Chapter 8 - LeverageRyan's voice came through the recording.
“Emily will never actually leave.”
Andrew asked:
“And Lily?”
Ryan laughed.
“That’s the easiest part.”
My stomach turned.
“She loves that kid more than anything. Get temporary custody and Emily will sign whatever I put in front of her.”
Andrew asked:
“What if Charles gets involved?”
Ryan's voice changed.
“Charles has too much to lose.”
Then came the sentence that made everything clear.
“I’m talking about leverage.”
My daughter.
Not a child.
Not a person.
Leverage.
The recording destroyed Ryan's carefully constructed image.
The judge heard it.
Visitation was suspended.
Then a man appeared at Lily's school with forged authorization papers.
He claimed he had permission to pick her up.
Security refused.
Police identified him as Calvin Harris.
Ryan had sent him.
The detective told us Harris had been paid repeatedly.
The final discovery was chilling.
Ryan had prepared a bedroom for Lily at a remote lake house.
Clothes.
Books.
Her photographs.
A passport application.
A driving schedule from her school.
And a letter addressed to me.
If you are reading this, then Charles forced me to do what I promised I never would.
At the bottom:
You will get Lily back when Charles gives me what he owes.
I knew then.
May you like
This was no divorce.
It was a campaign.
Related Stories
