Chapter 12 - The House With No Cameras
The Glass House stood unfinished above the Atlantic.
Steel beams formed the skeleton of a building Claire once hoped would become a pediatric retreat.
Half the walls were transparent.
The other half had never been installed.
Salt wind moved through the empty structure.
No active cameras covered the site.
No public utility supplied it.
No staff had worked there in three years.
It was the perfect place to disappear.
Adrian did not go alone.
He also did not follow the kidnapper’s instructions.
Marcus approached from the southern access road.
Owen, still technically under guard, was permitted to coordinate remotely.
Detective Ortiz brought a tactical team.
Julian remained at Blackridge under police observation.
Victoria refused to stay behind.
Adrian argued for less than a minute.
“You are not coming.”
“Sebastian is my uncle.”
“That is exactly why you are not coming.”
“If he is involved, I may be able to stop him.”
“And if he is not?”
“Then somebody has spent three years using my family name to hide what happened.”
Adrian stared at her.
Victoria’s expression did not change.
“I am done being protected from the truth.”
He finally allowed her to travel in Ortiz’s command vehicle.
At eleven twelve, they reached the outer perimeter.
No black van.
No visible guards.
Thermal drones detected one heat source inside.
Adult size.
No child.
Adrian felt panic.
Ortiz stopped him.
“We move carefully.”
“My daughter is inside.”
“We do not know that.”
“The caller said Glass House.”
“The caller also abandoned the tracker.”
Adrian knew she was right.
He hated her for being right.
A light suddenly appeared inside the structure.
One lantern.
Then another.
Then a third.
A man stepped between the steel columns.
Thin.
Gray-haired.
Walking with a cane.
Victoria inhaled sharply.
“Sebastian.”
Adrian stared.
Sebastian Laurent looked nothing like the obsessive monster he had imagined.
He looked sick.
Very sick.
He wore a dark coat over a body diminished by years of illness.
He lifted both hands.
“I’m alone.”
Ortiz spoke through a loudspeaker.
“Where is the child?”
Sebastian’s expression changed.
“What child?”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Lily.”
Sebastian stared at him.
“She’s missing?”
Adrian almost struck him.
“You called me.”
“No.”
“You sent me here.”
“No.”
“You spoke to me yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Then today?”
“No.”
Adrian studied him.
Sebastian removed his phone and placed it on the ground.
“I came because Owen contacted me.”
Owen’s voice came over Adrian’s earpiece.
“I did not.”
Sebastian heard nothing.
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Who told you to come?”
“A message from Owen’s old secure channel.”
“What did it say?”
“That Claire’s final evidence had been found.”
Adrian looked toward Ortiz.
Another lure.
Sebastian walked closer.
“Where is Lily?”
Adrian did not answer.
Victoria stepped out.
“Uncle.”
Sebastian stopped.
Something softened in his face.
“Victoria.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“You let us think you were dead.”
“I had reasons.”
“My father died believing you hated him.”
Sebastian lowered his head.
“Henri knew I was alive.”
Victoria froze.
“What?”
“He helped hide me.”
“That is impossible.”
“He knew Conrad wanted me gone.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Why?”
Sebastian looked at him.
“Because I could prove Conrad altered the genetic report.”
“That report was meant to convince you Lily was yours.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make me useful.”
“For what?”
“Claire.”
The wind moved through the unfinished walls.
Sebastian’s face tightened.
“I was obsessed with her.”
Victoria looked away.
He did not defend himself.
“I convinced myself she cared about me.”
Adrian’s anger rose.
“You frightened my wife.”
“Yes.”
“You followed her.”
“Yes.”
“You threatened her.”
“Yes.”
Sebastian swallowed.
“I did things I will regret until I die.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
“Did you change her medication?”
“No.”
“Did Marianne?”
Sebastian closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Adrian’s fists tightened.
Sebastian continued.
“Because Conrad told her she was participating in a controlled test.”
“What test?”
“He claimed Claire suspected her inhalers were defective.”
“Marianne believed him?”
“At first.”
“She replaced the medication?”
“Once.”
“And Claire nearly collapsed.”
“Yes.”
“Then what?”
“Marianne panicked.”
Sebastian looked toward the sea.
“She called me.”
“Why you?”
“She worked for me.”
“What did you do?”
“I told Conrad.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You kept bringing everything back to him.”
“I trusted him.”
“So did Claire.”
Sebastian nodded.
“That was why he was dangerous.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“What happened the night Claire died?”
Sebastian’s hands began trembling.
“She called me.”
“What did she say?”
“That she knew I had been manipulated.”
