Chapter 10 - The Night Mia Was Used as Leverage
Mia had not been abducted in the legal sense.
Not exactly.
But Lucas had used her.
That was almost worse.
Payroll records identified the emergency babysitter.
Her name was Erica Mills.
She had been twenty-three.
Now she lived in Phoenix.
Morales contacted her.
Erica remembered the night immediately.
“Mr. Lucas came to the house after midnight.”
“What did he say?”
“That Mr. Ethan wanted the baby brought to the resort.”
“Did you believe him?”
“He was the baby’s uncle.”
Mia sat nowhere near this conversation.
Ethan insisted on that.
“What happened?”
“Lucas took Mia.”
“Where?”
“He said to the hotel.”
“Did you see which car?”
“Black SUV.”
Ethan felt ill.
Rebecca had been at Northstar at 2:06.
Lucas must have collected Mia before going there or sent someone else.
Erica continued.
“At around four, Mrs. Whitmore brought the baby back.”
“Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Was Mia hurt?”
“No. She was asleep.”
“Did Margaret say anything?”
“She said the family had an emergency.”
Margaret had returned Mia before dawn.
Ethan had slept in his private office at the resort after searching for Rebecca through the night.
He came home around seven.
Mia was there.
He never knew she had left.
The manipulation was extraordinary.
Rebecca had been pressured with her child.
Ethan had been kept blind.
Claire remembered another detail.
“Rebecca called my phone at 2:18.”
Ethan stared.
“You never said that.”
“I didn’t answer.”
“Why?”
“I was speaking to police.”
“Did she leave a message?”
“No.”
Morales obtained historical phone metadata.
The call originated near Northstar.
Rebecca had tried to reach Claire.
Probably because she trusted her with the will.
Lucas may have discovered that.
At Seacliff, forensic testing confirmed Rebecca’s blood in the upstairs bedroom and basement.
But there were no remains.
The amount suggested injury, not necessarily death.
Investigators found old zip ties.
A disposable water bottle.
Fragments of a sedative prescription bottle issued to Victor Hale after dental surgery.
Victor’s role shifted from corrupt lawyer to active participant.
He was arrested on kidnapping and obstruction-related charges while homicide remained under investigation.
Lucas remained free because prosecutors were still assembling evidence.
That enraged Ethan.
Rachel warned him.
“Arrest is not punishment. They need a case that survives.”
“He took my baby to threaten my wife.”
“If they charge too early and fail, you will hate that more.”
She was right.
He hated that too.
Margaret finally agreed to cooperate.
Her proffer took six hours.
She admitted Mia was brought to Northstar.
“Whose idea?” the prosecutor asked.
Margaret stared at the table.
“Lucas.”
“Why?”
“To make Rebecca sign trustee resignation papers.”
“Did Rebecca see Mia?”
“Yes.”
Ethan watched through a remote feed with his attorney.
His hands shook.
Margaret continued.
“Rebecca screamed at us.”
“What did Lucas say?”
“He told her Mia would remain with us until she signed.”
“Did he threaten to hurt the child?”
Margaret shook her head violently.
“No.”
“Did Rebecca believe she could safely leave without Mia?”
“No.”
“Then the child was leverage.”
Margaret cried.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Rebecca pretended to agree.”
“She signed?”
“She asked to hold Mia first.”
“Did Lucas allow it?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“Rebecca grabbed Lucas’s phone from his coat and ran toward the driveway with Mia.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
His wife had tried to escape carrying their baby.
“Did she get away?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“Lucas caught her.”
“Did he hit her?”
Margaret whispered, “Yes.”
“With what?”
“His hand.”
“Then?”
“She fell. Mia started screaming.”
“What did you do?”
“I took Mia.”
“To protect her?”
Margaret’s face crumpled.
“Yes.”
The prosecutor did not soften.
“Or to keep Rebecca under control?”
Margaret could not answer.
Victor eventually drove Rebecca to Seacliff.
Lucas followed.
Margaret brought Mia home.
“Why didn’t you call Ethan?”
“I was terrified.”
“Of whom?”
“Lucas.”
That surprised everyone.
Margaret had spent years protecting him.
Now she admitted she feared him.
“Why?”
“Because he was becoming someone I didn’t recognize.”
The prosecutor asked the question that mattered.
“Was Rebecca alive when you left Northstar?”
“Yes.”
“Conscious?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said Ethan would find her.”
Margaret began crying harder.
“And Lucas laughed.”
Ethan left the room before the interview finished.
Claire found him in the parking garage.
He punched the concrete wall once.
Pain shot through his hand.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
“Stop.”
He looked at her.
“My daughter was used against my wife while I was downstairs shaking hands with donors.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“Stop making yourself omnipotent in retrospect.”
He stared.
Claire continued.
“You missed things. You failed Rebecca in ways you have to live with. But you could not know that your brother was taking your baby unless someone told you.”
He slowly lowered his hand.
“I keep wanting one person to blame.”
“There may be several.”
“Lucas.”
“Yes.”
“Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Me.”
Claire’s voice softened.
“In different ways.”
That hurt because it was honest.
Later Morales finished the story Margaret was willing to tell.
At 5:10 a.m. Lucas called her.
He said Rebecca had escaped from Seacliff.
Victor confirmed it.
They claimed Rebecca stole cash and fled.
Margaret believed them.
Or chose to.
Three weeks later Victor presented fake banking evidence.
Margaret helped maintain the story.
But new evidence contradicted Lucas.
A neighboring property’s old security archive had survived on a retired owner’s computer.
Morales recovered it.
At 5:22 a.m. the morning Rebecca disappeared, a vehicle left Seacliff.
Victor’s sedan.
At 5:29 another vehicle followed.
Lucas’s Range Rover.
No one else exited.
Rebecca had not escaped on foot.
The nearest highway was miles away.
Then a camera at a coastal fuel station captured Lucas at 6:03.
He was alone.
His clothes were wet.
His right sleeve was torn.
And there was something dark on the cuff.
Potentially blood.
But the most important detail was behind him.
May you like
Victor’s sedan was parked at the edge of the frame.
Its trunk was open.
