at Noah.
“But Claire moved the monitor months ago.”
“Maybe Mom put the card somewhere else.”
Sarah’s note said: Look for the second record.
Not the second device.
Ethan’s mind raced.
Mark believed the evidence was still inside the music box.
That belief could be used.
Ortiz saw his expression.
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re about to suggest baiting him.”
Ethan looked at her.
“If he thinks we still have the card—”
“No civilians running operations.”
“I can post something harmless.”
“No.”
Noah spoke quietly.
“What if he hears it by accident?”
Ortiz looked at him.
Noah continued.
“Mark always calls Dad’s assistant.”
Ethan frowned.
His executive assistant, Jenna Cole, had worked for him for six years.
Mark often contacted Jenna for schedules, travel changes, and meeting documents.
Ethan felt another chill.
The threat sender knew Noah’s bus stop.
The person knew Ethan’s travel.
Jenna knew both.
Ortiz asked, “Does your assistant know Mark is being investigated?”
“Everyone at the company knows police want him.”
“Call her.”
Ethan did.
Jenna answered immediately.
He put the phone on speaker.
“Mr. Hayes, thank God. Are the kids okay?”
“They’re safe.”
“I saw the news.”
“Jenna, I need you to cancel everything this week.”
“Of course.”
“And one more thing. The police found something Sarah left behind.”
Ortiz’s eyes flashed a warning.
Ethan continued carefully.
“A memory card.”
Silence.
Then Jenna said, “What was on it?”
Ethan exchanged a look with Ortiz.
“I don’t know yet. They’re analyzing it tomorrow morning.”
Another pause.
“Where?”
“The county digital lab.”
Ortiz silently mouthed, Enough.
Ethan ended the call.
Noah looked at him.
“Now what?”
“Now we wait.”
They did not wait long.
Seven minutes later, the county digital lab received an anonymous bomb threat.
Ortiz’s phone rang almost instantly.
When she hung up, her expression was grim.
“Someone reacted.”
Ethan looked toward the window.
“Mark?”
“Maybe.”
Noah shook his head.
“No.”
They turned to him.
“Mark wouldn’t call that fast.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he always makes Claire do things.”
Noah pointed toward Ethan’s phone.
“But Jenna knew right away.”
Ethan stared at him.
Then a new message appeared on his screen.
It came from Jenna.
I’m sorry.
May you like
A second message followed.
He has my daughter.
