One Final Message

DOMINIC POVEthan's breathing changed, got faster, panicked."Daddy he's back.""Ethan listen to me, hang up the phone right now, put it back exactly where you found it, go sit down, don't say anything about this call, do you understand?""I'm scared.""I know but you have to do this, you have to hang up right now and act normal, can you do that for me?""Okay daddy.""I love you so much Ethan, so much, we're coming to get you.""I love you too."The line went dead.I stood there staring at my phone, my whole body shaking, tears still falling.Emily collapsed against me, sobbing into my chest.Detective Morris was on her radio, "did we get it? Tell me we got it."A voice crackled back, "yes ma'am, we got the location, sending it to you now."She looked at her phone, "forty minutes east, residential area, I'm mobilizing everyone now.""I'm coming," I said."Mr. Steele.""I'm coming, that's my son, I'm not waiting here."She looked at me for a long moment, then nodded, "fine, but same r

Constructing Something Out Of Grief

EMILY POVTwo weeks.Two weeks since I'd heard my baby's voice on that phone call, two weeks of nothing, complete silence, no messages, no photos, no taunts, just silence.It was worse than the messages.At least with the messages I knew Ethan was alive, knew John still had him, knew where to direct all this rage and fear.Now I had nothing.Just silence and my own mind tearing itself apart imagining what was happening to my son.I hadn't slept in days, couldn't eat, couldn't think about anything except Ethan crying on that phone, Ethan saying he's hitting me, Ethan's bruised face in that last photo.Dominic wasn't much better.He sat at his desk eighteen hours a day, working with Theo's security team, with Detective Morris, following every lead no matter how small, refusing to stop even though every single one had led nowhere.We barely spoke anymore.What was there to say?I was standing in Ethan's room, had been standing there for the past hour, just looking at his toys, his books,

Way Worse Than Being Stabbed..

Emily POV :I drove home in a daze.Dominic was exactly where I'd left him, at his desk, still working. Papers spread out in front of him, laptop open, phone face-up beside his hand. He didn't look up when I walked in, just kept his eyes on whatever he was reading."Where were you?""Out. Needed air.""You were gone two hours, Emily.""I drove around. Couldn't sit still."He looked up then, really looked at me, taking in whatever was on my face that I hadn't managed to hide yet. "You okay?""No.""Yeah," he said quietly, leaning back. "Me neither."I wanted to tell him. About Margaret, about the screenshot on her phone and every careful, measured word she'd said. But her voice kept cutting through everything else in my head.Don't tell Dominic. Not yet. If he hears the wrong name he won't sit on it."Any updates from Morris?" I asked instead, dropping my keys on the counter."Nothing useful. John's completely off the grid. No card activity, no phone pings, no sightings. It's like he s

The End 1 : Margaret…

Dominic POV:"You know she called me today," Emily said. "Asked me to meet her at a café, said she had information about who was helping John. Kept hinting that someone close to us betrayed us, someone in our inner circle."My stomach dropped. "You met with my mother and didn't tell me?""She said not to. Said you'd confront the wrong person and they'd run.""And you believed her?""I didn't know what to believe, Dominic. But now, seeing that footage.." She stopped. Pressed her hand to her mouth for a second. "She was setting me up. Keeping me distracted."Detective Morris looked between us. "What else did she say at this meeting?""She tried to pin it on Sophie. Showed me a screenshot of some text conversation, said someone sent it to her anonymously. She was very convincing about it.""She would be," I said.I pulled out my phone and called my mother. Straight to voicemail. Called again. Same."She's not answering." "What about your dad? Try calling him." Emily said eagerly."Nah m

The End 2 : You’re So Brave..

Dominic POV :We kept three cars back the whole way into the city. Watched her take turns she didn't need to take, doubling back twice, checking her mirrors. Then she pulled into a parking garage downtown and we waited.Ten minutes. She came out on foot. Different coat. Hat pulled low.We followed on foot for six blocks until she turned down an alley and made a call. We couldn't hear the words but we could see her face. The mask was completely gone. Whatever she was saying, she wasn't pretending anymore.She hung up and kept walking.Twenty minutes later she walked into an old warehouse on the edge of the industrial district. Looked over her shoulder once. Then went inside."Call Morris," I told Theo. "Right now, tell her exactly where we are."He was already dialing.Emily was already moving toward the door."Emily.""Don't." She didn't stop. "Don't tell me to wait."I caught up, grabbed her arm. "We go in quietly. We don't let them know we're here until we find where Ethan is. If

EPILOGUE

Emily POV :Two years later.Sophie pressed her hand flat against the door and turned to look at me."You ready?"I looked down at my wedding dress, then back up, then laughed, the nervous kind that comes out before you can stop it. "Ask me again in five seconds.""Emily.""Okay yes, I'm ready, let's go before I start crying and ruin my face."She laughed, grabbed my hand, squeezed once."You look insane by the way, like genuinely stupidly beautiful, Dominic is going to lose his mind.""Good," I said, "that's entirely the plan."The doors opened.The room was full, warm and everyone stood at the same time, I felt Sophie's arm link through mine and we started moving down the aisle, slow and steady. I told myself to keep my eyes forward because if I looked too long at any one's face I was going to fall apart right here in this dress.I looked anyway.Ethan was in the front row in his little suit, sitting next to Richard, who already had tears streaming down his face and wasn't even try