Chapter 5: The Blood in the SUV
Chapter 5: The Blood in the SUV
The warehouse disappeared behind us in a blur.
Marcus floored the accelerator, and our convoy raced through the rain toward the location of the abandoned SUV. Every second felt stolen from Maya.
I couldn't stop staring at the note clenched in my fist.
YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.
Who had written it?
Eleanor?
Or someone else?
If someone else was involved, then this nightmare was far bigger than I had imagined.
The Abandoned SUV
Red and blue lights reflected off the wet pavement as we arrived.
The black SUV sat crooked on the shoulder of an isolated county road.
Its engine was cold.
The driver's door hung open.
A crime scene investigator approached us.
"Mr. Sterling?"
I nodded.
"I'm Detective Helen Carter."
She extended a gloved hand toward the vehicle.
"You should prepare yourself."
I walked to the back seat.
There was blood smeared across the leather.
Drops stained the floor mat.
My legs nearly gave out.
"Is it..."
I couldn't finish the sentence.
Detective Carter looked at me with compassion.
"We don't know whose blood it is yet."
She held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was something I recognized instantly.
Maya's stuffed rabbit.
Mr. Buttons.
The rabbit she'd slept with since she was four years old.
One of its floppy ears was stained with blood.
I reached for the bag instinctively.
The detective gently stopped me.
"I'm sorry."
"It's evidence now."
I closed my eyes.
For the first time since Sarah died...
I prayed.
A Small Ray of Hope
An evidence technician hurried over.
"Detective!"
"We found fingerprints."
"Whose?"
"They don't match Eleanor Sterling."
My eyes opened.
"What?"
"There were at least three different people inside this vehicle."
Daniel frowned.
"So Eleanor wasn't acting alone."
The technician nodded.
"And there's something else."
He handed Detective Carter a tablet.
"The blood sample was tested using the rapid field kit."
She looked at the screen.
Then turned to me.
"The blood doesn't belong to a child."
I stared at her.
"It belongs to an adult male."
Hope rushed through my body.
"So Maya..."
"We have no evidence she's physically injured."
It wasn't certainty.
But it was enough to keep me standing.
The Hidden Witness
As officers continued searching the area, an elderly man approached from a nearby gas station.
He wore an old raincoat and carried an umbrella.
"I think I saw something."
Detective Carter walked over.
"What did you see, sir?"
"I work nights."
He pointed down the road.
"About an hour ago..."
"I saw two SUVs stop here."
"Not one."
My heart pounded.
"Two?"
"Yes."
"The little girl was moved from the black SUV into a white cargo van."
"Did you see who moved her?"
The old man nodded slowly.
"A woman."
"And two men."
"Were they forcing the little girl?"
He hesitated.
"No."
"She looked..."
He searched for the right word.
"...asleep."
Drugged.
The realization hit all of us at once.
The Hospital Records
Just as Detective Carter began organizing a statewide search, Daniel's phone rang.
It was his investigator.
He listened silently for nearly a minute before turning to me.
"Richard..."
"The investigator found something."
"What?"
"He checked hospital records."
I frowned.
"What hospital?"
"The private clinic Eleanor visited six weeks ago."
"She wasn't sick."
"No."
Daniel swallowed.
"She was meeting a fertility specialist."
I stared at him in confusion.
"So?"
"She wasn't trying to have a baby."
He handed me a file that had just been emailed.
Inside was a signed consultation form.
At the bottom, one handwritten sentence caught my eye.
Patient wishes to eliminate legal obstacles related to existing heir before inheritance planning.
I looked up.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel's face had gone pale.
"It means Maya wasn't just in Eleanor's way emotionally."
He paused.
"She was standing between Eleanor..."
"...and your entire fortune."
The Phone Call
At 3:17 a.m., my phone rang again.
This time the caller ID displayed only one word.
PRIVATE
I answered immediately.
"Eleanor."
A man's voice replied instead.
"Mr. Sterling."
"Who is this?"
"Someone who's giving you one chance."
"Where's my daughter?"
"Safe."
"I want proof."
"You'll get it."
The man continued calmly.
"Listen carefully."
"Your wife lied to you."
"I know."
"No."
"You don't."
There was a brief silence.
"She didn't plan this kidnapping."
I froze.
"What?"
"She lost control."
"Explain."
"The people she hired..."
"...have their own plans now."
Every hair on my neck stood up.
"Who are they?"
"You'll find out."
"But first..."
"You need to look inside your late wife's study."
I felt my heart skip.
Sarah's study?
No one had entered that room in years.
"I locked that room after she died."
"I know."
"Go there."
"What will I find?"
The man's answer sent chills through my body.
"Something Sarah hid..."
"...because she knew one day Maya's life would depend on it."
The line went dead.
Sarah's Study
Less than an hour later, I stood outside the only room in the mansion I had avoided since Sarah's funeral.
Dust covered the doorknob.
My hands trembled as I unlocked it.
The familiar scent of lavender filled the room.
Nothing had changed.
Her books remained neatly arranged.
Family photographs still stood on the shelves.
Her reading glasses rested beside an unfinished novel.
It felt as though she had simply stepped out for a moment.
I walked to her old desk.
For several minutes, I found nothing unusual.
Then I remembered something Sarah used to say.
"The truth is never where people expect it to be."
I knelt beside the fireplace.
One brick looked slightly different from the others.
I pressed it.
A soft click echoed through the room.
A hidden compartment slowly opened inside the wall.
There was only one item inside.
A sealed envelope.
On the front, written in Sarah's unmistakable handwriting, were seven words that made my blood run cold.
May you like
To Richard—Only If Maya Is In Danger.
End of Chapter 5
