Chapter 3 - Why Leo Was Taken
Leo spent the night in a hospital under observation.
David refused to leave.
Sarah Bennett sat beside him in the waiting room.
"What did Elena mean?" David asked.
"We don't know yet."
"You said someone inside the investigation might be compromised."
"We're reviewing every person who had access to the original case."
David looked through the glass at his son.
"Why would anyone take Leo to get to me?"
Detective Bennett hesitated.
"That's what we need to determine."
The next morning, Leo was able to speak more.
Only in short pieces.
David didn't pressure him.
He asked simple questions.
"Do you remember where you were before the house?"
Leo nodded.
"Grandpa's ranch."
"What happened?"
"The gate was open."
"What did you do?"
"I heard someone calling."
David's heart tightened.
"Who?"
"I thought it was Uncle Ben."
David's brother Ben had died years earlier.
Leo had known that.
"So what happened?"
"I followed the voice."
"Then?"
"I saw a truck."
"What color?"
"White."
"Do you remember the driver?"
Leo shook his head.
"He wore a hat."
"Did he hurt you?"
Leo looked frightened.
David immediately stopped.
"That's enough."
Detective Bennett nodded.
Later, she showed David a photograph.
A white utility truck.
"Recognize it?"
David stared.
Then his eyes widened.
"Elena's contractor."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
The same company had renovated Elena's house.
The same company that installed the hidden room.
Detectives traced the company.
It had existed for only eighteen months.
Its registered owner was a man named Marcus Hale.
But Marcus Hale was an alias.
His real identity was Thomas Reed.
A former security consultant.
And, more importantly, he had once worked for David's father.
David felt sick.
"What did he do?"
"Private security."
"Why would he target me?"
Detective Bennett opened another file.
"Your father left something behind."
David frowned.
"My father died three years ago."
"Yes."
"What's this?"
"Financial records."
David stared at the pages.
His father had owned several commercial properties.
One had been transferred shortly before his death.
To a company called Vance Legacy Holdings.
David had never heard of it.
"Who owns this?"
Detective Bennett looked at him.
"You."
David froze.
"What?"
"The company was created in your name."
"I didn't create it."
"We know."
"What does it own?"
"Land."
"How much?"
"Several hundred acres outside Sedona."
David stared.
"Why would my father put land in my name?"
"We think he was trying to protect it."
"From whom?"
She pointed to the records.
"These transactions suggest your father believed someone was trying to take control of his assets."
David remembered his father's last conversation.
He had said:
"If anything ever happens, don't trust appearances."
David had assumed he meant business.
Maybe he meant family.
Detective Bennett continued.
"There's another connection."
"Elena?"
"Yes."
David looked at her.
"Her house was built on land transferred through the same company."
His blood ran cold.
"She knew."
"We think she knew something."
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
"We're asking her that now."
David visited Elena that afternoon.
She was under police supervision.
He stood across from her.
"You knew my father was protecting assets."
She nodded.
"He told me."
"When?"
"Months before he died."
"What did he tell you?"
"That someone was trying to take control of the family property."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
David's voice hardened.
"You knew about the hidden room."
"Yes."
"You knew Leo was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew the man who brought him here."
"I knew what he called himself."
"And you still let me believe my son was gone."
Elena broke down.
"I was terrified."
"You were afraid for yourself."
"Yes."
David stared at her.
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
He turned away.
Then she said:
"There's something else."
David stopped.
"Leo wasn't supposed to stay here."
"What?"
"He was supposed to be moved."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
David's heart stopped.
"Moved where?"
"I don't know."
"Elena."
"I swear."
"Why was he here?"
She hesitated.
"Because the man needed to hide him while he searched your father's property."
David stared.
"What was he looking for?"
Elena looked directly at him.
"A metal box."
"What was inside?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then Detective Bennett entered.
"We found the truck."
David turned.
"Where?"
"Abandoned near your father's old ranch."
She held up an evidence bag.
Inside was a key.
A small brass key.
May you like
On its tag was one handwritten word.
VANCE.
