Chapter 4 - Five Minutes MissingThe police arrived in seven minutes.
It felt like seven years.
Noah had disappeared from a locked upstairs bedroom.
The cameras had stopped recording for exactly five minutes.
Five minutes.
From 11:42 to 11:47 p.m.
The one period when nobody could tell me what had happened.
Vanessa insisted she had been downstairs.
Daniel claimed he had been in my study.
Neither story made sense.
I didn't care.
My son was missing.
I tore through the house.
Every closet.
Every bathroom.
Every storage room.
Nothing.
Then a patrol officer found a muddy footprint under Noah's window.
Too large to belong to a child.
Someone had taken him outside.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered immediately.
“Where is my son?”
A man's voice responded.
“Listen carefully.”
“WHO ARE YOU?”
“You have thirty minutes.”
“For what?”
“Bring the silver box to the old greenhouse.”
“I want Noah.”
“You'll get him.”
The line went dead.
I turned toward Daniel.
He was staring at me.
“What?”
“That place was closed years ago.”
“What place?”
“The greenhouse.”
I grabbed my keys.
Daniel caught my shoulder.
“You're walking into a trap.”
“My son is in that trap.”
“I'll come with you.”
“No.”
“Ethan…”
“If they see a second car, Noah may get hurt.”
Daniel hesitated.
Then handed me a small earpiece.
“I'll stay close.”
The greenhouse stood at the edge of an abandoned property our family had owned for decades.
I parked fifty yards away.
The door was open.
Inside, the air smelled of wet soil and rust.
“Noah!”
Silence.
Then I heard crying.
“Daddy!”
I ran toward the sound.
A small figure was sitting behind a wooden partition.
Noah.
His hands were tied loosely with a cloth.
I dropped the box.
“Noah!”
He rushed into my arms.
“Daddy!”
I held him so tightly he squeaked.
“Are you hurt?”
He shook his head.
“Who brought you here?”
Noah pointed behind me.
I turned.
Nobody.
Then a speaker crackled overhead.
“You shouldn't have brought the boy.”
I stood.
“Where is the man who called me?”
Another voice answered.
“Gone.”
I looked down.
There was a red light blinking on the floor.
A camera.
Someone had been recording us.
The speaker went silent.
Then a screen on the greenhouse wall turned on.
Vanessa appeared.
She sat in a chair.
Her face was pale.
“Ethan.”
I stared at the screen.
“What did you do to my son?”
“I didn't take him.”
“Liar.”
“I swear.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
The video flickered.
Vanessa looked directly into the camera.
“Lily knew.”
I froze.
“Knew what?”
“She knew about the money.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“You don't know anything.”
A second video started playing.
Lily.
She was standing in the greenhouse.
Alive.
My stomach dropped.
The date was one day before her death.
She was speaking to someone off-camera.
“I know who you are.”
A man's voice answered.
“You should stop digging.”
Lily looked frightened.
“I won't.”
“You've already made the mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“You trusted Ethan.”
My blood ran cold.
Lily stepped backward.
“No.”
The man laughed.
“You don't even know what your husband inherited.”
The video ended.
Noah buried his face against me.
“What did he mean?” I whispered.
The screen changed.
Another message appeared.
THE BOX WAS NEVER ABOUT THE MONEY.
Then:
ASK YOUR SON WHAT HE SAW THE NIGHT LILY DIED.
I looked at Noah.
He was trembling.
“Buddy?”
He wouldn't look at me.
“Noah.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Mommy was crying.”
My breath caught.
“What else?”
He whispered the words so softly I almost didn't hear them.
“Someone was standing outside the window.”
“Who?”
Noah shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Did you see their face?”
He nodded.
May you like
Then whispered:
“It was Vanessa.”
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