Chapter 10 - The Wrong Visitor Takes the Bait
Jenna’s daughter was seventeen.
Her name was Ava.
She had gone to school that morning and never arrived.
Jenna had spent hours believing Ava skipped class after an argument.
Then Mark sent a photograph.
Ava tied to a chair in an unfinished room.
No visible injuries.
Terrified.
He told Jenna to feed him information or her daughter would disappear.
Jenna broke down when Detective Ortiz reached her apartment.
“I didn’t help him before today,” she said. “I swear.”
Ortiz asked the question carefully.
“Did you ever give him Ethan’s travel schedule?”
“All the time. He was COO.”
“Noah’s bus schedule?”
Jenna covered her face.
“He asked last week what time Ethan usually got home because he said he wanted to surprise him for his birthday. I mentioned the bus because I said Ethan had started trying to be there when Noah arrived.”
Ethan heard this through a secure police call.
The message with Noah’s photo had not required long-term surveillance.
Mark had used ordinary details gathered from people who trusted him.
That was how he worked.
He did not break into systems first.
He broke into relationships.
Police traced Jenna’s message through a temporary relay but got a partial location near Riverfront Tower.
Construction sites surrounded the district.
Dozens of unfinished rooms.
Too many places to hide one frightened teenager.
Then Ava herself created an opening.
She managed to send a single text from her smartwatch before Mark noticed it.
Not words.
A photograph.
Concrete floor.
Red pipe.
Yellow chalk number: 14-B.
Ethan recognized it.
Riverfront Tower, fourteenth floor, mechanical corridor B.
Ortiz mobilized officers.
Ethan stayed behind with Noah and Emma under guard.
He hated it.
Noah understood.
“Going there won’t help her.”
Ethan looked at him.
“When did you become smarter than me?”
Noah gave the smallest shrug.
“When you got busy.”
The joke hurt and healed at the same time.
Forty minutes later, Ortiz called.
Ava was safe.
Mark was not there.
Police found a chair, zip ties, and a burner phone.
They also found the missing white music box.
Empty.
Mark had taken it from the house and opened it.
He had found no memory card.
That meant he still believed the second record existed somewhere.
And now he knew the police might have it.
Claire, still in custody, finally asked for a lawyer.
Then she asked to speak to Ethan.
Ortiz advised against a private conversation but allowed a recorded interview with Ethan present behind one-way glass.
Claire looked different without the burgundy dress.
She wore a gray county sweatshirt.
Her face looked smaller.
Older.
When the detective asked why she had entered Ethan’s life, Claire stared at the table.
“Mark found me first.”
“How?”
“I worked at a hotel bar near the airport.”
“He recruited you?”
“He knew Ethan was grieving. He knew Ethan traveled. He told me what to say.”
Ethan’s fists clenched behind the glass.
Claire continued.
“He said I could help stabilize the family.”
“What did he offer?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
“For what?”
“To make Ethan depend on me.”
“And the children?”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“At first, nothing. I was supposed to be good to them.”
“What changed?”
“Sarah’s letter.”
Ethan leaned closer.
Claire said Mark learned Noah had a letter from his mother.
He became convinced Sarah had left instructions leading to evidence.
He ordered Claire to search Noah’s room.
When she found references to the rabbit, Mark’s fear changed into obsession.
“He said if Noah kept interfering, I had to make Ethan think Noah was dangerous.”
“How?”
“Broken things. Missing medication. Lies. Anything.”
“Did you hurt Noah?”
Claire did not answer.
The silence did.
“Did you hurt Emma?”
Claire began crying.
“I scared her. I held the pillow close. I thought if she cried hard enough Noah would come running. He always came.”
The detective stared.
“You used the baby to lure Noah?”
Claire nodded.
Ethan closed his eyes.
It was worse than uncontrolled rage.
It had been planned.
“Why?” the detective asked.
“To catch him entering the nursery. Mark wanted video of Noah looking unstable around the baby.”
The room went cold.
Claire whispered, “But Noah put up his camera first.”
Ethan looked through the glass at his son’s invisible courage.
Then Claire added one more sentence.
“There’s something Mark doesn’t know.”
The detective waited.
May you like
Claire lifted her eyes.
“I found the second record before he did.”
