Chapter 2
Margaret refused to tell police where Ethan was.
She sat inside a state patrol car and demanded her attorney.
Richard claimed he knew nothing about the kidnapping. He shouted at his mother through the open window.
“What did you do?”
Margaret stared straight ahead.
“I protected your son.”
“He’s Lily’s son too!”
“That woman was taking him away from us.”
Lily tried to rise from the ambulance stretcher, but pain folded her forward.
I caught her.
“You need treatment.”
“I’m not leaving without Ethan.”
Captain Torres crouched beside us.
“We’ll find him. But if Richard damaged your ribs or neck, waiting could make your injuries worse.”
Lily looked toward the mansion.
“I promised Ethan I wouldn’t leave him.”
“You’re not leaving him. You’re staying alive for him.”
She finally allowed the ambulance to take her.
I rode beside her while Captain Torres led the search.
At the hospital, doctors found two cracked ribs, a concussion, and bruising around Lily’s throat.
Some marks were older.
The doctor looked at me carefully.
“This was not the first assault.”
I turned toward my daughter.
She stared at the blanket.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
The answer crushed me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Richard said Chief Caldwell would arrest you if you interfered.”
“He couldn’t frighten me away from you.”
“I know that now.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“He showed me documents claiming you stole evidence before retiring. He said he could send you to prison.”
The accusation was false, but Richard understood my daughter’s greatest weakness.
She would endure pain to protect someone she loved.
I held her hand.
“You never have to protect me by letting someone hurt you.”
A local officer entered the room.
Chief Harold Caldwell followed him.
Caldwell wore his uniform, but the gold watch on his wrist had been a gift from Richard. I had seen them together at charity events.
“This case belongs to my department,” he said.
“State police took jurisdiction,” I replied.
“Not anymore.”
He reached for the evidence bag containing Lily’s phone.
I stepped in front of him.
“You are mentioned in the recording.”
Caldwell smiled.
“Then I’m especially interested in hearing it.”
Captain Torres entered behind him.
“You won’t touch that evidence.”
Caldwell’s smile disappeared.
He handed her a court order transferring Richard and Margaret into local custody.
The judge who signed it was Richard’s godfather.
Torres read the order.
“Federal kidnapping laws apply if Ethan crossed state lines. Until we know where he is, they remain with us.”
Caldwell left, but not before looking at Lily.
“You should think carefully before destroying your husband’s reputation.”
I followed him into the hallway.
“Threaten my daughter again, and your badge won’t protect you.”
His eyes turned cold.
“Retirement made you forget who runs this county.”
“No. It reminded me how men like you lose power.”
Captain Torres traced Margaret’s recent calls. Minutes before Easter dinner, she contacted Richard’s sister, Caroline.
Caroline lived at the Ashford lake estate forty miles away.
State police surrounded the property before midnight.
Caroline answered the door alone.
She claimed Margaret asked her to collect Ethan because Lily was having a mental breakdown.
“Where is he?” Torres demanded.
Caroline pointed upstairs.
Ethan was asleep in a guest room.
He had not been physically harmed, but Margaret told him his mother had abandoned him.
When Lily entered the room hours later, Ethan hid beneath the blankets.
“Grandma said you chose Grandpa Paul instead of me.”
Lily sat beside him despite her cracked ribs.
“I will always choose you.”
He slowly crawled into her arms.
I believed the nightmare had ended.
Then Richard’s attorney arrived at the hospital with emergency custody papers.
The documents accused Lily of attacking Richard, abusing medication, and endangering Ethan.
Chief Caldwell had signed the supporting police statement.
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A hearing was scheduled for the next morning.
If Richard won, Ethan would be returned to the mansion.
