Chapter 7 - THE EXCHANGE
Ethan watched the video again.
Then again.
Ortiz took the phone from his hand before he could play it a fourth time.
“We need the original file.”
“They have my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then stop talking about files.”
Ortiz met his eyes.
“Panic is what they want.”
“I don’t care what they want.”
“You need to.”
Ethan turned away.
Every instinct inside him screamed to move.
Drive.
Search.
Fight.
Do anything except stand in a room while other people discussed strategy.
But Ortiz was right.
Victor and Vanessa had planned this.
Every emotional reaction Ethan made could become another advantage for them.
“Where is Caroline?”
he asked.
“Found.”
He turned.
“What?”
“She was discovered inside the escort vehicle.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Agent?”
“Injured but alive.”
“What happened?”
“Vehicle was forced off the road.”
“Victor had another team.”
“Caroline was unconscious.”
“Sophie was taken.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
The relief that Caroline survived lasted less than a second.
Then terror returned.
“What do they want?”
“Lucas.”
Ortiz answered.
“We don’t have Lucas.”
“Then find him.”
“We’re trying.”
Claire stood near the window.
She looked frightened.
“I might know where he goes.”
Everyone turned.
“You said you didn’t.”
Ortiz replied.
“I said I didn’t know where Victor kept people.”
“That’s different.”
“Where does Lucas go?”
“There’s a church.”
“Where?”
“Outside Ojai.”
“An old mission property.”
“He used to hide there years ago.”
“Why didn’t you say this earlier?”
“Because I didn’t know if Lucas still used it.”
Ortiz was already calling units.
Ethan grabbed his jacket.
“You’re not going.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“They want Lucas because of me.”
“They want Lucas because he knows things.”
“They have Sophie because of me.”
Ortiz stepped closer.
“You walking into whatever Victor planned will not make your daughter safer.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What would you do?”
She paused.
It was the wrong question.
He saw the answer in her eyes.
Exactly what he was doing.
She would want to go.
But she said what a detective had to say.
“I would give the people trained for this a chance to bring her home.”
Forty-five minutes later, agents reached the property near Ojai.
Lucas was there.
Alive.
Barely.
Victor had found him earlier.
Lucas had escaped through a rear window before the warehouse raid.
He had driven north despite an injured shoulder.
When agents found him, he was armed with a kitchen knife and convinced Victor had arrived.
Ortiz spoke with him over the phone.
Then she handed it to Ethan.
“Lucas.”
Silence.
“You know who I am.”
“Yes.”
“They took Sophie.”
Lucas inhaled sharply.
“Victor?”
“And Vanessa.”
“I’m sorry.”
“They want you.”
“I know why.”
“Then tell me.”
Lucas hesitated.
“The ledger.”
“You said you didn’t have it.”
“I lied.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Where is it?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“My daughter is in their car.”
“I understand.”
“No.”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“You understand being afraid.”
“You do not understand hearing your four-year-old say ‘Daddy’ from the back seat of a kidnapper’s vehicle.”
Lucas was silent.
“Where is the ledger?”
“In pieces.”
“What?”
“I divided it.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor kills for it.”
“How many pieces?”
“Three.”
“Where?”
“One with Claire.”
Claire stared at the phone.
“I don’t have anything.”
Lucas continued.
“You do.”
“Remember the photograph I mailed you?”
Claire froze.
“The frame.”
“Back panel.”
She immediately reached for her bag.
Her hands shook.
Inside was an old photograph of Lucas and Claire from years earlier.
She removed the cheap wooden frame.
Behind the cardboard backing was a tiny flash drive.
Ortiz took it.
“Second?”
Ethan asked.
“With Marisol.”
Ethan stared.
“She’s alive?”
“I think so.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“And the third?”
“With me.”
“What is the ledger?”
“Bank records.”
“Payment names.”
“Victor’s clients.”
“Vanessa’s accounts.”
“Everyone they bribed.”
“The Captain?”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
“I still don’t know.”
“You’ve had the ledger for years.”
“Victor used code names.”
“Then why does he want it?”
“Because the codes can be matched to transfers.”
