Chapter 20 - The Midnight Summons
The final lines of Donald’s letter were violently scrawled, as if his hand had been failing him as he penned them:
*—the granddaughter of a man who has spent eight years hunting for her across three states. He believes Julian kidnapped her. He does not know I took her in to keep her alive. If he finds Vault 4 before you do, he will take Ruby, and no court order in this state will have the power to stop him.*
*Take the master key. Go to Marquette before the first heavy snow.*
Before my brain could process the monstrous weight of Donald’s revelation, the landline on the kitchen counter shrieked into the silence.
Once.
Twice.
I stepped across the kitchen, picking up the receiver with fingers that felt like numb blocks of wood.
"Amanda?"
It was Julian. But he was not drunk. He was not slurring his words. His voice was cracked with sheer, unadulterated, primal terror.
"Julian? Where are you?" I demanded, my voice dropping to a harsh whisper so Ruby wouldn't hear from the den.
"Amanda, listen to me! Get Ruby out of the house right now!" he screamed over the sound of howling wind and rushing tires. "They found me! They weren't Miriam’s people! They never were! They’re the Montgomery family from Duluth! They tracked the trust disbursements from Donald’s estate!"
A heavy crash sounded on the other end of the line—the crunch of tearing metal, followed by Julian’s agonized yell and the sound of shattering safety glass.
Then, a new voice picked up the receiver on Julian’s end.
It was a deep, gravelly voice, entirely calm, cultured, and devoid of remorse.
"Mrs. Vance?" the voice inquired politely over the crackle of static. "Your ex-husband was remarkably difficult to locate. But he was kind enough to give us your current address before his steering column collapsed."
Outside on the street, two hundred yards down our quiet suburban cul-de-sac, the headlights of an unmarked black SUV flickered on, cutting through the twilight directly toward our front windows.
"I believe you have something that belongs to my family," the man on the phone whispered. "My men will be at your front door in precisely thirty seconds."
May you like
The line went dead.
From the den, Ruby’s sweet, clear voice called out: "Mommy? Who’s that parked in our driveway?"
