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Chapter 13 Engagement Party
Last Updated:
2025-01-13 18:30:53
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(Ethan)Caroline Montgomery’s words kept repeating in my head like an old nightmare I’d remembered again. Eight years old. An accident. Lost memories.My glass nearly slipped from my fingers as decades-old memories rushed back.“Are you alright?” Grace touched my arm, but I barely felt it. “You look pale.”“I need air.” I set the glass down harder than necessary, ignoring the champagne that spilled from it.“Ethan—”I ignored her. I was already moving, pushing through the crowd toward the terrace where I’d seen Nicholas lead Lila. My mind’s eye saw fragments of a past I’d tried so hard to forget.A summer fair. Cotton candy. A little girl’s laugh.And then…darkness.The dates matched. The age matched. Even the way Lila had always felt familiar somehow, from that first night at the bar...“It can’t be,” I muttered, gripping the stone railing. “It’s impossible.”But was it?I’d spent years searching for that little girl after it happened. I’d lost track of her completely afterwards. No
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(Lila)Nick led me back into the ballroom from the terrace. The band was playing something classical, and most of the couples were on the dance floor.“A necklace? What was he talking about?”I rubbed my temples as Nick led me toward the bar. The pain behind my eyes wouldn’t stop.“He’s trying to get under your skin,” he said. “Don’t let him.”“But how did he know about it? I never told him about any necklace from my grandmother.”“Lila.” Nick turned me to face him. “Stop. Whatever game he’s playing, it doesn’t matter.”“But—”“There you are!” My mother joined us. “The photographer’s been waiting ages. We need shots for the media reports.”I glanced at Nick. “Mom, I’m not feeling—”“Nonsense.” She grabbed my arm. “This is the social event of the year. The Montgomery-Baldwin engagement must be shown properly.”Nick jumped in front of me. “Mrs. Montgomery, maybe if we—”“The fountain.” She pointed toward the huge centerpiece. “The lighting there is perfect.”She practically dragged us t
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(Lila)Old Mr. Baldwin barked orders at security while guests split up and ran everywhere, shouting James’s name.“Lock down all exits!” The head of security spoke into his radio. “No one leaves until we find the boy.”“Call the police,” someone suggested.“No!” Grace grabbed the man’s arm. “No police. He was just here, he has to be here somewhere.”My mother came at my side, grabbing my elbow. “Darling, you look awful.”“I’m fine.”“You’re not. Look at you, you’re shaking.” She waved desperately. “Jonathan! Come look at her.”Dad rushed over, leaving his conversation with the security team. “Princess? What’s wrong?”“Nothing.” I tried to pull away from their hovering. “We need to help find James.”“You need to sit down.” Mom put her hand on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”Alexander pushed through the crowd toward us. “Give her space to breathe, Mother. She doesn’t need you smothering her right now.”“But she—”“Is perfectly capable of telling us if she needs help.” He squeezed my s
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(Lila)I bolted upright in bed, gasping. “James!”“Hey, easy.” Nick sat on the edge of the mattress. “You’re okay. You’re in my dad’s home.”I opened my eyes to a strange room and blinked. Everything looked different, but my engagement party dress was thrown on a chair.“How long was I out?”“All night.” Nick poured water into a glass. “Drink.”I gulped it down, my throat raw. Nick took the empty glass. “James. Did they find him?”“No. Security’s still searching. Your brother’s coordinating with private investigators.”“But the message said no investigators.”“Alexander doesn’t care. He says something about this feels wrong.”I pushed back the covers, then realized I was wearing one of Nick’s t-shirts. “Did you…?”“Your mother changed you.” He smiled a little. “Though I offered to help.”“Nick!”I swung my legs over the side of the bed. My knees buckled but I forced myself to stand. “I need to go home.”“You need to rest.”“A child is missing!”“And you passed out cold at your own eng
