Chapter 5: The Exchange at Northpoint
Elena read the message twice.
“She doesn’t want the document anymore,” she said.
“She wants me.”
“You are not going.”
“Marcus, she has our child.”
Detective Shaw placed a tracking clip beneath Elena’s borrowed coat.
“We control the marina entrances,” he said.
“The moment we see Lily, we move.”
Ruth handed Elena a pair of flat shoes.
“These belonged to my daughter,” she said.
“You’ll run better in them.”
Elena stared at her.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because fourteen months ago, Chloe told me not to upset Marcus with questions.
I believed her, and I have regretted it every morning since.”
At Northpoint Marina, Chloe stood at the end of an empty dock with one arm around Lily.
Grant waited beside her, soaked and shivering, holding the trust document.
“You left me under there!” Grant shouted at Chloe.
“And yet here you are,” she replied.
“Try gratitude.”
I stepped onto the dock.
“Let Lily come to me.”
Chloe pulled Lily closer.
“Elena first.”
Elena walked past me.
“Mommy, no!” Lily cried.
“It’s all right, sweetheart.
Look at Daddy.”
Chloe smiled at me.
“You always did choose the wrong woman, Marcus.”
“I chose the woman who loved my daughter.”
“You chose the woman whose family had money.”
Elena stopped ten feet away.
“Tell him the truth, Chloe.
Tell him who forged my signature.”
Grant’s head snapped toward his sister.
“You said she signed it.”
“Be quiet.”
“You said once the trust transferred, we were finished.”
Chloe held out her hand.
“Give me the drive, Marcus.”
I raised the black drive from Grant’s workshop.
“Lily first.”
“Put it on the dock and kick it toward me.”
I obeyed.
Chloe released Lily, and she ran into my arms.
“Daddy!”
“I have you.”
Grant snatched up the drive.
Chloe took it from him, dropped it beneath her heel, and crushed it against the boards.
“Your evidence is gone,” she said.
Detective Shaw and two officers stepped from behind the marina office.
“Chloe Mercer, move away from Elena.”
Chloe did not flinch.
“Detective, you should check your messages.”
Shaw’s phone rang.
He listened without speaking, then slowly lowered it.
“What happened?” I asked.
“My captain ordered us to stand down.”
Chloe’s smile returned.
“My attorney delivered Marcus’s signed power of attorney this morning.
It names me Lily’s temporary guardian and states Elena may present a danger to the child.”
“That signature is forged,” I said.
“Prove it.”
Grant backed toward the boat.
“You promised me immunity.”
“I promised you money.”
“You kept her under the pool.
I only built the room.”
Chloe’s face hardened.
“And who delivered her meals?
Who chained the door?
You are in this as deeply as I am.”
Elena reached for Lily, but a county vehicle pulled into the marina.
Two child welfare officers approached with documents.
“Marcus Hale?” one asked.
“We have an emergency order to remove Lily pending an investigation.”
Lily buried her face against my chest.
“No!
I want my mommy and daddy!”
Chloe leaned close enough for only us to hear.
“By sunset, Lily will be in state care, Elena will be taken for evaluation, and I will be on a plane.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Elena said.
Chloe touched the diamond ring now hanging from a chain around her neck.
“I already did.”
Then Lily lifted her wrist.
A small blue watch blinked beneath her sleeve.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “Mommy taught me to press the cloud when I’m scared.”
May you like
Chloe’s smile vanished.
The watch had been recording everything.
