Chapter 18 - Chloe’s Midnight Call
|
My blood turned to ice in my veins.
Hannah wasn't talking to an agency coordinator. She was talking to my mother. Evelyn had bribed or planted the nanny inside our home to gain access to Grace.
I didn't scream. I didn't burst into the room. Three months of surviving corporate warfare had taught me that panic loses battles, but cold calculation wins them.
I silently backed away down the hallway, slipped into our bedroom, and locked the door behind me.
"Mark," I shook him hard, my voice low and fierce. "Get up right now. Hannah is working for Evelyn."
Mark’s eyes went wide. "What?!"
"She just unlocked the side door and promised Evelyn a photo of Grace," I whispered rapidly, grabbing my phone. "Call Tommy right now. Tell him to activate the perimeter security protocol and dispatch our private guards to the house."
While Mark made the call, I brought up the master security app on my phone. Though the Wi-Fi baby monitor had been tampered with, our home’s hardwired security system—installed by Grandpa’s team—was running on an independent encrypted circuit.
I switched the feed to the estate gates.
A silver SUV was currently pulling up to the back driveway, its headlights turned off. Two figures stepped out into the night, carrying heavy duffel bags.
My phone rang in my hand. It was Chloe.
"Sarah!" Chloe gasped, her voice terrified on the line. "Don't go near the back door! Mom left the house twenty minutes ago with two men. I heard her say she was going to take Grace tonight so you would be forced to trade the trust control for her return!"
"I know, Chloe," I said, my voice eerily calm. "I’m looking at them on my security monitor right now."
May you like
"Call the police, Sarah! Please!"
"The police are already on their way," I said quietly. "And this time, Evelyn isn't getting away with a fine."
