Chapter 6 - The Sinister Mother-in-Law’s Arrival
“You’re sure Elena suspects nothing?” Evelyn asked, slipping off her designer coat and hanging it on the rack. “If that girl gets even the slightest hint that something is wrong, she won't hesitate to cause a public scene. She has her father’s stubborn cop blood in her veins.”
“She doesn't suspect a single thing, Mother,” Mark sneered, pouring two glasses of scotch from the bar cart. “She thinks Lucas died of heart failure during delivery. She’s completely broken. In a few weeks, once the grief settles, I’ll suggest we move out of state. We’ll take the two million dollars, buy a beachfront villa in Florida, and leave this entire chapter behind us.”
“And what about Dr. Harrison?” Evelyn asked, taking a sip from her glass. “Can we trust him to keep his mouth shut?”
“Harrison has half a million reasons to stay quiet,” Mark chuckled coldly. “If this ever came to light, his medical license would be the least of his worries—he’d spend the rest of his life in federal prison. He’s booked on a flight to Switzerland next Tuesday. Once he leaves the country, there’s no paper trail connecting us to the Hendersons.”
I stood at the top of the stairs, gripping the wooden railing so hard my knuckles turned white. The sheer, unadulterated evil of these two people made my head spin. They were talking about selling my baby like they were negotiating the sale of a used car.
My phone vibrated softly in my robe pocket.
I backed into the master bedroom, closed the door without making a sound, and pulled out the screen.
It was a text from Chief Vance:
We have the tracker online. Judy delivered the device.
Lucas is located at: 442 Ravenridge Crest Road—the private estate of Julian Henderson.
The perimeter is heavily gated with private armed security.
A federal warrant has been fast-tracked by Judge Morris, but we need hard proof that the child inside the estate is indeed Lucas before SWAT can breach the gates without Henderson’s lawyers blocking us with an injunction.
Stay where you are, Elena. We are setting up a perimeter around your house to arrest Mark and Evelyn right now.
I stared at the message.
Before SWAT can breach the gates…
If the police surrounded Mark’s house right now, Evelyn or Mark would instantly hit the panic button. One single phone call to Julian Henderson, and the billionaire could smuggle Lucas out through his private helicopter pad before the police could legally cross the estate perimeter.
I couldn't let that happen. Lucas was only three days old. Every second he remained in the hands of those monsters put his life in mortal jeopardy.
I looked down at the birthmark on the palm of my own hand—a distinct, tiny crescent-shaped mark near the base of the thumb.
When Lucas was born, in the single blurry second before they knocked me unconscious with anesthesia, I remembered seeing his tiny left wrist. He had inherited the exact same crescent-shaped birthmark. Leo didn't have it. Lucas did.
I was the only person alive who could look at that baby and provide irrefutable, eyewitness maternal identification on the spot.
I quickly replied to Chief Vance:
Mark and Evelyn are downstairs right now discussing the offshore payment. Send your units to arrest them, but don't let Henderson know. I am coming to Ravenridge myself.
May you like
Before Arthur could reply to forbid me, I locked my phone, pulled off my hospital slippers, and put on running shoes and a dark winter coat.
I walked into the nursery, picked up sleeping baby Leo, wrapped him securely in a warm carrier against my chest, and opened the back window of the guest bedroom that led onto the low garage roof.
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