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(Lila)“We were at the summer fair. My mother let me go with the cook’s daughter—except it wasn’t really the cook’s daughter. It was you.”Ethan paced and turned the silver necklace over in his hands. Nick sat beside me on the couch.“Why would my parents lie about that?”“Because of who you were. Who we both were.” Ethan stopped by the windows. “The Montgomery and Baldwin heirs, kidnapped from a public fair? It would’ve destroyed both our families’ reputations.”“But—”“Your father had just closed a major merger. Mine was running for office. They couldn’t risk the scandal.”“So they covered it up?”“Made it disappear. Paid off witnesses, invented the car crash story. But I remember everything. The van, the men in masks, that basement…”“Stop.” I took my head in my hands. “I can’t—”“You have to remember!” Ethan knelt in front of me. “James is in that same basement. Those symbols—”Nick pushed him back. “Give her space.”“We don’t have time for space! They’ll do to him what they did t
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(Ethan)“You.” I stared at Lila as fifteen years of searching clicked into place. “It’s always been you.”She stepped back, bumping into Nicholas who stood behind her like a shield. “Ethan—”“The girl I’ve been looking for. The one I’ve been trying to find all these years…”“Stop.” She rubbed her temples “This is too much.”“But don’t you see?” I moved closer. “That’s why the symbols felt familiar. Why you’ve been drawing them since you were eight.”Nicholas pulled her against him. “She needs a break.”“No, actually…” Lila pushed away from both of us. “Keep going. What do you mean about the symbols?”“You used to trace them on the basement walls. Said the other girl’s grandmother taught her about them.”“Her grandmother?”“You told me they were protection symbols. That the other girl showed you how to draw them properly.”Lila went very still. “I don’t understand…”“The girl you said was there before us. The one who left messages on the walls.” I picked up the silver necklace again. “
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(Lila)I sat in the police station, sketching on a notepad. Every detail of that basement from fifteen years ago came back—the damp walls, the uneven floor, the symbols I’d carved to feel less alone.“And you’re sure about these markings?” Detective Dale slid another photo across his desk. James sat huddled in the same corner where I used to draw.Nick squeezed my hand under the table. He hadn’t left my side since Grace called the police.“The layout is exact,” I said, adding another detail to my sketch. “That pipe in the corner—we used it to track time. Every hour it would make this clanking sound.”“How did Grace override the kidnappers’ no-police rule?” Nick asked.Detective Dale sighed. “She claims she couldn’t take the waiting anymore. Showed up here hysterical around dawn.”“Where is she now?”“Interview room two with her lawyer. She’s been…difficult.”I focused on my drawing, trying to capture every detail. “There was a door, heavy metal. They’d bring food through a slot at the
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(Lila)“Answer me,” Alexander blocked the bathroom doorway, holding up the prenatal vitamin bottle. “Why is my sister taking these?”Nick kept his arm around my waist. “This really isn’t the place—”“You knocked her up?” Alexander yelled. “That’s why this engagement happened so fast?”“Alex, please lower your voice,” I begged. Other officers were starting to glance our way.“Lower my voice? My baby sister is pregnant and rushing into marriage with Nicholas Baldwin, of all people!”“Not here.” I grabbed both their arms and pulled them into an empty interview room, shutting the door. “The whole station doesn’t need to hear this.”Alexander paced the small room. “How long?”“About eight weeks,” I admitted.“Eight weeks? And you’re already engaged? Moving awful fast there, Nicholas.”Nick crossed his arms. “I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”“No? Then explain why my sister spent a year with your nephew only to suddenly end up pregnant and engaged to you weeks later?”My stomach roi
