Page 79 of Single Mom's Undoing

“Run facial rec on those two,” Carter replies.

The color has drained from his cheeks. His eyes are dark with deadly rage as he takes deep breaths, trying to calmhimself. He knows he needs a clear head in order to figure out who took Clara and his son.

Watching it fills me with genuine, soul-crippling fear.

They kidnapped our woman.

They took Matty.

Jace turns the laptop back toward himself so he can input specific details and frames. “Running facial rec,” he says.

“Who the fuck are they?” I ask Carter. “Who the fuck would take her and Matty like that? It looked targeted, organized, well-planned.”

“Shit,” Jace exclaims. “I’ve got them.”

He shows us the screen again, two clear employee files with pictures of the man and woman from the motel footage.

“Wyatt Smith and Laura Wells. The names don’t sound familiar. Do we know them?”

“No, but Bill might,” Jace says.

That prompts an eyebrow raise from Carter. “How so?”

“They’re both employees with Lockwood Mills & Co.,” Jace says. “They work for your father.”

The threat has come full circle now, even with the still-missing pieces we’ve yet to add to an ever-growing puzzle. This has Bill’s fingerprints all over it, but we still don’t know where Clara and Matty are, or why Bill would do this in the first place.

“Dammit!” Carter yells. “How the hell did they get Clara and Matty out of there?”

Jace keeps going through the footage while Carter gets on the phone with our tactical executives at Vanguard.

“Miles, hi,” Carter says. “I need you to put a red flag on Wyatt Smith and Laura Wells. Jace is going to send you their details now. Do a full search. I want everything on them, every piece of property, every car they own, residences, everything.” He pauses to let Miles respond, but the look on his face tells me he doesn’t like what he’s hearing. “I don’t give a shit about the legal aspects, Miles. It’s a direct order; do it.”

He hangs up, pressing his lips tightly together.

“Got it,” Jace says. “They drove out in a red Camry. The license plates were captured through the state’s road cam grid. With a little bit of luck, we’ll find out where they went.”

“We might already know where they went,” I mumble. Carter gives me a wondering, almost-desperate look. “Well, they work for Bill. We all know they probably acted on his orders. Where’s your father now?”

“I’m not sure,” he says, briefly lowering his gaze. “But I’m going to find out.”

“We should drive back to Blackthorn Falls. There’s nothing left for us to do here,” Jace advises. “I’ve got the traffic cam search on, and I’ll give you updates as they pop up.”

It’s better than sitting here in the hospital parking lot, fiddling with our thumbs and letting the worst-case scenarios overwhelm us. My judgment is clouded enough as it is. I need to focus. I need clarity so that I can be fully present when we do find Clara.

“Why would he fucking do this?” Carter wonders aloud as he drives out of the parking lot. “I mean, it doesn’t make sense.”

“I think there’s a much harder question we need to ask here,” I say.

“What’s that?”

“How far are you willing to go to protect Matty, Clara, and the baby she’s carrying, given what you’ve learned?” I ask.

Carter keeps his eyes on the road, but I can see the muscle ticking angrily in his jaw. “Everything and anything, Damon. She’s the love of my life. He’s my son. And that is our kid she’s carrying. My father took her away from us once. I can’t let him do it again.”

“Think we should get the Feds involved?” Jace asks.

“Let’s figure out what his endgame is first,” Carter replies. “There’s no way he’s getting out of this unscathed; I promise you that much.”