Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO REFUSED TO DIE
I drove like a madman.
Marcus called the police while I headed toward the house.
But when I arrived, the front door was wide open.
The house was empty.
No Diane.
No Chloe.
No Natalie.
I ran upstairs.
The storage room was destroyed.
The cot overturned.
The mattress ripped open.
Natalie's scarf lay on the floor.
I picked it up.
There was blood on it.
My knees almost gave out.
Then I noticed something.
A tiny piece of paper beneath the cot.
Natalie's handwriting.
DON'T TRUST DIANE.
I stared at it.
Of course.
Diane had been pretending to help us.
But what if she had led Victor directly to Natalie?
I called her.
She answered.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie."
"I swear."
"You told him."
"No."
"Then who did?"
Silence.
"Diane."
She whispered:
"Chloe."
I froze.
"Your daughter?"
"She was afraid."
"Where is Natalie?"
"I don't know."
"Find her."
"I can't."
"Then I'll find her myself."
I hung up.
Marcus called.
"We found the car."
"Where?"
"Three miles from the clinic."
"Is she inside?"
"No."
There was a pause.
"We found something else."
"What?"
"Security footage."
We watched it.
A black SUV arrived at the clinic.
Natalie was forced inside.
But she wasn't alone.
Chloe was driving.
I stared at the screen.
My own sister-in-law had taken my wife.
Then something strange happened.
The footage showed Chloe opening the back door.
Natalie stepped out.
She wasn't being dragged.
She was walking.
And before the footage ended, Natalie leaned toward Chloe and whispered something.
Chloe started crying.
Then Natalie hugged her.
The video ended.
I stared.
"That doesn't make sense."
Marcus shook his head.
"Maybe Chloe helped her."
We tracked the SUV.
It led us to an abandoned warehouse.
I entered first.
Natalie was there.
Alive.
Sitting in a chair.
Chloe was beside her.
The moment Natalie saw me, she stood.
I ran to her.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"No."
I looked at Chloe.
"What happened?"
Chloe started crying.
"I couldn't do it."
"Do what?"
"Give her to him."
Natalie took my hand.
"She saved me."
I looked at Chloe.
"Why?"
She wiped her face.
"Because I found out what Victor did to Lucas."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
"He wasn't just taking children."
She looked at Natalie.
"He was testing experimental drugs on them."
Silence.
Natalie covered her mouth.
Chloe continued.
"Some children got sick."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Where are they?"
"North Ridge."
Marcus immediately called the authorities.
Then Chloe gave us another piece of information.
"There is a ledger."
"Where?"
"Victor keeps it in his house."
"What ledger?"
"Every payment. Every child. Every doctor."
She looked at me.
"Everything."
I asked:
"Why are you helping us now?"
She cried.
"Because Lucas was the first child."
I froze.
"What?"
"Victor didn't take him for money."
"Then why?"
Chloe looked at Natalie.
"Because of his blood."
My heart stopped.
"What does that mean?"
"He has a rare blood characteristic."
Marcus stared at her.
"Explain."
"I don't know the science."
She shook her head.
"But Victor believed Lucas could help with a treatment."
I looked at Natalie.
Then at Chloe.
"And my wife's medical records?"
Chloe whispered:
"Victor wanted to compare her genetics to Lucas's."
The room became silent.
Suddenly, the manipulated cancer diagnosis made sense.
Natalie wasn't just being robbed.
She had been turned into part of a medical experiment.
I held her tighter.
She whispered:
"Find our son."
I nodded.
"I will."
Then Chloe said something that changed everything.
"He's not at North Ridge anymore."
"Where is he?"
She looked terrified.
"Victor moved him."
"Where?"
"To the Hale estate."
I stared.
"The mansion?"
She nodded.
"And he's expecting you."
I looked at Natalie.
For six months, I had worked to build a future.
Now I had one mission.
Bring my son home.
May you like
And destroy the man who had stolen him.
:::
