Chapter 14 - Blue Ridge
Daniel knew exactly what Blue Ridge meant.
Not a place.
An airplane.
Cross Meridian owned a Gulfstream G650 called Blue Ridge.
Charles used it for international travel.
The jet was scheduled to depart a private terminal in Oakland at 5:40 a.m.
Destination listed as Vancouver.
Passenger manifest restricted.
Daniel called Maya.
Maya called Ruiz.
Ruiz called airport police and prosecutors.
Daniel did one more thing.
He drove there himself.
Maya shouted through the phone.
“Do not go!”
“My sister—”
“Ethan’s sister. And yes, we are trying to stop the aircraft legally.”
“If Marcus has Lily—”
“Then the worst thing you can do is create another confrontation!”
Daniel disconnected.
At the private terminal, he saw Marcus carrying Lily toward security.
The baby wore a pink knitted hat.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“Marcus!”
Marcus turned.
His expression changed.
“You idiot.”
Daniel strode toward him.
Security moved immediately.
“Mr. Cross, stop.”
Daniel ignored them.
“Give me Lily.”
Marcus held the baby closer.
“You have no custody rights over her.”
“Anna called Ethan.”
That shook Marcus.
Only slightly.
“She said you were moving Lily.”
Marcus recovered.
“Her mother is mentally ill.”
Daniel came closer.
Security blocked him.
Lily began crying.
The sound tore through Daniel.
“Marcus, don’t do this.”
“You don’t get to lecture anyone about children.”
Daniel stopped.
Marcus’s words were cruel.
Also partly true.
“You’re right,” Daniel said.
Marcus blinked.
Daniel continued.
“I hit Ethan. I failed Anna. I trusted Charles.”
Security tightened around him.
“But I’m not letting my guilt make me useless anymore.”
Marcus’s jaw clenched.
“You already are.”
He turned toward the gate.
Daniel lunged—not at Marcus, but toward the document folder in the attorney’s hand beside him.
Security tackled Daniel.
His face struck the carpet.
Lily screamed.
Marcus looked down.
“Still the same man.”
Daniel lay pinned beneath two guards.
And knew Marcus was right about one thing.
Again, he had acted first.
Again, he had made himself the problem.
Police arrived.
Not for Marcus.
For Daniel.
Marcus had obtained a temporary civil stay-away order the previous evening after Daniel’s courthouse confrontation.
Daniel had been served electronically through counsel.
By entering Marcus’s immediate space, he had arguably violated it.
Maya arrived furious.
“You had one job.”
“Stop the plane.”
“No. Your job was to let us stop the plane.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
The Gulfstream sat on the tarmac.
Engines running.
Then they shut down.
Marcus reappeared behind the glass.
His face was no longer calm.
Maya held up her phone.
“Family court signed an emergency travel restraint twelve minutes ago. Airport police served it before takeoff.”
Daniel sagged with relief.
“Lily?”
“County custody pending hearing.”
Marcus would not leave with her.
But Daniel was detained for the confrontation.
The judge handling Ethan’s placement received notice within hours.
Daniel’s chances of receiving immediate custody became almost nonexistent.
When Ethan learned what happened, he refused Daniel’s call.
That hurt more than the handcuffs.
By afternoon, police had Lily back with Mrs. Greene.
Brother and sister were reunited.
Daniel saw the photograph Renee sent him.
Ethan asleep beside Lily’s crib, one hand wrapped around the railing.
He sat alone in a holding room.
Maya entered.
“They’re releasing you with stricter conditions.”
Daniel looked exhausted.
“I keep doing it.”
“Yes.”
“I tell myself it’s because I care.”
Maya sat across from him.
“Care without discipline becomes danger.”
Daniel absorbed that.
“My father always said hesitation was weakness.”
“Your father appears to have built his life around making other people pay for his certainty.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“I’m more like him than I want to be.”
“That is not the same as being doomed to remain like him.”
His phone was returned.
There was one new voicemail.
From Detective Ruiz.
“Daniel, the Harbor Recovery warrant was approved. We searched the facility.”
He called immediately.
Ruiz answered.
“Did you find Anna?”
A pause.
“We found the room.”
His stomach dropped.
“But not her?”
“No.”
“What was there?”
“Her hairbrush. Clothing. Restraint marks on the bedframe. Sedative medication logged under false initials.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Ruiz continued.
“And blood.”
Daniel stood.
“How much?”
“Not enough to suggest a fatal injury.”
“Where is she?”
“We believe they moved her after she made the call.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
Then Ruiz said, “We also found a patient transfer sheet.”
“To where?”
“It doesn’t list an address.”
“What does it say?”
“One notation.”
Daniel waited.
May you like
“CJC residence.”
Charles James Cross.
