Chapter 21: The Claim Against the Center
By sunrise, federal officers surrounded the Isabelle Center.
Adrian’s disappearance became national news.
Reporters gathered outside the gates.
Some called him a fugitive.
Others claimed he had been kidnapped.
I did not know which possibility frightened me more.
At nine in the morning, a process server arrived with a court order.
Claire read the first page.
“This is an emergency property claim.”
“Against the center?”
“Against the entire Cross estate.”
The claimant was the Arden Children’s Foundation.
The organization had been legally inactive for eighteen years.
Its attorney was a man named Jonathan Vale.
He arrived an hour later in a gray suit and walked through the front entrance as though he had visited before.
“I represent the lawful trustee,” he said.
“Name the trustee,” I replied.
“That information is protected.”
“Then get out.”
He smiled slightly.
“You have seventy-two hours to surrender the property.”
“This building houses families.”
“The foundation has no intention of displacing legitimate residents.”
“Then withdraw the claim.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because you converted trust property without authorization.”
“The mansion belonged to Adrian.”
“Adrian possessed it. He never owned it.”
Claire stepped between us.
“The recorded deed transferred the property to Elena after the criminal forfeiture.”
“The deed was invalid.”
“According to whom?”
“The person who purchased this land before the Cross family existed.”
Vale placed a copy of an older deed on the table.
The owner’s name was Thomas Arden.
My biological father.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
The date was six months after his reported death.
“This is forged,” I said.
“Then prove it.”
Vale looked toward Noah, who was sleeping in Lydia’s arms across the lobby.
“The court has also requested confirmation of the minor beneficiary’s identity.”
“You are not taking his blood.”
“No one has asked to take him anywhere.”
“Not yet.”
His smile disappeared.
“Mrs. Whitmore, there are people involved in this matter who are far less patient than I am.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is professional advice.”
Detective Ellis escorted him out.
Before Vale reached the door, he stopped beside the marble staircase.
“There are rooms beneath this building that your renovations never reached.”
Rosa stared at him.
“We inspected the basement.”
“Then you inspected the wrong basement.”
After he left, we compared the current blueprints with the original construction records.
The dimensions did not match.
The west side of the mansion contained nearly fourteen feet of unexplained space.
Rosa and Ellis searched the evidence room.
Behind a steel shelving unit, they found a sealed passage.
Fresh dirt marked the floor.
Someone had used it recently.
We entered one at a time.
The passage descended beneath the mansion.
At the end stood a surveillance room filled with active monitors.
One showed Adrian’s empty prison cell.
Another showed the front entrance of the center.
A third showed my mother’s lake house.
On the final screen, Mara was tied to a chair.
A clock behind her displayed the current time.
The video was live.
Mara lifted her head.
Someone entered the room behind her.
We could not see his face.
May you like
But we heard his voice.
“Bring me Elena’s son.”
