Chapter 1 - THE WOMAN ON THE SCREEN
Ethan Blackwood stared at the phone in Lily’s trembling hand.
For seven years, he had trained himself not to believe in miracles.
Miracles were what people promised grieving men when there was nothing useful left to say.
But the woman lying on that narrow hospital bed was Amelia.
His wife.
Alive.
Ethan reached for the phone.
“Where is this facility?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Who gave you this phone?”
“Aunt Nora.”
Across the room, Nora’s face went white.
Ethan turned toward her.
“You gave her access to this camera?”
Nora swallowed.
“I gave her the phone because I knew Victor was going to kill you tonight.”
“That does not answer my question.”
Security officers held Nora firmly by both arms.
Her eyes moved toward Lily.
For the first time, her expression did not look cold.
It looked defeated.
“I’ve been watching Amelia for years.”
Ethan’s entire body went still.
“For years?”
Nora nodded.
“Victor forced me to report on her condition.”
Ethan crossed the room so quickly that one of the guards instinctively stepped between them.
“You knew my wife was alive for seven years?”
Nora began crying.
“I knew.”
“And you let me bury her?”
“I was afraid.”
“You let my daughter grow up believing she had no father.”
“I was afraid.”
“You lived under my roof.”
Ethan’s voice became quieter.
“You watched me visit Amelia’s grave every Sunday.”
Nora covered her face.
“I know.”
Ethan wanted to hate her.
But Lily was watching him.
And every time his voice rose, the little girl flinched.
So he forced himself to step back.
Dr. Samuel Hayes approached the phone.
“The live feed may contain metadata.”
Ethan handed it to him.
“Find the facility.”
Samuel connected the phone to a secure laptop.
Within minutes, one of Ethan’s security specialists entered the dining room.
“We traced the camera relay.”
“Where?”
“Northwestern Connecticut.”
The specialist turned the screen.
“A private neurological rehabilitation center called Hawthorne Ridge.”
Ethan had never heard of it.
Samuel had.
His expression changed immediately.
“What is it?”
Samuel looked at Ethan.
“Hawthorne Ridge treats wealthy patients who require extreme privacy.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning they accept people under aliases.”
Ethan looked back at the live feed.
Victor was standing beside Amelia’s bed.
The syringe remained in his hand.
Ethan grabbed his coat.
“Prepare the helicopter.”
Samuel caught his arm.
“If Victor sees security vehicles approaching, he could inject her before we reach the room.”
Ethan looked at the screen.
Victor leaned closer to Amelia.
Then he spoke.
There was no audio.
But Lily whispered from behind Ethan.
“I know what he’s saying.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Lily stared at Victor’s moving lips.
“He says Mommy has to disappear before morning.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“How do you know?”
“Because he said the same thing about you.”
The room went silent.
Ethan knelt beside her.
“Lily, I need you to tell me everything you heard.”
She glanced nervously at Nora.
Ethan noticed.
“You are safe now.”
Lily took a shaky breath.
“Uncle Victor came here three nights ago.”
Ethan frowned.
“Here?”
She nodded.
“He met Aunt Nora in the old wine cellar.”
Ethan’s estate had more than thirty security cameras.
Victor could not have entered unnoticed.
Unless someone had deliberately removed him from the system.
Ethan looked toward his security chief.
“Pull the recordings.”
The man hesitated.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“There are no recordings from that night.”
Ethan slowly stood.
“Why not?”
“The entire surveillance system went offline for forty-seven minutes.”
Nobody spoke.
Then another security officer hurried into the room.
“Mr. Blackwood.”
“We searched Nora’s quarters.”
He placed a small black device on the table.
It was an encrypted satellite phone.
“We found one outgoing call placed fourteen minutes ago.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“To whom?”
The officer looked at him.
“We don’t know.”
“But whoever received it immediately called Hawthorne Ridge.”
Ethan turned toward the live feed.
Victor suddenly stopped beside Amelia’s bed.
He looked toward the camera.
May you like
Then he smiled.
The screen went black.
