Chapter 6 - THE BOYS
I don't remember driving back to Savannah.
I remember Elise screaming.
I remember running into the school.
I remember teachers crying.
I remember police officers.
But most of all, I remember one sentence.
Someone took them from the playground.
There were cameras.
There were witnesses.
There was a black SUV.
And no one had seen the driver's face.
I felt the world closing around me.
Elise grabbed my shirt.
"This is your fault."
I didn't defend myself.
She was right to be afraid.
My family had found us.
And now they had taken my sons.
I called every security contact I had.
Within twenty minutes, my company had cameras from surrounding businesses.
One vehicle appeared repeatedly.
A black SUV.
I enlarged the license plate.
My security chief went silent.
"What?"
"Mr. Caldwell..."
"Tell me."
"The vehicle is registered to a Caldwell subsidiary."
My blood ran cold.
"Warren."
We traced it to an abandoned warehouse.
Police surrounded the building.
I wanted to go in first.
The police commander stopped me.
"You stay behind us."
"I have two children in there."
"We know."
The door opened.
We entered.
Nothing.
Empty crates.
Dust.
A single chair.
And a stuffed rabbit lying on the floor.
Elise screamed.
"Noah!"
We searched every room.
Nothing.
Then I noticed something.
A security camera.
Still blinking.
Someone wanted us to find it.
We accessed the footage.
It showed Miles and Noah being led into a van.
But they weren't crying.
They weren't fighting.
They were walking with someone they trusted.
I froze.
The person turned toward the camera.
Brooke.
Elise stared at the screen.
"No."
I called Brooke.
She answered immediately.
"Adrian?"
"Where are my sons?"
Silence.
"Brooke!"
"I didn't take them."
"You're on camera."
"I was trying to get them away from Warren."
"What?"
"He was going to take them somewhere."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are they with you?"
"They aren't."
I looked at the screen.
The image zoomed in.
The woman wasn't Brooke.
It was someone who looked remarkably similar.
My mother.
I felt sick.
"My mother."
Brooke whispered,
"Adrian, listen."
I heard her crying.
"Your mother has Lily."
I froze.
"What?"
"She found her first."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
"At the apartment in Savannah."
I ran outside.
Elise followed.
We drove there.
The apartment door was open.
Inside, we found Lily.
She was sitting on the floor.
Alone.
She looked up.
Her gray-blue eyes met mine.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered,
"You're Adrian."
My throat tightened.
"Yes."
She stood.
"I've been waiting for you."
"Where are the boys?"
Her expression changed.
"Your mother took them."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you here?"
Lily looked at me.
"Because she wanted me to give you something."
She handed me a flash drive.
"What is it?"
"Proof."
"Of what?"
"Everything."
I looked at Elise.
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"My adoptive father died trying to expose your family."
She swallowed.
"He left me instructions."
"What instructions?"
She whispered,
"If Adrian Caldwell ever finds you, give him the drive."
I looked at the tiny device.
"What is on it?"
Lily's voice dropped.
"The truth about who ordered the divorce."
I stared at her.
"Who?"
She looked at me.
"Your mother."
Then the building's lights went out.
A gunshot sounded somewhere downstairs.
Lily grabbed my arm.
"He's here."
"Who?"
May you like
She whispered,
"Warren."