“And there is one recording.”
“What recording?”
Lucas went quiet.
“The night Vanessa tried to kill me.”
Ethan looked toward Claire.
“You recorded it?”
“Part of it.”
“What does it show?”
“Enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“To put her in prison.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Then we trade it.”
“No.”
“Lucas.”
“If Victor gets the ledger, dozens of people become vulnerable.”
“My daughter already is.”
“You think giving Victor what he wants ends this?”
“It gets Sophie back.”
“No.”
Lucas’s voice hardened.
“It tells him kidnapping works.”
Ethan slammed his fist against the wall.
Ortiz took the phone.
“Lucas, this is Detective Ortiz.”
“I know.”
“We are not asking you to surrender evidence without a plan.”
“Good.”
“We need you in Los Angeles.”
“I’m not going into custody.”
“You’re a witness in an attempted murder and organized fraud investigation.”
“I’ve spent six years surviving because I didn’t trust badges.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
Ortiz looked at Claire.
“Maybe I do.”
Lucas said nothing.
“We know someone inside law enforcement helped Victor.”
“That is why a federal task force is now involved.”
“Your name stays contained.”
Silence.
Finally Lucas agreed.
The first piece of the ledger revealed financial transfers.
Dates.
Amounts.
Initials.
One set of initials appeared repeatedly.
C.A.
Payments increased dramatically around Lucas’s staged death.
Then disappeared.
Years later they resumed.
Exactly when Vanessa began targeting Ethan.
Ortiz studied them.
“Same person.”
Claire nodded.
“Probably.”
“Captain A.”
Ethan said.
“Maybe.”
An analyst began cross-referencing law enforcement officials.
Meanwhile, Victor sent instructions.
One text.
MIDNIGHT.
Another.
POINT DUME.
Another.
ETHAN ALONE.
Then a photograph of Sophie sitting inside a room.
No windows.
She held her stuffed rabbit.
Vanessa was not visible.
Victor wrote.
BRING LUCAS AND THE LEDGER.
Ethan stared at the image.
“I’m going.”
Ortiz did not immediately argue.
Instead she said.
“We’ll make him believe you are.”
The plan formed quickly.
Lucas would not physically approach the exchange.
A decoy vehicle would bring Ethan.
Federal agents would cover the surrounding area.
The flash drive would contain a copy of selected financial data.
Enough to look authentic.
Not enough to expose witnesses.
A tracker would be hidden in the case.
Ethan would wear a wire.
“If you see Sophie?”
Ortiz said.
“I get her.”
“If Victor tells you to move?”
“I follow directions.”
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You follow directions only as long as Sophie remains visible and the team tells you to proceed.”
He hated every restriction.
But he agreed.
At 11:57 p.m., Ethan drove toward Point Dume.
Fog rolled over the coast.
The cliffs were dark.
Ocean waves crashed below.
He parked where instructed.
No one appeared.
His phone rang.
Victor.
“You came alone.”
“Yes.”
“Where’s Lucas?”
“He wouldn’t come.”
Victor laughed.
“Then you failed.”
“I have the ledger.”
Silence.
“Show me.”
Ethan held up the case.
“Where is Sophie?”
“Walk.”
“Where?”
“Toward the overlook.”
Ethan stepped from the car.
Wind hit his face.
He walked.
Ortiz’s voice whispered through the earpiece.
“We see you.”
Victor called again.
“Stop.”
Ethan stopped.
“Look left.”
A second vehicle sat twenty yards away.
Vanessa stepped out.
Alone.
Ethan’s pulse exploded.
“Where is Sophie?”
Vanessa looked at him.
For the first time, she did not bother pretending.
No tears.
No softness.
No perfect wife.
“You ruined everything.”
Ethan stared.
“You hurt my daughter.”
“She ruined everything first.”
“She is four years old.”
“She saw things.”
“So you terrorized her?”
“I needed her quiet.”
Ethan’s fists clenched.
Ortiz whispered.
“Keep her talking.”
“Where is Sophie?”
Vanessa held out her hand.
“Ledger.”
“Child first.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You were always predictable.”
