Chapter 4 - The Children They Took
The call came at six in the evening.
A court clerk.
I almost didn't answer.
“Ms. Vance?”
“Yes.”
“There has been a development in your custody case.”
My heart raced.
“What kind?”
“The temporary placement order concerning your children has been suspended.”
I could barely breathe.
“Why?”
“A motion was filed to transfer guardianship to an emergency third party.”
“What third party?”
There was a pause.
“A private organization.”
“What organization?”
The clerk gave me a name.
Mercy Children's Foundation.
I had never heard of it.
Leo had.
His face went white when I told him.
“That's not a charity.”
“What is it?”
“An old organization connected to Adrian Cross.”
Mara immediately started searching.
Within minutes, she found the connection.
Mercy Children's Foundation received anonymous funding from a network of shell companies.
One of those companies had a business relationship with Adrian.
Another had ties to the medical supplier involved in Amelia’s case.
And one had donated heavily to the legal firm representing my late husband's parents.
My knees weakened.
“They're trying to take my children.”
Leo caught my arm.
“They already have them.”
“No.”
I pulled away.
“They are my children.”
His voice softened.
“Then we get them back.”
The next day, we filed emergency motions.
But someone was faster.
My children had been moved.
Without notifying me.
The court claimed it was for their protection.
I knew it wasn't.
I spent hours trying to locate them.
Leo never left my side.
Then the phone rang again.
This time, it was from an unknown number.
A man said:
“You want your children?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop helping Leo Mercer.”
I gripped the phone.
“Who are you?”
“You already know.”
“Adrian?”
The silence confirmed it.
“What do you want?”
“The baby.”
I felt sick.
“No.”
“The Mercer child is worth more than you understand.”
“You're insane.”
“Maybe.”
His voice hardened.
“But your children are alive because we haven't needed them yet.”
I could barely breathe.
“What does that mean?”
“You'll find out.”
The call ended.
I collapsed into a chair.
Leo knelt in front of me.
“Nora.”
“My children.”
He took my hands.
“We'll get them back.”
“You don't understand.”
“I do.”
“No, you don't.”
“My daughter is being hunted too.”
His eyes filled with something raw.
“That's why I understand.”
I looked at him.
For the first time, I saw that we were fighting the same war.
Different children.
Same enemy.
That night, Leo revealed something he had hidden from me.
He had a private surveillance network.
Not legal.
Not entirely.
He used it to protect his companies.
Now he used it to find my children.
A location appeared.
An old facility outside Portland.
A children's rehabilitation center.
Mara checked the records.
The place had no active license.
We knew it was a trap.
We went anyway.
The facility was empty.
Except for one room.
Three chairs.
A camera.
And a note.
You're looking in the wrong direction.
Underneath it was a photograph.
Of Isla.
Then another.
Of my children.
And a third.
Of Amelia.
Leo stared at the image.
“She was investigating them.”
Mara nodded.
“Before she died.”
On the back of Amelia's photograph were coordinates.
We followed them to a warehouse near the river.
Inside, we found boxes of medical records.
Thousands.
Babies.
Mothers.
Hospitals.
My blood ran cold.
This wasn't kidnapping for ransom.
It was data trafficking.
A network was collecting private medical information about newborns and vulnerable families.
The data was being used to manipulate custody disputes, insurance claims, adoptions, and medical decisions.
My children had become useful because they were connected to me.
And Isla had become valuable because she belonged to Leo Mercer.
But there was more.
A file with my name.
Nora Vance.
Inside was a full psychological profile.
Fear triggers.
Financial weaknesses.
Family history.
And one line:
Primary subject is emotionally compromised by separation from children.
I couldn't breathe.
Someone had studied my grief.
Used it.
Built a weapon from it.
Leo stood beside me.
“You're not weak.”
I looked at him.
“They think I am.”
“They're wrong.”
The warehouse alarm suddenly sounded.
Someone had found us.
We ran.
Shots echoed outside.
Leo pulled me behind a concrete pillar.
Mara called for backup.
Then I heard a voice.
“Ms. Vance!”
I looked out.
It was my mother-in-law.
She stood beside Adrian Cross.
Alive.
The woman everyone told me had left the country.
She smiled.
May you like
And I realized the entire custody case had been manufactured.
She had been part of it from the beginning.
