Chapter 7: Three Taps in the Dark
Rain struck the windows of the old Parker cabin as Richard pushed Ethan into a wooden chair.
He placed the boy’s phone on the table.
“Call your mother.”
Ethan crossed his arms.
“You call her.”
Richard pressed the number and switched on the speaker.
“Claire, are you alone?”
Claire stood beside Agent Grant’s unmarked car half a mile away.
Mara and Mercer waited behind her.
“I have the envelope,” Claire said.
“No police.”
“You took my son.
What did you expect?”
“I expected you to remember that I know your weaknesses.”
Ethan leaned toward the phone.
“He doesn’t know all of them, Mom.”
Richard pulled him back.
“Quiet.”
Claire closed her eyes at the sound of his voice.
“Let me hear him again.”
“Bring the envelope inside.”
The call ended.
Agent Grant touched Claire’s arm.
“The cabin has two exits.
My team will cover both.”
“He will hear them.”
“Then we make him look at you.”
Mara held out a blue envelope.
“This is the copy.”
Claire took it.
“Where is the original?”
“Inside the lining of my coat.”
Mercer stared at Mara.
“You carried it here?”
“I knew Harlan would search my office.”
A car approached from the opposite road.
Agent Grant pulled Claire behind the trees.
Detective Harlan stepped out and entered the cabin.
Claire looked at Grant.
“He came to help Richard.”
“Keep your phone recording,” Grant whispered.
“We need him speaking.”
Inside, Harlan slammed a folder onto the table.
“You said the woman would never leave that c0ffin.”
Richard pointed toward Ethan.
“The boy ruined it.”
“You pointed a g*n in a room full of cameras.”
“I paid you to control the room.”
Ethan lowered his head so they would not see his smile.
His phone was still connected to Claire’s call history through a family safety app.
Harlan opened the folder.
“Give me the trust transfer, and I can get you across the border.”
“You get paid after Claire signs.”
“What about the boy?”
Richard looked at Ethan.
“He goes back when I am safe.”
Harlan’s mouth tightened.
“That was not the agreement.”
Claire stepped through the front door.
“Which agreement, Detective?”
Both men spun around.
Richard reached for Ethan.
Claire raised the blue envelope.
“This is what you want.”
“Put it on the table.”
“Let Ethan walk to me.”
Richard drew the g*n from his coat.
“You still believe you can give orders.”
Harlan moved toward the back door, but Agent Grant entered behind him.
“Stay where you are.”
Harlan reached beneath his jacket.
“Don’t,” Mercer said from the doorway.
“I have the payment records.”
Richard stared at him.
“You pathetic coward.”
Mercer’s hands trembled, but he remained in place.
“I was a coward when I signed that certificate.
Not tonight.”
Richard grabbed the envelope from Claire and tore it open.
Blank sheets fell across the floor.
His face twisted.
“Where is it?”
Mara entered, opened her coat lining, and removed the original.
“Some things entrusted to my care do not disappear.”
Harlan lunged toward her.
Agent Grant forced him against the wall and secured his wrists.
Richard pulled Ethan in front of him.
“Back away, or he pays for her courage.”
Claire’s knees bent as though she might fall.
Ethan raised one hand beside the chair and tapped the wooden arm three times.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Claire looked at him.
Ethan tapped twice, paused, then tapped once—the pattern they used during hide-and-seek when he was small.
Left, wait, run.
Claire threw the empty envelope toward Richard’s face.
Ethan ducked left, and Mercer knocked the g*n from Richard’s hand with his medical bag.
Agent Grant’s team rushed through both doors.
Richard was forced to the floor while Ethan ran into Claire’s arms.
“You heard me,” Ethan sobbed.
“I will always hear you.”
Agent Grant lifted Richard to his feet.
“This is not over,” Richard said.
“Claire signed the original trust papers herself.”
“No, she didn’t,” Mara replied.
Richard smiled as the officers led him outside.
“Then ask your precious doctor who held her hand while she signed.”
Claire turned toward Mercer.
He could not meet her eyes.
May you like
“There is one thing I still haven’t told you,” he said.
“Richard was not the first person to alter your medical records.”
