Chapter 9 - THE HUNT
The rest of the night passed in a blur.
Police questioned us one by one. They took my watch to download the recording. They took the letter. They photographed everything.
Sarah was led away in handcuffs before dawn. She did not fight. She did not protest. She walked quietly, head down, as if she had expected this moment for years.
But Mr. Hale was gone.
The police searched the grounds. They searched his quarters. They searched his known associates. They found nothing. He had vanished like smoke.
By mid-morning, the house was filled with strangers—detectives, officers, people from the district attorney’s office. My father stood among them, answering questions, his face stone-cold.
I stayed close to Claire. Julian remained nearby, watching every door, every window, every person who walked past.
“He will try to leave the area,” Julian said quietly to my father. “But he will not go far without money or papers. He needs resources.”
“Resources he knows inside this house,” my father said grimly.
“Exactly. Which means he may come back.”
That afternoon, the lead detective spoke to us in the parlor.
“Hale is dangerous,” she said. “Former military. Highly trained. He knows how to disappear. He knows how to fight. And he knows this property better than anyone. We have men posted at every gate, every road, every possible approach. But he is clever. If he chooses to return… he may find a way.”
My father gripped my hand. “My daughter stays with me at all times.”
“Understood. But keep all doors locked. Keep all windows secured. And if you see anything—anything at all—you call us immediately.”
She left. The house felt smaller. More fragile.
That evening, my father gathered us together—Claire, Julian, and me.
“Sarah has confessed,” he said. “She has implicated Hale completely. She has told us everything—how they planned it, how they administered the poison, how they falsified the medical reports. She says Hale convinced her she would never be caught. That Lily’s death would look like natural causes.”
Claire’s face tightened. “And Vanessa?”
“Sarah says Vanessa confronted her. She threatened to expose both of them. So Sarah and Hale… they took her. They are holding her somewhere. To use as leverage.”
My breath caught. “She is alive?”
“According to Sarah… yes. She is alive. But they are keeping her hidden. They intend to trade her freedom… for the letter and the recording.”
I thought of Vanessa—cruel, angry, desperate Vanessa. She had been wrong about my father. But she had been right about something else. Someone had killed my mother. And she had been killed for it.
“Then we have to find her,” I said.
My father looked at me. “We will, Mia. But it is dangerous.”
“Hale will hurt her,” I said. “Unless we find her first.”
Julian leaned forward. “Sarah said Hale has a safe house. A cabin in the woods near the old hunting grounds. He mentioned it once. No one else knows about it.”
My father stood. “I will take men there at first light.”
“At first light,” Julian said. “But what if he moves her before then?”
We all fell silent.
May you like
Claire looked at me. Then at my father.
“Then we go tonight,” she said.
