Chapter 7 - The Woman in the Blue VanThe vehicle belonged to a private home-care company called Haven House Services.
Its registered owner was a woman named Patricia Cole.
Detective Brooks obtained the business information and contacted the company.
Patricia answered the telephone shortly after five.
She claimed that one of her employees had been hired to transport a child to a temporary care residence.
Brooks asked who authorized the arrangement.
“Mrs. Evelyn Whitmore,” Patricia replied.
“Where was the child taken?”
“I need to check the paperwork.”
The detective's voice sharpened.
“A five-year-old girl has been reported missing. We need the destination now.”
Patricia fell silent.
Then she gave an address.
It belonged to a private property outside Willow Creek, a neighboring town about thirty miles away.
Brooks dispatched local officers and arranged for a deputy to accompany her.
Sarah insisted on going.
Daniel reached for his car keys.
“We'll follow.”
Brooks stopped them.
“I understand, but please stay available while officers verify the location. We don't want anyone arriving unexpectedly and complicating a possible recovery.”
Sarah wanted to argue.
Instead, she asked the only question that mattered.
“Will you call me the moment you find her?”
“Yes.”
The next forty minutes felt longer than Sarah's entire life.
She remained in the library with Daniel, staring at her silent phone.
They barely spoke.
Eventually Daniel said, “I should've listened.”
Sarah looked at him.
He sat on the opposite sofa, his elbows on his knees.
“When Mom said you were too protective, I agreed with her. When she criticized your parenting, I told you to let it go.”
Sarah rubbed her eyes.
“You made me feel like I was imagining things.”
“I know.”
“She told Mia that I would abandon her.”
Daniel looked up.
“She said that?”
“Zoe heard her.”
He closed his eyes.
“I don't know how to fix what I've done.”
“Find our daughter. Then decide what kind of husband and father you're going to be.”
His phone vibrated.
Both of them jumped.
It was his company's chief financial officer, Andrew Mercer.
Daniel rejected the call.
A message appeared immediately.
URGENT: BOARD SIGNATURE REQUIRED TONIGHT.
Daniel stared at the screen.
He had forgotten about the emergency meeting scheduled for six.
Whitmore Development Group was facing a difficult refinancing deadline, and Evelyn had been unusually insistent that Daniel attend.
Sarah noticed his expression.
“What?”
“Nothing important.”
He showed her the message.
She read it.
“Why does the board need your signature tonight?”
“It's a financing resolution.”
“Can it wait?”
“Probably.”
But Daniel sounded uncertain.
Another message arrived.
Your mother says the family trust situation has changed. Call immediately.
Daniel frowned.
“What family trust situation?”
Sarah remembered Richard's letter.
Then the child-sized room.
Then Evelyn's insistence that Mia needed to be separated from her mother.
A terrible suspicion took shape.
“Daniel,” she whispered, “what happens to your company shares if you can't serve as trustee?”
“Why?”
“Just answer me.”
He considered the question.
“My father created a succession structure. If I become incapacitated or removed under the trust's terms, a successor trustee takes over certain voting rights.”
“Who?”
He looked at her.
“My mother is first on the list.”
Before Sarah could respond, Detective Brooks called.
Sarah answered on the first ring.
“Did you find her?”
The detective's voice was controlled.
“We located the property.”
Sarah stood.
“Is Mia there?”
There was a pause.
“Mrs. Whitmore, the building is empty.”
Sarah's knees nearly gave way.
Brooks continued.
“But we found evidence a child was there recently. And we found something else.”
“What?”
“An appointment form for an emergency psychological evaluation.”
Sarah could barely breathe.
“Whose evaluation?”
May you like
The detective answered quietly.
“Yours.”
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