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(Lila)The next several hours involved intense preparation. The FBI’s cyber team created an elaborate digital trap—a seemingly vulnerable server containing therapeutic records, family communications, and security protocols.Each document had been chosen to appear genuine while containing subtle markers that would help trace anyone who accessed them.“The honeypot is live,” the lead technician announced finally. “Already detecting preliminary probes of the security perimeter.”“That was fast,” Nick remarked.“They’ve been waiting for an opening,” Grace said, watching the technical displays. “This fits their established pattern—continuous surveillance for exploitable weaknesses.”Carter joined us, tablet in hand. “Now we wait for them to commit to the intrusion. Once they begin extracting data in earnest, we’ll have multiple tracing options.”“How long?” Alexander asked.“Depends on their caution level,” the technician replied. “Could be hours. Could be days.”But it wasn’t hours or day
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(Lila)Fleur’s laughter rang through the room as we all stared, bewildered, at the crib. I rushed over, scooping her into my arms, frantically checking for any sign of distress. She only giggled harder, reaching for my face.“What did he do?” I demanded, turning to the others.Nick was already beside us, his hands gently examining Fleur. “Nothing, as far as I can tell. She seems perfectly fine.”On the screen, Krane smiled. “Fascinating, isn’t it? The expectation of pain creates more fear than pain itself. You’ve just experienced the fundamental principle of fear architecture—the anticipation is the weapon, not the event.”“Shut it off,” I hissed at the technicians.“No, wait,” Carter countered, signaling them to continue tracing. “We need to keep him talking.”Krane continued as if he could hear our debate. “You believe you’ve reclaimed your narrative, Lila. That by confronting your trauma, you’ve disarmed it. But fear isn’t rational. It lives in the space between threat and action—t
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(Lila)“James is fine,” Ethan’s voice came through the phone, tight with fear. “We’ve tripled his security detail. Nobody’s getting near him.”“You’re sure?” I pressed, pacing the hotel suite.“I’m with him right now,” Ethan assured me. “Playing video games with two armed agents in the room.”After Krane’s message, we’d immediately verified everyone’s safety. Ethan and Cara had James at a separate secure location. Romy remained under Alexander’s protective detail at yet another facility. Nick and Ethan’s parents were overseas, surrounded by private security. My parents were downstairs.“They’re trying to destabilize us,” Carter explained as I ended the call. “Classic psychological warfare—implying vulnerability without actually demonstrating it.”“Like the basement,” I murmured, the memory rising unbidden.Nick looked up sharply. “What?”“In the basement, twenty years ago.” I sank into a chair, Fleur sleeping in my arms. “They never actually hurt us physically. They just made us belie
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(Lila)I pressed my back against the headboard of the hotel bed, watching Fleur sleep in the portable crib the FBI had arranged. After three days in this new, supposedly secure hotel, I still jumped at every sound, checked every corner.The suite door opened as Nick and Alexander returned from their latest security briefing. Nick crossed immediately to Fleur’s crib, his shoulders finally relaxing when he saw her sleeping peacefully.“Any news?” I asked quietly.“We’ve identified three more Sterling operatives,” Nick replied, sinking onto the edge of the bed. “Two hotel employees at our previous location and a driver from my company.”“Grace confirmed all three,” Alexander added, loosening his tie. “Her intel has been solid.”The past seventy-two hours had transformed our situation. After Grace’s revelation, the FBI had moved us to a military-grade secure facility disguised as a boutique hotel. Grace had been debriefed continuously, identifying Sterling’s people and methodologies in de
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(Lila)Fleur’s screams tore through me as I clutched her against my chest. Her tiny body shook violently, her eyes wild with a terror no baby should ever know.“Make it stop!” I pleaded, rocking her desperately. “What’s happening to her?”The FBI agents swarmed around us, checking equipment, scanning for signals, searching for whatever had triggered my daughter’s sudden panic.“Sonic frequency,” Grace said suddenly from her corner of the hotel suite. She’d been so quiet I’d almost forgotten she was there. Now she stood, walking toward us. “Robert used it on his targets. Infrasound—you can’t hear it, but it creates terror, panic.”“Shut down all devices,” Agent Carter ordered the room sharply. “Now!”Nick yanked cords from walls while agents deactivated equipment. Fleur’s screams gradually subsided, replaced by hiccupping sobs against my shoulder.“How did you know?” I asked Grace shakily.“Robert loved psychological weapons,” she replied, watching Fleur with genuine concern. “Said inf
