Chapter 2 - Someone Wanted Noah in the Water
“I was walking home.”
Gideon leaned back.
“From where?”
“The Bellamy Grand.”
His expression changed slightly.
“You work there?”
“Housekeeping.”
“The Bellamy is four miles away.”
“I know.”
“And your apartment?”
“Two miles in the opposite direction.”
I stared at him.
“You investigated me already?”
“I asked one question.”
“You apparently received several answers.”
Gideon ignored that.
“Why take the waterfront?”
“My bus never came.”
“What route?”
“Twenty-seven.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What time?”
“Eleven twenty.”
Gideon pulled out his phone.
He typed something.
Thirty seconds later, he looked up.
“Route twenty-seven was suspended at ten forty-six because of an accident.”
“That explains the bus.”
“It doesn’t explain why you crossed Mercer property.”
“I followed the river path.”
“There’s a fence.”
“There was an opening.”
Gideon became still.
“What opening?”
“Near Warehouse Seventeen.”
He stood.
“Show me.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Twenty minutes later, I was back where everything started.
This time, Noah remained at the mansion.
Gideon brought three men.
One introduced himself as Marcus Vale, head of security.
I pointed toward a chain-link fence.
“There.”
Marcus approached it.
Someone had cut through the steel.
Recently.
Gideon’s face darkened.
“Check cameras.”
Marcus hesitated.
“We already did.”
“And?”
“Cameras seventeen through twenty-one went offline at eleven thirty-eight.”
“Accident?”
“No.”
Gideon looked toward the river.
I finally understood.
“You think Noah didn’t fall.”
Nobody answered.
“Gideon?”
He turned.
“How did you find him?”
“I told you. I heard a splash.”
“No. Before that.”
I thought.
“I heard something.”
“What?”
“An engine.”
“Car?”
“Maybe.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Anything else?”
“A man.”
Gideon’s eyes sharpened.
“You saw someone?”
“Not clearly. Across the pier.”
“What was he doing?”
“Running.”
Gideon turned to Marcus.
“Lock down every property.”
Marcus immediately walked away, speaking into his phone.
I stared at Gideon.
“Your son was kidnapped?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you suspect it.”
“Yes.”
I folded my arms.
“Then call the police.”
His expression almost made me regret saying it.
Almost.
“You don’t call police?”
“I call people I trust.”
“That sounds healthy.”
He stared at me.
“You joke when you’re afraid.”
“I argue when I’m afraid.”
“I noticed.”
Headlights suddenly appeared behind us.
Marcus returned.
“We found something.”
He held out a phone.
Security footage from a camera farther down the waterfront showed a dark sedan arriving near the pier.
A man stepped out.
Then another door opened.
Noah appeared.
My chest tightened.
He wasn’t walking freely.
Someone was holding his arm.
The footage skipped.
Then the car disappeared.
I whispered, “Someone brought him here.”
“Yes.”
Gideon’s voice had become terrifyingly quiet.
Another security man approached.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We checked Noah’s driver.”
“And?”
“He’s gone.”
Gideon’s jaw tightened.
“Find him.”
The man hurried away.
I looked at Gideon.
“Who drives Noah?”
“Thomas Reed. Six years.”
“You trusted him?”
“With my son.”
That answer hurt more than anger would have.
We returned to the mansion.
Noah was awake in bed.
Gideon sat beside him.
“Buddy, I need you to tell me what happened.”
Noah looked toward me.
“Can Hannah stay?”
Gideon glanced at me.
I nodded.
Noah swallowed.
“Mr. Reed picked me up after tutoring.”
“Then?”
“He said you wanted me at the river.”
“I never said that.”
“I know now.”
Noah’s voice shook.
Gideon reached for his hand.
“What happened at the pier?”
“Mr. Reed was arguing with somebody.”
“Who?”
“I didn’t know him.”
“What did he look like?”
“Gray jacket. Beard.”
Noah stared at the blanket.
“He said you were supposed to understand a warning.”
Gideon froze.
“What warning?”
Noah whispered, “That nobody is untouchable.”
My skin went cold.
“What happened next?”
“They started fighting.”
“And you?”
“I ran.”
“Toward the water?”
“I couldn’t see.”
Noah’s eyes filled.
“Someone grabbed me.”
Gideon leaned closer.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“He pushed you?”
Noah nodded.
The room became silent.
Gideon stood.
I caught his arm.
“Where are you going?”
“To deal with this.”
“No.”
His eyes dropped to my hand.
“You don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“I know exactly what you look like right now.”
“Hannah.”
“Your son needs his father.”
“My son needs whoever did this stopped.”
“He needs both.”
Gideon stared at me.
Then Noah spoke.
“Dad.”
Gideon turned.
“Stay.”
May you like
The most feared man in Savannah looked at his eight-year-old son.
And sat back down.
