“Gideon Voss?” Tessa asked.

“Yes,” Vivian said. “He found out about Mara’s secret trust. The one she set up for Lily and Owen.”

“The trust is locked until they turn eighteen,” Ryker said.

“Not if they are declared legally dead,” Vivian cried.

“If they disappear, if there is no trace of them for seven years, the state can declare them dead.”

“Or sooner, if Gideon presents the right falsified evidence,” Tessa muttered to herself, typing quickly.

“He forced me to hire Celeste Reed,” Vivian explained, her voice shaking violently.

“Celeste was supposed to take them to the airport and leave them in the crowded terminal.”

“Why the airport?” I asked.

“Because it’s a massive transit hub,” Vivian said. “Children get lost there. He wanted them to vanish into the county system.”

“He figured they would end up in foster care under assumed names,” Marco added, his voice coming through the speaker.

“And once they were lost in the foster system, nobody would ever find them,” Ryker said, his voice dropping to a dangerous register.

“Exactly,” Vivian sobbed. “Gideon would file the petition. He would inherit the entire Steel estate as the trustee.”