Police split into two teams.<\/p>\n
One went toward the moving phone.<\/p>\n
The other went to the bank.<\/p>\n
I remained at the depot because Serrano made it unmistakably clear that I would be physically stopped if I attempted to follow.<\/p>\n
For once, I did not argue.<\/p>\n
My children needed police focused on finding them.<\/p>\n
Not protecting me from my own panic.<\/p>\n
I sat beside Denise and watched two dots on a map.<\/p>\n
One moved west.<\/p>\n
One remained fixed.<\/p>\n
At 9:17, the bank team arrived.<\/p>\n
At 9:19, officers entered.<\/p>\n
At 9:21, Serrano received confirmation.<\/p>\n
\u201cRuth?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarla\u2019s attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInside the bank?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was attempting to freeze the trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreeze it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently Marla authorized emergency action during her cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the stationary phone was not Ruth moving money.<\/p>\n
It had been left deliberately.<\/p>\n
A false trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the children are with the moving phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated that word.<\/p>\n
The moving signal reached the interstate.<\/p>\n
State police coordinated.<\/p>\n
A helicopter joined.<\/p>\n
Then the phone stopped.<\/p>\n
Rest area.<\/p>\n
Officers moved in.<\/p>\n
Vehicle located.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
Phone beneath the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n
No Ruth.<\/p>\n
No children.<\/p>\n
No Mrs. Weaver.<\/p>\n
Another decoy.<\/p>\n
I stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s ahead of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano did not react defensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than reassurance would have.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat aren\u2019t we seeing?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at the maps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe transport ambush.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew the route.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe destination was confidential.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen someone told her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr tracked the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re checking.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the copied key to locker 317.<\/p>\n
The photographs of my routes.<\/p>\n
The work schedules.<\/p>\n
Vaughn\u2019s family solved problems through access.<\/p>\n
Not force first.<\/p>\n
Access.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice vehicle tracker?\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano looked toward a technician.<\/p>\n
The technician began checking.<\/p>\n
I called Mrs. Weaver\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n
It went straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then Emmett\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
He had a cheap children\u2019s smartwatch we used for school pickup.<\/p>\n
Vaughn bought it.<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmmett has a watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
I told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cTracking enabled?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccount access?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVaughn set it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The technicians moved immediately.<\/p>\n
I gave them my login.<\/p>\n
The account showed no current location.<\/p>\n
Last sync:<\/p>\n
8:42 a.m.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver\u2019s building.<\/p>\n
Then the device went offline.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemoved,\u201d one technician said.<\/p>\n
Or destroyed.<\/p>\n
June had no device.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver\u2019s phone was missing.<\/p>\n
Every ordinary way to locate them had been anticipated.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered something embarrassingly small.<\/p>\n
June hated wearing coats.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver had sewn name tags into both children\u2019s winter jackets because they kept losing them at school.<\/p>\n
Not trackers.<\/p>\n
Nothing useful.<\/p>\n
My mind was grasping.<\/p>\n
Think.<\/p>\n
What did they have?<\/p>\n
Emmett\u2019s backpack.<\/p>\n
June\u2019s stuffed rabbit.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver\u2019s handbag.<\/p>\n
Shoes.<\/p>\n
Clothes.<\/p>\n
The new backpacks at Ruth\u2019s cabin.<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
Those were waiting for afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere would Ruth take them?\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise asked.<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cabin is compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarla\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWatched.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVaughn\u2019s places?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano said, \u201cWe\u2019re checking properties connected to every relative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Relative.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cElaina.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPorter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMallory\u2019s doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s being located.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocated?\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was she last seen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHer clinic yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd today?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t report.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another missing family member.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould she have the children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called Mallory at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Police answered first, then allowed her to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Elaina ever mention another property?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mallory sounded groggy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCabin, office, house, clinic, anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat farm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe talked about horses. Vaughn said we could take the baby there someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTown?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think near DeKalb.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano heard.<\/p>\n
Officers began searching property records.<\/p>\n
Elaina Porter owned no farm.<\/p>\n
Her husband did.<\/p>\n
Daniel Porter.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight acres outside Sycamore.<\/p>\n
Police moved.<\/p>\n
Forty-five minutes away.<\/p>\n
Too far.<\/p>\n
Every minute became physical.<\/p>\n
I paced until my legs hurt.<\/p>\n
Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number again.<\/p>\n
Serrano signaled.<\/p>\n
Record.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cRuth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman laughed.<\/p>\n
Something about the laugh bothered me.<\/p>\n
Too light.<\/p>\n
Ruth\u2019s voice from the recordings had been deeper.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are my children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not Ruth.<\/p>\n
I looked at Serrano and mouthed:<\/p>\n
Different woman.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
Technicians began tracing.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me hear Emmett.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJune.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Weaver.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n
I recognized something.<\/p>\n
Not the voice.<\/p>\n
The phrasing.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re not in charge.<\/p>\n
I had heard it before.<\/p>\n
Where?<\/p>\n
Then the woman said, \u201cVaughn always said you needed everything explained twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
Someone who knew how Vaughn talked about me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really don\u2019t recognize me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The voice changed.<\/p>\n
Not dramatically.<\/p>\n
Just enough.<\/p>\n
The artificial roughness disappeared.<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
I knew her.<\/p>\n
Not family.<\/p>\n
Not friend.<\/p>\n
Someone I had seen hundreds of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanice?\u201d<\/p>\n
Denise stared at me.<\/p>\n
The woman laughed again.<\/p>\n
My workplace supervisor\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n
Janice Bell.<\/p>\n
She managed night access.<\/p>\n
Employee badges.<\/p>\n
Lockers.<\/p>\n
Schedules.<\/p>\n
She had worked in the building for seven years.<\/p>\n
Longer than I had.<\/p>\n
