“We will stop him, Emily,” he said, his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“I won’t let him take anything else from us.”

I squeezed his hand back, but my mind was on the black card in my pocket.

We were heading into the lion’s den, and Richard was desperate.

The drive up the highway felt agonizingly slow.

Every brake light ahead of us felt like another barrier between us and the truth.

The wipers scraped rhythmically against the windshield, clearing the heavy downpour.

Nathan kept his phone in his hand, watching the security feed from the estate.

“The study camera just went dark,” he said, his voice tense.

“He’s cutting the lines.”

“Can we call the local police?” I asked.

“Not yet,” Nathan said. “Without proof of a crime on the property, it’s just a father entering his own home.”

“We need to catch him in the act.”

The SUV turned off the highway onto the winding, tree-lined road that led to the estate.

The iron gates came into view, standing wide open in the darkness.