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(Nick)Jonathan Montgomery froze at the accusation as its poison spread through the room. He sat on the hotel suite sofa, looking suddenly older and more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him.“Dad?” Lila prompted, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is it true? Did you know Victor Krane before the kidnapping?”Jonathan stared at his hands. “Not as Krane. He used a different name then—Vincent Kemp. Security consultant specializing in executive protection.”I swore violently, turning away to control my rage. Ethan remained perfectly still, his face blank with disbelief.“You brought him into our lives?” Ethan asked finally, gritted his teeth between words.“He came highly recommended,” Jonathan replied weakly. “Multiple endorsements from colleagues in the industry. Impressive credentials.”“And he suggested Blackwood’s services,” Alexander stated flatly. “Connected you.”Jonathan nodded miserably. “Said Blackwood was the best in the business. Discrete, thorough. I had no idea they were work
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(Nick)The elevator descended to the hotel lobby in silence. I stood with Ethan, Carter and two armed agents, leaving Alexander to protect Lila and Fleur in the secure suite. The phone connection with Blackwood had ended abruptly after Malcolm Chambers’ arrival was announced.“This is obviously a trap,” Ethan muttered, adjusting his jacket nervously.“Of course it is,” I agreed tightly. “But if Chambers is here in person, it’s our best opportunity to end this.”Carter checked her sidearm discreetly. “Remember, we need him alive and talking. He’s our direct link to Blackwood and Krane.”The elevator doors opened to reveal a transformed hotel lobby. Most civilians had been evacuated, replaced by FBI agents positioned strategically throughout the space.In the center, sitting calmly in a leather armchair as if waiting for a business meeting, was a man in his late forties with salt-and-pepper hair and expensive glasses.“Malcolm Chambers, I presume,” I said coldly as we approached.The ma
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(Nick)The voice on Lila’s phone continued smoothly. “Your father commissioned quite an elaborate project. ‘Generational intervention’ was the term he preferred.”“Who is this?” I demanded, moving to Lila’s side.“Ah, Nicholas Baldwin,” the voice acknowledged. “The man who built an empire on another man’s grave. How fitting that we should all converge now.”“Kenneth Blackwood,” Carter said into the phone, taking control of the situation. “This is Special Agent Carter, FBI. We’ve located your Connecticut property. Your archives are now in federal custody.”A pause, then a soft laugh. “Merely one of many repositories, Agent Carter. Though I’m impressed you found it. Your reputation is well-deserved.”Jonathan lunged for the phone. “Blackwood! Tell them the truth, damn you! I never hired you to take my daughter!”“Semantics, Jonathan,” Blackwood replied dismissively. “You paid for a comprehensive fear architecture program. The specific methodologies were left to our discretion.”“You’re
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(Nick)“They can’t possibly be watching us here,” Lila insisted, as FBI agents swept the hotel room for surveillance devices. “We’re under federal protection.”I paced the perimeter, checking every corner, every vent, every light fixture. “We thought our homes were secure too.”Grace huddled in an armchair, watching the activity. Since the coordinated attacks had begun, she’d remained mostly silent, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.“Grace,” Agent Carter approached her directly. “We need everything you know about Kenneth Blackwood.”Grace looked up, startled. “I told you what Robert said—”“Not enough,” I interrupted sharply. “They’re targeting our children. If you know anything else, anything at all…”“I-I might,” Grace admitted reluctantly. “I didn’t think it was important before.”Ethan moved closer, sitting across from his ex-wife. “What do you remember?”Grace twisted her fingers nervously. “Robert kept a box of mementos. Things that gave him power, he said. There was a photogr