“That was why you were so easy.”
Ethan felt the words but refused to react.
“You studied me.”
“For eighteen months.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor chose you.”
There it was.
Confirmation.
“Why me?”
“Money.”
“Access.”
“Your company.”
“And your daughter’s trust.”
“You knew the prenup blocked you.”
“I knew documents change.”
“You planned to drug me.”
Vanessa smiled faintly.
“You already swallowed enough over the last five months that Dr. Keene could have explained almost anything.”
Ethan’s stomach turned.
“What did you do to Dr. Keene?”
Her smile vanished.
“Victor handled him.”
“Like Lucas?”
Vanessa’s eyes flickered.
“You really spoke to Lucas.”
“Yes.”
The hatred on her face was immediate.
“He should have died.”
Ethan stared.
“You admit it.”
“He destroyed my life.”
“You pushed him.”
“He was leaving me with nothing.”
“He was exposing what you stole.”
“He had more money than he could ever spend.”
“So you decided you deserved it.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“You don’t understand what it is like to have nothing.”
Ethan looked at her designer coat.
Her jewelry.
The cliffside mansion behind them.
“You had more than most people dream of.”
“It was yours.”
“You wanted ownership.”
“I wanted security.”
“You wanted control.”
Her face tightened.
“Ledger.”
“Where is Sophie?”
A light flashed behind them.
Ethan turned.
Victor stood near another vehicle.
He held Sophie.
Her hands were tied loosely in front of her.
She was crying.
“Daddy!”
Ethan moved instinctively.
Victor lifted one hand.
“Stop.”
Ethan froze.
“Give me my daughter.”
“Case first.”
Vanessa reached for it.
Ethan pulled away.
“No.”
Victor laughed.
“You’re negotiating?”
“I give Vanessa the case.”
“Sophie walks to me.”
“Then we leave.”
Victor looked amused.
“You think this is a movie.”
“No.”
“I think you need the ledger more than you need Sophie.”
Victor’s smile faded.
Ethan had guessed correctly.
“Fine.”
Victor set Sophie down.
“Walk to Daddy.”
Sophie took one step.
Then another.
Vanessa reached for the case.
Ethan extended it.
Two exchanges happening simultaneously.
Sophie moved faster.
“Daddy.”
Ethan’s hand touched the case.
Vanessa’s fingers closed around it.
Then headlights exploded from the road.
Victor shouted.
“Police!”
Everything happened at once.
Vanessa ripped the case away.
Sophie ran.
Ethan lunged toward her.
Victor moved toward the child.
A federal agent emerged from the darkness.
“Hands!”
Victor turned.
A weapon flashed in his hand.
Shots cracked through the night.
Ethan threw himself over Sophie.
Vanessa screamed.
Victor ran toward the cliff path.
Agents followed.
Ethan held Sophie beneath him.
“You’re okay.”
“You’re okay.”
She sobbed.
“Daddy.”
“I’ve got you.”
Vanessa tried to run.
Ortiz intercepted her near the vehicle.
“Don’t move!”
Vanessa stopped.
For one second, Ethan thought it was over.
Then Vanessa looked toward the cliff.
Victor had disappeared into the fog.
Agents spread out.
No one could see him.
A helicopter moved overhead.
Lights swept the rocks.
Then a scream echoed from below.
Everyone froze.
Ortiz approached the cliff edge cautiously.
Victor was not visible.
Neither was any body.
Only darkness.
Ocean.
Rocks.
They searched until dawn.
Nothing.
Vanessa was arrested.
Sophie was safe.
The case containing the false ledger remained with investigators.
But Victor Sloan had vanished.
Again.
And when the real flash drive was analyzed the next morning, federal investigators discovered something that made Ortiz call Ethan before sunrise.
One entry in the ledger showed a payment made three months earlier.
Fifty thousand dollars.
The same week Marisol disappeared.
Recipient.
C.A.
Ortiz finally identified the initials.
Captain Charles Avery.
A twenty-seven-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
May you like
A respected law enforcement official.
And the man currently supervising the protective detail assigned to Sophie Bennett.