“About Lily?”
“Yes.”
“She told you the genetic report was false.”
“She proved it.”
“Then?”
“She said Marianne had the foundation ledgers.”
“And?”
“We agreed to meet.”
“Where?”
“Near Bellhaven.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Sebastian’s voice weakened.
“Conrad arrived first.”
Adrian stared.
“How do you know?”
“I followed Claire.”
“The Laurent SUV.”
“Yes.”
“Who was with you?”
“Marianne.”
Adrian froze.
“So that photograph shows Marianne.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you following Claire?”
“To protect her.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
Sebastian looked directly at him.
“But it is true.”
“What happened?”
“Claire stopped near the coastal road.”
“Why?”
“She received a call.”
“From Conrad?”
“I assume.”
“Then?”
“She turned around.”
“Toward home?”
“Yes.”
Adrian remembered Lily’s words.
Mommy tried to come home.
“Marianne told you?”
“I saw it.”
“What happened next?”
“Conrad’s SUV came from the opposite road.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
“He had another vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“He forced Claire toward the barrier.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Sebastian continued.
“She lost control.”
Adrian’s chest tightened.
“And you?”
“I stopped.”
“Did you reach her?”
“Marianne did.”
“She took the inhaler?”
“No.”
“She gave Claire the real one.”
Adrian stared.
“What?”
“Marianne had realized the replacement was still in Claire’s bag.”
“She carried the working medication?”
“Yes.”
“So Claire could have survived.”
Sebastian’s eyes filled.
“She was alive.”
Adrian’s entire body shook.
“What happened?”
“Conrad arrived.”
Silence.
“He told us emergency services were coming.”
“Were they?”
“Eventually.”
“What did Conrad do?”
“He sent Marianne away.”
“Why?”
“He said police would blame her for the medication switch.”
“And you?”
“He threatened to expose the forged genetic report and make it look like I had tried to kill Claire because she rejected me.”
Adrian stared.
“So you ran.”
Sebastian nodded, ashamed.
“I ran.”
“And Claire?”
“Alive when I left.”
Adrian closed the distance.
“You left my wife in a wrecked car with Conrad.”
“Yes.”
Adrian grabbed his coat.
Marcus moved.
Adrian raised one hand.
He did not hit him.
The restraint cost him everything.
“What happened after?”
“I hid nearby.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“You watched.”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
“Conrad reached inside the car.”
“For the inhaler?”
“I thought he was helping.”
Sebastian began crying.
“Then he put something in his pocket.”
“Claire’s working inhaler.”
“Yes.”
Adrian’s vision blurred.
“He took away the thing keeping her alive.”
“Yes.”
“And he waited.”
Sebastian nodded.
Adrian released him.
He turned away because he could not look at another human being.
Ortiz spoke.
“Do you have evidence?”
Sebastian reached inside his coat slowly.
Marcus raised his weapon.
Sebastian stopped.
“A recorder.”
Adrian looked back.
Sebastian removed a small device.
“I recorded everything after Marianne told me Conrad was involved.”
Ortiz took it.
“Why hide this?”
“Because Conrad found me two days later.”
“What did he do?”
“He tried to kill me.”
“And your brother hid you.”
“Yes.”
Victoria whispered.
“My father knew?”
“He knew enough.”
“Why didn’t he go to police?”
“Conrad had evidence connecting Laurent Foundation to Trial Seventeen.”
Sebastian looked ashamed.
“Henri chose the company.”
Victoria turned away.
Adrian looked at the recorder.
“Does it prove Conrad killed Claire?”
“It proves he was at the car.”
“Does it prove he took the inhaler?”
“I don’t know.”
A radio call interrupted.
Ortiz listened.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
She looked at Adrian.
“We found the black van.”
“Where?”
“Five miles west.”
“Lily?”
“No.”
Adrian’s heart sank.
“Then what?”
“One body.”
“Who?”
Ortiz hesitated.
“Conrad Hale.”
Everyone stared.
Adrian felt the world shift again.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Condition?”
“Unconscious.”
Sebastian looked genuinely shocked.
“That is impossible.”
Adrian turned toward him.
“Why?”
“Because Conrad is the one who sent the messages.”
“Maybe someone wants us to think he did.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“No.”
Adrian stared.
Sebastian’s face had gone white.
“No, you don’t understand.”
“What?”
“If Conrad is unconscious.”
He looked toward the dark Glass House.
“Then the person who took Lily is the one person Claire was even more afraid of.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Name.”
May you like
Sebastian whispered.
“Dr. Elias Hart.”
