Chapter 3 — The Passport
Lucas stared at the passport.
For the first time that evening, his control slipped.
He picked it up with shaking fingers.
The photograph was Emily’s.
The name was not.
Emily Carter.
Date of departure: the following morning.
Destination: Zurich.
Lucas looked at Sophia.
“What is this?”
Sophia’s eyes moved rapidly around the room.
She was searching for an exit.
Richard spoke first.
“It’s obviously fake.”
Lucas opened the passport.
The document looked professionally made.
Beside it lay a folded custody agreement bearing Lucas’s signature.
Except Lucas had never signed it.
His name had been copied perfectly.
Claire covered her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Lucas looked at the syringes.
“What were these for?”
Sophia said nothing.
Emily’s nanny, Maria, pushed through the guests.
She was crying.
“Mr. Bennett, I tried to call you.”
Lucas turned.
Maria held out her phone.
“There were messages. Sophia told me Emily would be sent to a private school in Europe after the wedding. She said you had agreed.”
“I never agreed to anything.”
“I know that now.”
Sophia’s voice cracked.
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
Lucas stepped toward her.
“Then tell me what it looks like.”
Richard grabbed his daughter’s arm.
“We are leaving.”
Lucas blocked their path.
“No one leaves.”
Richard’s face darkened.
“You have no authority to detain us.”
A calm male voice came from the ballroom entrance.
“Actually, he doesn’t need to.”
Two police officers entered, followed by hotel security.
Claire had called them while everyone was focused on the case.
Sophia stared at her.
“You called the police?”
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
Sophia’s composure finally shattered.
“You stupid little coward!”
She grabbed a champagne glass and hurled it.
Claire ducked.
The glass smashed against a pillar.
Emily screamed.
Lucas immediately lifted his daughter into his arms.
An officer stepped between Sophia and the crowd.
“Ma’am, put your hands where I can see them.”
Sophia backed away.
The red stain on her dress had spread further.
Lucas glanced at the medical case again.
One of the syringes was empty.
“Where is the missing dose?” he asked.
Sophia stopped moving.
Emily slowly raised her stuffed rabbit.
A tiny needle protruded from its torn side.
Maria gasped.
Lucas took the rabbit carefully.
Inside the stuffing was a hidden glass vial.
The label read:
Midazolam.
A powerful sedative.
May you like
And attached to the vial was a handwritten note.
For the child. Before departure
