Chapter 2 - The Empty Road Where Claire Should Have BeenBy 11:24, Mason had three black SUVs combing Rivercrest Road.
The storm was getting worse.
Vince stood beside him near the abandoned garden center.
“Nothing.”
“Try again.”
“We have five teams searching.”
“Try again.”
Vince stared at him.
“Mason.”
“Try again.”
They searched every ditch.
Every drainage path.
Every abandoned structure.
Every side road.
No Claire.
No Jonah.
No footprints that hadn't been washed away.
Then one of the men found something.
A broken silver heel.
Mason crouched.
He recognized it instantly.
He had bought those shoes.
“Where?”
“Twenty yards off the road.”
Mason picked it up.
His hand closed around it.
He remembered Claire stepping from the car.
The green dress.
The rain.
Her eyes.
He had sent her out there.
Vince watched him.
“Sir.”
Mason didn't answer.
There was blood on the heel.
Just a smear.
Enough.
“Get an ambulance.”
“Already coming.”
“Call every hospital.”
“We are.”
“Check cameras.”
“There aren't any nearby.”
Mason stood.
“There have to be.”
“Not on this stretch.”
“Then check traffic cameras.”
“We're doing that.”
Mason looked into the darkness.
A terrible thought entered his mind.
“What if she never made it to the road?”
Vince's expression changed.
They searched deeper into the trees.
At 11:53, they found tire tracks.
Two sets.
One smaller vehicle.
One SUV.
A second set crossed it.
Vince crouched.
“Multiple vehicles.”
Mason's jaw tightened.
“Were there tire marks here before?”
“No.”
“How old?”
“Fresh.”
They followed them.
The trail ended near an old maintenance gate.
Beyond it was a narrow access road leading toward the river.
A black SUV was abandoned twenty yards down.
The windshield was shattered.
The driver's door hung open.
Vince whispered:
“That's Jonah Quinn's car.”
Mason's face became stone.
He approached.
The inside was empty.
Blood stained the passenger seat.
Claire had been sitting there.
He knew it.
Mason touched the fabric.
Cold.
Wet.
He almost couldn't breathe.
Then Vince found a phone.
Cracked screen.
Claire's.
Mason picked it up.
One message waited.
No sender.
SHE ASKED FOR YOU.
Mason's stomach dropped.
“Check the river.”
They did.
Nothing.
At 12:40, the search expanded.
Police arrived.
Then helicopters.
Then Coast Guard.
No one found a body.
No one found Claire.
At 2:18, Mason finally went home.
Not because he wanted to.
Because Vince forced him to.
“You need sleep.”
Mason looked at him.
“Don't tell me what I need.”
“You'll make mistakes.”
“I already made one.”
Vince had no answer.
Inside the penthouse, Mason stood in Claire's empty bedroom.
Her perfume still lingered.
A book lay open beside the bed.
Her earrings sat on the dresser.
Her green coat hung near the door.
Mason touched it.
Then he saw something.
A note.
Folded.
He opened it.
It was from Claire.
A grocery list.
Nothing important.
Milk.
Coffee.
Dog food.
Flowers for Natalie.
The ordinary words destroyed him.
He sat on the floor.
For the first time in thirteen years, Mason Vale cried.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just silently.
At 5:17, his phone rang.
An investigator.
“We found Jonah.”
Mason stood.
“Where?”
“He was discovered near the river.”
“Alive?”
Silence.
“No.”
Mason closed his eyes.
“And Claire?”
“No sign.”
He hung up.
Then another call came.
Natalie.
“Mason.”
“Yes?”
“I don't know what to do.”
Neither did he.
She cried.
“She was supposed to come here.”
“I know.”
“You were the last person with her.”
“I know.”
“You need to find her.”
Mason stared into the darkness.
“I will.”
The words weren't a promise.
They were a vow.
At sunrise, Mason made one decision.
He would find whoever took Claire.
May you like
And if Claire was alive, he would bring her home.
Even if it destroyed him.
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