On the screen, Laura withdrew a small, metallic object that caught the light. She leaned closer to Emily, lifting her hand toward the girl’s mouth. Jonathan felt terror lock his chest.
Then the screen went black.
“Connection lost. Security system compromised.”
Jonathan grabbed his keys and ran.
The drive home was torture. When he reached the property, the gates stood open. The guards were gone. Inside, the mansion was silent. Emily’s bedroom door was ajar.
She lay exactly where he had last seen her—too still.
“Emily,” he whispered, shaking her gently. No response. Her skin was cold, her breathing faint. Jonathan called emergency services with shaking hands.
On the bedside table sat a nearly empty vial beside a glass of water. The label read: “Veterinary sedative. High potency.”
Paramedics rushed Emily to the hospital. Police swarmed the house. Laura Bennett had vanished. Her agency records were fake. Her identity was a lie.
Doctors confirmed Emily had been heavily sedated. She would survive, but the trauma worsened her fragile condition. Jonathan sat beside her hospital bed, drowning in guilt.
A week later, Detective Harris delivered a note recovered from the home of a former employee. It was written by Laura.
“Mr. Reed,” it read. “Your daughter was never the goal. She was the leverage. Your late wife’s inheritance—the Ocean’s Tear diamond, the coastal properties—those were never yours. Soon, they will return to their rightful owner.”
Jonathan felt sick.
