## CHAPTER 14 — THREE MINUTES MISSING
The officers at the estate had lost three minutes.
At 6:17 p.m., every guard became disoriented.
Some remembered hearing a high-pitched noise.
Others remembered nothing.
When they recovered, Noah’s room was empty.
Elena’s car remained in the garage.
There was no sign of forced entry.
Logan reviewed the security footage.
At 6:14, Elena entered Noah’s room.
At 6:15, she carried him into the hallway.
Noah appeared asleep.
At 6:16, the footage froze.
When the cameras returned, they were gone.
Hale searched Elena’s room.
Her clothing remained in the closet.
Her money and passport were untouched.
Inside her suitcase, Hale found letters from Claire.
Most were years old.
One had been written only six months earlier.
Elena,
I saw Noah today.
He did not recognize me.
That may be safer.
Do not tell Logan until you know whether he remembers the lake.
If he remembers, Number One will know.
The letter had no return address.
Logan read it twice.
Elena had known Claire was alive.
She had kept it from him.
Then Logan noticed a mark at the bottom of the page.
A small silver lion.
Noah had drawn the same symbol repeatedly during therapy.
The crest belonged to an old Mercer family branch.
Edmund’s younger brother, Victor Mercer, had worn a silver lion ring.
Victor had died in a boating accident twenty-two years earlier.
At least, that was the official story.
Hale searched international financial records.
A shell company called Silver Lion Holdings had paid for Claire’s treatment at Blackwood House.
The company’s director was listed as Victor E. Mercer.
A dead man had been financing Claire’s imprisonment.
Logan’s phone rang from a blocked number.
He answered immediately.
Noah’s voice came through the line.
“Daddy?”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is Marina with you?”
Noah began crying.
“She told me to run.”
“Run from what?”
A loud impact sounded.
Then Elena came on the line.
“Logan, listen to me. Noah is safe for the next few minutes.”
“Where are you?”
“The old train station outside Fairmont.”
“Stay there.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because the woman in the blue coat followed us.”
The call broke apart with static.
Then a different voice spoke.
A woman’s voice.
“Come alone, Logan.”
May you like
It sounded exactly like Claire.
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