Chapter 9 - The Empty Hotel Room
Richard drove faster than Anna had ever seen him drive.
Police were already at the hotel when they arrived.
The hallway outside the suite was crowded with uniforms.
One security guard had been found unconscious in the service stairwell.
The second was missing.
Leo's room was empty.
Anna stopped in the doorway.
His wooden train lay on the carpet.
For a second, she could not breathe.
Richard picked up the train and turned on Tom.
"You said he was safe."
Tom's face crumpled. "I know."
"You said your people were clean."
"They were."
"One is gone!"
"Richard!" Anna shouted.
He stopped.
She pointed at the baby monitor.
A tiny green light was blinking.
The monitor had local memory.
Tom pulled the card.
The recording showed Leo asleep at 7:03.
At 7:11, the suite door opened.
The missing guard entered.
He was not alone.
A woman followed him wearing a hotel housekeeper uniform and a baseball cap.
She approached Leo's crib.
Anna leaned toward the screen.
"That's Vanessa."
Vanessa lifted Leo.
He woke and began to cry.
Then she did something none of them expected.
She covered his mouth with one hand and whispered urgently:
"Shh. I'm getting you out before Nathan gets here."
Richard stared.
Vanessa carried Leo into the hall.
Thirty seconds later, another man entered the room.
Nathan.
He looked at the empty crib and swore.
Anna felt the story change again.
Vanessa had taken Leo.
But apparently not for Nathan.
Richard's phone rang.
Vanessa.
He answered immediately.
"Where is my son?"
"Safe for the next ten minutes."
"If you touch him-"
"Richard, listen to me. Nathan is not working for your mother."
"I saw you on his boat."
"He had Margaret. He wanted the trust documents. I got off before the boat left."
"Where is Leo?"
"I'm not telling you until you stop using Tom's security network."
Tom stepped closer.
"Why?"
Vanessa heard him.
"Because Nathan owns one of Tom's men. Maybe more."
Tom's face tightened.
"Who?"
"The missing guard."
"You used him to take Leo."
"I paid him more."
Richard's voice dropped.
"You drugged my son. You nearly let him fall down a staircase. Do not ask me to trust you."
Vanessa was silent for a moment.
Then she said, "I know."
No excuse.
No tears.
"I was trying to get Anna fired because Nathan told me she had something Julia left behind. I thought it was paperwork. I thought this was about money."
Anna stared at the phone.
"And now?"
"Now I know why Julia hid the red envelope."
"Why?"
Vanessa took a shaky breath.
"Because she knew Nathan was going to kill her."
Richard closed his eyes.
"Where is Leo?"
"At the old beach house Julia used after she left the clinic."
Richard went still.
"What beach house?"
Vanessa whispered:
"The one your mother paid to keep off the family books."
---
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