Chapter 7 - THE EMPTY BED
Ethan stopped functioning for about three seconds.
Then he became noise.
“Where is she?”
Nurses moved around him.
Security pulled footage.
Rosa woke groggy.
She remembered a man in scrubs.
He said Sophie needed imaging.
Rosa questioned him.
Then nothing.
Her water bottle tested positive for a sedative.
Hospital cameras caught the man pushing Sophie in a wheelchair.
Cap.
Mask.
Badge.
He used a staff elevator.
In the parking garage, another camera caught his face.
Marcus.
Ethan watched the clip once.
Sophie sat in the wheelchair.
Awake.
She looked back toward the camera.
Then did something strange.
She dropped one shoe.
A pink sneaker.
Quinn paused.
“She did that on purpose.”
Ethan knew.
Sophie hated losing shoes.
The next camera showed the garage exit.
Another sneaker on the pavement.
Then Marcus’s SUV disappeared.
“She’s leaving us a trail.”
Ethan’s voice broke.
Quinn ordered traffic cameras checked.
Ava stood beside Ethan.
“She’s smart.”
“She’s four.”
“I know.”
“She shouldn’t have to be smart like this.”
Ava looked away.
No argument.
Caleb called.
He had been hiding after the house fight.
Quinn traced him while they spoke.
He did not care.
“Marcus has a place in Topanga.”
“Address.”
“I don’t know the number.”
“Then you’re useless.”
Ethan regretted it immediately.
Caleb said.
“Blue gate.”
A pause.
“Dead eucalyptus tree.”
Then he hung up.
Police found three properties matching.
One belonged to a shell company tied to Marcus.
Teams moved.
Ethan was ordered to stay back.
He did not.
Quinn caught him getting into his car.
“If you follow us, I will have you detained.”
“My daughter is there.”
“And if Marcus sees your car, he may panic.”
That stopped him.
Barely.
He sat in the hospital parking garage with Ava.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Thirty-four.
Then Quinn called.
The Topanga house was empty.
One chair.
One blanket.
Sophie’s hospital bracelet on the floor.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Ava suddenly grabbed his arm.
“What?”
She pointed at the photograph Quinn had texted from the scene.
On the wall behind the chair was a child’s drawing.
Blue ocean.
A boat.
Three stick figures.
Sophie had drawn it.
At the bottom she had written one crooked word.
DADDY.
Ava zoomed in.
“That’s not just a boat.”
“What?”
“I know that boat.”
Her face went pale.
“Marcus used it when my father died.”
Ethan stared.
“Where is it?”
“Marina del Rey.”
Then Ava whispered.
May you like
“He’s taking Sophie out to sea.”
