Chapter 12 - Get Ethan Out
I sat straight up.
“What?”
Chloe’s voice shook.
“Ross didn’t come here alone.”
I looked toward the bedroom door.
“Who’s with him?”
“I don’t know his name. Victor always called him Mercer.”
Mark appeared in the hall.
He saw my face.
“What happened?”
I put Chloe on speaker.
Mark went pale.
“Mercer?”
Chloe heard him.
“Mark?”
“Yes.”
“You know him?”
Mark whispered, “Security consultant. Tall. Bald. Scar behind his ear.”
Chloe exhaled.
“That’s him.”
My pulse roared.
“Why would he come here?”
“Because Victor thinks the original ledger is still with you.”
“It isn’t.”
“He doesn’t know that.”
Mark grabbed his keys.
“We’re leaving.”
We got Ethan dressed in less than two minutes.
As I zipped his jacket, he asked, “Are we going to Denise’s?”
“Yes.”
“Can I bring my dinosaur?”
I almost broke.
“Absolutely.”
We left through the back door because police had already told us never to use a predictable exit if we believed someone was watching the house.
Halfway across Mrs. Keller’s yard, Mark stopped.
A dark SUV was parked at the end of the alley.
Engine running.
“Laura, go.”
I grabbed Ethan’s hand.
The SUV rolled forward.
Mark stepped between it and us.
I screamed his name.
The vehicle accelerated for one terrifying second, then swerved and disappeared down the alley as sirens approached from the opposite street.
Police had been monitoring our address since Chloe’s call.
They found the SUV abandoned ten blocks away.
Inside was a folder.
Photographs of our house.
Mark leaving work.
Me at the supermarket.
Ethan walking into school.
I had to sit down when I saw that one.
Owens arrived twenty minutes later.
“We’re moving you somewhere secure.”
“No argument,” I said.
Mark nodded.
Then Owens pulled me aside.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“Chloe says Victor Dane isn’t just covering up financial crimes.”
I stared at her.
“What else?”
Owens lowered her voice.
“She says Nina Cole was going to testify that Victor ordered Ross to force Chloe off the road the night she disappeared.”
My skin went cold.
“But Chloe wasn’t in the car.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
May you like
Owens looked toward Mark.
“Nina.”