She knew when I arrived.<\/p>\n
When I left.<\/p>\n
Which route I took when construction changed.<\/p>\n
Which locker was mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always ask why after everything is already happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was Vaughn\u2019s language too.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you known him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLonger than you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince high school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another invisible person.<\/p>\n
Another connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI helped Ruth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are my children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSafe if you cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPut them on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already heard June.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the earlier call.<\/p>\n
The woman claiming to be Ruth.<\/p>\n
It had been Janice.<\/p>\n
The voice distorted.<\/p>\n
Prepared.<\/p>\n
Meaning Ruth might never have been near my children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Ruth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think Ruth is the one you should worry about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGone where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt matters to police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Something in her tone changed.<\/p>\n
Not fear.<\/p>\n
Resentment.<\/p>\n
I pushed.<\/p>\n
\u201cRuth left you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe used Marla. Vaughn used Brielle. Vaughn used Mallory. What did Ruth use you for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice breathed harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you\u2019re the one holding children while she disappears.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe got the money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came too fast.<\/p>\n
Serrano looked sharply toward me.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
Keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarla ruined it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Ruth left.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janice swore.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you\u2019re still doing her work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think you\u2019re clever now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Vaughn\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think all of you depended on me believing I wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went silent.<\/p>\n
Then I heard something faint.<\/p>\n
A train horn.<\/p>\n
Technicians reacted.<\/p>\n
One typed rapidly.<\/p>\n
Another pulled up maps.<\/p>\n
Janice continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring the notebooks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen your children stay with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll get instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another train horn.<\/p>\n
Closer.<\/p>\n
Serrano pointed toward several rail crossings on the map.<\/p>\n
I needed more.<\/p>\n
\u201cMrs. Weaver needs her medication.\u201d<\/p>\n
A gamble.<\/p>\n
She did take blood-pressure pills, but she could miss a dose without immediate catastrophe.<\/p>\n
Janice answered, \u201cShe has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI checked her purse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside.<\/p>\n
Close enough to see Mrs. Weaver.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she conscious?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me speak to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I heard Mrs. Weaver anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tell that woman she drives like a blind raccoon!\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed and cried at once.<\/p>\n
Janice shouted away from the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe quiet!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver answered louder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI taught seventh grade for thirty-two years. You think you scare me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The phone shifted.<\/p>\n
A door slammed.<\/p>\n
But before Janice disconnected, I heard one more sound.<\/p>\n
Church bells.<\/p>\n
Six strikes.<\/p>\n
Not the hour.<\/p>\n
Too early.<\/p>\n
A scheduled bell sequence.<\/p>\n
The technicians searched.<\/p>\n
Train crossing.<\/p>\n
Church nearby.<\/p>\n
Industrial road.<\/p>\n
One match.<\/p>\n
An abandoned printing plant outside Cicero.<\/p>\n
Police units converged.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Ten minutes.<\/p>\n
Fifteen.<\/p>\n
Twenty-three.<\/p>\n
Then Serrano\u2019s radio exploded with voices.<\/p>\n
Vehicle located.<\/p>\n
Rear entrance.<\/p>\n
Movement inside.<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Officers entered.<\/p>\n
One suspect.<\/p>\n
Female.<\/p>\n
Children located.<\/p>\n
Adult female located.<\/p>\n
My knees gave way.<\/p>\n
Denise caught me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano listened.<\/p>\n
Then nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I covered my face.<\/p>\n
For several seconds I could not speak.<\/p>\n
Emmett.<\/p>\n
June.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Janice was arrested without firing the handgun found beside her.<\/p>\n
The children were frightened but physically unharmed.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver had a bruised shoulder and apparently had spent most of captivity insulting Janice\u2019s driving, intelligence, and choice of shoes.<\/p>\n
When police finally allowed me to speak to Emmett, his first words were:<\/p>\n
\u201cMom, June bit her.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the background June yelled, \u201cShe grabbed my rabbit!\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed so hard it became crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano drove.<\/p>\n
Denise came with me.<\/p>\n
When we reached the ambulance staging area, June ran before anyone could stop her.<\/p>\n
I dropped to my knees.<\/p>\n
She hit me hard enough to hurt.<\/p>\n
Emmett came next.<\/p>\n
I held both children until my arms ached.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver stood nearby with a blanket around her shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou all right?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m furious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat woman put duct tape on my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Weaver lifted her chin.<\/p>\n
\u201cLasted four minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even Serrano smiled.<\/p>\n
Then Emmett tugged my sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard them talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lady and another lady on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
My relief tightened into attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Grandma.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett looked toward Serrano.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said Ruth got away.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was expected.<\/p>\n
Then he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she took the last file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat file?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett concentrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018Ruth has the original Mercer file. If she reaches him, we\u2019re finished.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHim?\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano crouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she say a name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
Vaughn\u2019s father.<\/p>\n
The man Vaughn told me had died before we ever met.<\/p>\n
I looked at Serrano.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me his father died when he was seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lady said Ruth was going to find him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emmett thought again.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said he was the only person who knew what Vaughn really was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serrano stood.<\/p>\n
I held my children closer.<\/p>\n
All this time, we had been digging backward through Vaughn\u2019s lies looking for where the scheme began.<\/p>\n
The trust.<\/p>\n
Ruth.<\/p>\n
Marla.<\/p>\n
The dead policyholders.<\/p>\n
But somewhere beyond all of them was another person Vaughn had erased from his biography.<\/p>\n
His father.<\/p>\n
And Ruth was running toward him with the original file bearing our family name.<\/p>\n
Police split into two teams. One went toward the moving phone. The other went to the bank. I remained at the depot because Serrano made it unmistakably clear that I … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12358,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12293\/revisions\/12358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}