Chapter 6 - The Foster Father’s SecretGrant made the drive back to Chicago in under an hour.
Rachel was already with Sophie when he arrived.
The child ran into his arms.
Grant lifted her without thinking.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Sophie buried her face against his shoulder.
“Mommy looked scared.”
“Did Mr. Bell threaten her?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Sadie want to go?”
“She thought Mommy was taking us home.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Sadie trusted easily.
Of course she had gone.
Police issued an alert.
Emily's phone was located near the Eisenhower Expressway, then went dead.
Martin Bell's registered address was empty.
The foster agency revealed something worse.
Bell had disappeared.
His credentials had been built on a stolen identity.
The real Martin Bell was a retired teacher living in Arizona.
The man who had housed Sophie and Sadie was actually Peter Vale, a former private security contractor.
And for three years, his employer had been Eleanor Price.
Grant stared at the detective.
“My CFO hired the man who became my daughters' foster parent?”
“Apparently.”
“That isn't coincidence.”
“No.”
The pieces came together.
Emily's fall.
The twins entering foster care.
Their placement with Bell.
Someone had anticipated what would happen after Emily was hospitalized.
But they had not anticipated Sophie and Sadie escaping.
“How did the girls get to my building?” Grant asked.
Sophie answered from Rachel's side.
“We took buses.”
Grant stared.
“At six years old?”
“Mommy taught us your address.”
That sentence hurt.
“She did?”
Sophie nodded.
“She made us remember it like our birthdays.”
Grant crouched.
“Why?”
“She said if something bad happened, find Grant Mercer.”
Rachel looked at him.
Emily had prepared them.
She had known.
At 6:12 p.m., Emily called.
Grant answered instantly.
“Where's Sadie?”
“She's safe.”
“Emily—”
“Listen to me.”
Her voice shook.
“Peter came to the hospital. He said Eleanor had Sophie.”
Grant looked at Sophie.
“She doesn't.”
“I know that now.”
“They tricked you.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Emily, bring Sadie back.”
“I can't.”
Grant heard traffic.
Then another sound.
A train horn.
“Union Station?”
Emily went silent.
Grant grabbed his coat.
“Don't come.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“Grant, Eleanor wants the drive.”
“What drive?”
“The one from the locker.”
Rachel held up Emily's flash drive.
Grant understood.
“She's using Sadie to get it.”
“Yes.”
“Then we'll give it to her.”
“No.”
“Emily—”
“That drive contains enough evidence to destroy her. If she gets it, six people who helped me could be in danger.”
“I don't care about evidence more than Sadie.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then tell me where you are.”
Emily began crying.
“I'm sorry.”
The call ended.
Grant was already moving.
Police traced the connection to an industrial district near the river, not Union Station.
The train horn had been freight traffic.
Charles knew the area.
An abandoned warehouse there had once belonged to the Mercer family.
Grant, Rachel, Charles, and police converged on the location.
Grant was ordered to remain outside.
He ignored the order until Rachel physically grabbed his coat.
“You run in there, you could get Sadie hurt.”
That stopped him.
Inside the warehouse, Emily stood beside Peter Vale.
Sadie sat inside an office, unharmed but terrified.
Eleanor Price arrived twenty minutes later.
Police listening through Emily's open phone heard enough.
Eleanor admitted ordering Peter to intercept Emily.
She admitted paying him to ensure the twins remained inaccessible.
Then Emily asked the question nobody expected.
“Did you push me?”
Eleanor laughed.
“No.”
Grant stared toward the warehouse.
If Eleanor hadn't—
Then who?
Gunfire suddenly cracked inside.
Grant moved before anyone could stop him.
Police stormed the building.
Peter Vale was on the floor, shot in the shoulder.
Eleanor stood frozen.
Emily was shielding Sadie.
And near a side entrance stood Nathan Cole holding a gun.
Grant stopped.
“Nathan?”
Nathan looked at him.
“I told you Eleanor wasn't the whole problem.”
“You shot him?”
“He was reaching for Emily.”
Police ordered Nathan to drop the weapon.
He did.
Sadie saw Grant.
“Daddy!”
She ran.
Grant dropped to his knees and caught her.
Her arms locked around his neck.
He buried his face in her hair.
“I've got you.”
“Don't let go.”
“I won't.”
Behind them, officers arrested Eleanor and Peter.
Nathan was handcuffed too.
Emily approached.
Grant stood with Sadie still in his arms.
“You okay?”
Emily nodded.
Then she looked at Nathan.
“You followed me.”
Nathan gave a humorless smile.
“I've been following Eleanor for three weeks.”
Grant stared.
“You knew?”
“I knew she'd stolen money. I didn't know she'd gone after Emily until recently.”
“You still hid my daughters.”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
Nothing could erase that.
Later, at the police station, investigators opened Emily's flash drive.
It contained financial records, recordings, photographs, and correspondence.
Enough to indict Eleanor.
Enough to recover most of the stolen money.
Enough to clear Grant.
But one file had nothing to do with the fraud.
It was a scanned legal document.
A custody petition.
Filed six years earlier.
Petitioner: Grant Mercer.
Grant stared at it.
“I never filed this.”
Emily went pale.
“I received it after the twins were born.”
“What did it say?”
“That you wanted sole custody.”
Grant turned pages.
The petition accused Emily of instability and threatened to use Grant's wealth to prove she was unfit.
She had believed it was real.
“That,” Emily whispered, “is why I stopped trying to contact you.”
Grant looked toward Nathan.
Nathan stared at the document.
Then slowly shook his head.
“I intercepted letters.”
His voice was barely audible.
“But I didn't do this.”
Rachel examined the signature.
“If Nathan didn't file it and Grant didn't file it…”
Grant looked at Eleanor through the interview-room glass.
She smiled at him.
And Grant understood.
May you like
The conspiracy hadn't simply stolen money.
Someone had deliberately kept his family apart.
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