Chapter 17 - CAROLINE’S DISAPPEARANCENathan blamed himself.
He demanded to join the police search.
The detective refused.
Vanessa wanted him frightened and irrational.
Leaving the secure house would give her another target.
Ethan examined Caroline’s apartment.
There were no signs of a struggle.
A teacup remained warm on the table.
Caroline had opened the door willingly.
The building camera showed a delivery woman wearing a cap and medical mask.
She carried a package marked with Julia Bennett’s name.
Caroline probably believed the package contained evidence from the false adoption agency.
The woman entered the apartment.
Six minutes later, she left pushing a laundry cart.
Caroline was hidden inside.
The vehicle used by the delivery woman was found near the lake.
A traffic camera captured the driver removing her mask.
It was Vanessa.
Ethan studied the route.
Vanessa had passed dozens of buildings connected to Cole International.
Only one had been abandoned long enough to avoid regular security checks.
The original Cole textile factory stood near the river.
Nathan and Ethan’s grandfather had purchased it before building the family company.
The factory had been closed for eighteen years.
Police surrounded the property.
Nathan ignored the detective’s order and followed Ethan inside.
They entered through a broken side door.
The building smelled of dust and oil.
A line of battery-powered lights led toward the old production floor.
Caroline sat in a chair beneath the empty conveyor system.
Her hands were bound in front of her.
Vanessa stood behind her.
She held a small remote control.
Wires ran from the control to fuel containers placed around the room.
Nathan stopped.
“Let her go.”
Vanessa looked thinner without the prosthetic belly.
Her expensive dress had been replaced by jeans and a dark coat.
“You finally came for your wife,” she said.
“You wanted me.”
“I wanted what she had.”
Caroline’s voice remained steady.
“You never wanted Nathan.”
Vanessa pulled the chair backward.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you studied us for months.”
Caroline met her eyes.
“You copied my clothes.”
“You learned my schedule.”
“You even chose the perfume Nathan once bought for me.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“Stop talking.”
“You didn’t want his love.”
Caroline continued calmly.
“You wanted to prove you could replace me.”
Vanessa raised the remote.
Nathan stepped forward.
“I believed you.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“For a little while, you had everything.”
“No.”
Nathan’s voice was quiet.
“You had my guilt.”
“You never had my trust.”
Vanessa’s thumb moved over the remote button.
Ethan saw the same tiny silver pin holding the battery cover in place.
May you like
That pin was the weakness.
And this time, a life depended on it.
