Chapter 17 - The Search
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Nathan returned to the estate at 10:00 PM, exhausted but victorious. The trap for Ray was perfectly set. He walked upstairs to check on June, expecting to find her asleep in her massive bed.
He pushed the door open. The bed was empty.
Nathan frowned. "June?"
He checked the bathroom. Empty. He walked over to the bed and saw the piece of stationary resting on the pillow. He picked it up.
I'm sorry I cost too much. I'll be easy now. Thank you for the pancakes.
The paper fluttered to the floor. Nathan’s blood ran entirely cold. The sheer, blinding panic that hit his chest was worse than any financial ruin or physical pain he had ever experienced.
"DAVID!" Nathan roared, sprinting out of the room, his voice echoing violently through the mansion. "SECURITY! LOCK DOWN THE GROUNDS!"
The estate erupted into chaos. Floodlights snapped on, bathing the twenty acres in harsh white light. Guards deployed with flashlights and tracking dogs. David ran up the stairs, pale and terrified, as Nathan thrust the note into his hands.
"She heard us," Nathan panicked, tearing his tie off, his breathing ragged. "She heard the guards talking about Ray and the money. She thinks she's a burden. She ran away to protect me."
"We'll find her, Nathan," David promised, grabbing a flashlight. "She's small, she couldn't have gone far."
But an hour passed, and the dogs lost her scent at the edge of the property where the woods met the highway. She was gone.
Nathan fell to his knees in the driveway, surrounded by the flashing lights of his security team. He was the most powerful man in the city, and he had failed the only thing that mattered.
"Think, Nathan," David urged, pulling his brother up. "Where would a terrified nine-year-old go in the middle of the night? She doesn't know this area."
Nathan’s mind raced. She didn't know the wealthy suburbs. She only knew the system. She only knew the places she was supposed to wait to be picked up.
"The community center," Nathan gasped, his eyes widening. "The bus stop outside the family center where I found her. It's the only place she knows how to navigate to."
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Nathan sprinted to his SUV, throwing himself into the driver’s seat. He didn't wait for security. He tore out of the driveway, breaking every speed limit, driving like a madman toward the city limits.
He prayed he wasn't too late.
