CHAPTER 12: THE DISAPPEARANCE
I do not remember the drive to the childcare center.
I remember Parker calling the police.
I remember an employee crying as she showed us the forged order.
I remember staring at the empty crib where Brinley should have been sleeping.
Connor’s phone was turned off.
Betsy’s phone went directly to voicemail.
Police issued an alert for Connor’s vehicle.
Airport security received Brinley’s photograph.
Every property connected to Connor was searched.
The penthouse was empty.
The condominium purchased for Alyssa was empty.
The old family house where Betsy lived had been abandoned in a hurry.
Then Parker remembered the lake house.
Connor had claimed it as marital property during the divorce, but the building actually belonged to my trust.
The security system was still connected to the trust’s central account.
A technician accessed the exterior cameras.
Connor’s vehicle had entered the property forty minutes earlier.
Police surrounded the house.
I was ordered to remain behind the gates with Parker.
Through the trees, I could see lights burning inside.
A negotiator called the house.
Betsy answered.
She sounded terrified.
“I didn’t kidnap her,” she insisted. “Connor said the court had given us temporary custody.”
“The order was forged,” the negotiator said.
There was a long silence.
Then Betsy began crying.
Connor had given her the document and instructed her to collect Brinley.
He had promised to meet her at the lake house.
But Connor was not inside.
He had used his mother to take the risk.
Betsy carried Brinley onto the porch ten minutes later.
My daughter was unharmed.
When the officer placed her in my arms, my knees nearly gave way.
Betsy was taken into custody.
Connor remained missing.
Police found a second phone inside the house.
One message from Connor had been saved.
Keep the baby until she signs over the trust voting rights.
If she refuses, take Brinley across the state line.
The message transformed a custody dispute into a criminal conspiracy.
But Connor had prepared an escape plan.
His company plane had been scheduled to depart from a private airport.
When police arrived, the plane was still there.
Connor was not.
Then Alyssa appeared at the police station.
Her wedding gown had been replaced by hospital scrubs, and a dark bruise circled one wrist.
“I know where Connor keeps the real records,” she said.
Parker studied her suspiciously.
“Why should we believe you?”
“Because he came to my apartment after the wedding.”
She placed a small brass key on the table.
“There’s a safe hidden behind the nursery wall in the penthouse.”
“What’s inside?”
May you like
Alyssa looked at me.
“Proof that Connor planned to destroy you before Brinley was born.”
