The Ferry Terminal
Chapter 03 - The Ferry Terminal
Julian wanted to rush to the ferry terminal, but Detective Torres stopped him. Going alone would give Vanessa exactly what she wanted. Instead, Maya placed a silent tracker inside the old phone and followed at a distance with an unmarked police team.
The abandoned terminal stood at the edge of the bay, its windows dark and its docks covered in fog.
Julian entered carrying the phone.
Vanessa waited inside with Lily beside her. The child was frightened but unharmed. Vanessa held no weapon. She looked desperate, as if the plan had escaped her control.
“I didn’t take Amelia,” she said. “My father did.”
Vanessa confessed that her family’s hotel empire had been close to bankruptcy. Amelia discovered that Vanessa’s father, Charles Reed, had been stealing from Lily’s trust through false investments. When Amelia threatened to report him, Charles arranged the ferry accident.
Amelia survived with a head injury. Dr. Reed kept her sedated at the clinic while Charles forged documents claiming she had abandoned Julian. Vanessa learned the truth later but remained silent because her father threatened to expose her role in laundering the money.
“Why take Lily?” Julian asked.
“Because my father is coming for the phone. If I gave him Lily, he promised to let Amelia and the boy go.”
Julian’s anger turned to horror. “They’re alive?”
Vanessa nodded toward the far dock.
A white medical van approached through the fog.
Charles Reed stepped out with two security men. Beside him stood a thin woman holding the hand of a small boy.
Even from a distance, Julian recognized Amelia.
Lily broke free and ran toward her mother.
Charles grabbed the boy and demanded the phone. Julian held it up long enough for the hidden tracker to transmit the location. Then the terminal lights went out.
In the darkness, someone struck Julian from behind.
When he woke, police sirens filled the air. Vanessa was crying beside him. Charles and his men had escaped in the van—with Amelia, Noah, and Lily.
Detective Torres found tire marks leading toward the interstate, but Charles had switched license plates.
Vanessa handed Maya a key card she had stolen from her father.
“He keeps a private airfield outside Bellmere,” she said. “If he reaches it, he’ll take them out of the country.”
Julian looked at the clock.
May you like
The nearest police helicopter was thirty minutes away.
Charles needed only twenty.
