Chapter 16 - THE EVIDENCE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
The police arrived minutes later. Then Daniel. Then Elena.
Elena fell apart when she heard. She screamed and collapsed, sobbing that she had lost him again. Daniel held her up, his face stone white, his eyes burning with a terrible, cold rage.
“They will pay,” he said quietly. “Whoever took him. Whatever Margaret planned. They will pay.”
The police searched the house. They dusted for prints. They took descriptions. They issued an Amber Alert. But hours passed. Then a day. Then another. No leads. No ransom note. No contact.
Margaret denied everything when questioned. She sat in her prison cell, smiling calmly, and said simply: “What was lost has been returned.”
Two days after Noah was taken, the security system company sent over footage from the cameras.
Daniel and I sat in the living room together, watching the screen. Elena sat beside us, her hands clasped tightly over her mouth.
We watched the man enter through the broken patio door. We watched him walk upstairs. We watched him carry Noah out.
And then—just as he reached the car—he turned his face toward the camera. Just for a second.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Freeze.”
The image paused. The man’s face was partially hidden—but there was something familiar about the jawline. The eyes.
Daniel stared at the screen. Then he stood up and walked slowly toward it. He leaned closer until his nose almost touched the display.
And then he whispered a name I had never heard.
“Elias.”
“Who is Elias?” I asked.
Daniel turned to me, his face pale.
“Margaret’s nephew. Her sister’s son. He has been working for her for years. Doing her dirty work. If Margaret sent anyone… she sent him.”
Daniel grabbed his phone and dialed a number. He spoke fast and urgent. When he hung up, he looked at us.
“I know where he is. He owns a cabin deep in the woods north of the city. Margaret used to send us there as children. He took him there.”
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He grabbed his jacket and reached for mine.
“Come on. We are getting our son back.”
