Chapter 9 - THE ORDER TO TAKE ISA AWAY
At 8:12 that evening, Kais stood outside Lena Ortiz’s guesthouse while a county SUV pulled into the driveway.
Rian was inside with Isa.
Kais had called ahead.
He had warned her.
It had not made the moment easier.
Dana Pierce stepped out carrying a folder.
A second social worker followed.
No police.
That helped.
Barely.
Lena met them at the door.
“Before you speak to the child, you will review the medical assessment from Dr. Patel, the police incident report from the marina, and the statement from Detective Bell regarding the kidnapping investigation.”
Dana nodded.
“I will review everything.”
Kais watched her.
“You understand the person who filed the petition kidnapped my daughter today.”
“I understand that is being investigated.”
“He held her on a boat.”
“I read the preliminary report.”
“Then why are we doing this?”
Dana met his eyes.
“Because the petition also contains allegations about you and Mrs. Hart.”
“Fabricated allegations.”
“Maybe.”
Kais bristled.
Lena touched his arm.
Dana continued.
“My job is not to decide who is rich, powerful, convincing, or angry. My job is to see the child.”
That stopped him.
Because beneath his fear, he knew she was right.
Isa deserved an adult whose first loyalty was to her safety.
Even if it hurt.
They went inside.
Isa sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket.
Rian beside her.
When she saw Dana’s badge, she immediately grabbed her mother.
“Are you taking me?”
Dana’s face softened.
“Hi, Isa. My name is Dana.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“I’m not here to surprise you.”
“You’re taking me.”
Kais crouched.
“No one is taking you anywhere without us explaining exactly what’s happening.”
Isa looked at him.
“You said you were staying.”
“I am.”
Dana sat in a chair several feet away.
“Isa, can I ask you some questions?”
Isa looked at Rian.
Her mother nodded.
For twenty minutes, the child told the truth.
There had not been enough food.
Mommy’s cards stopped working.
The house employees disappeared.
Uncle Julian visited.
Cole stood outside doors.
Mommy slept because of medicine.
Daddy was away.
Uncle Julian said Daddy had another family.
Dana asked gently, “Did your daddy ever hurt you?”
“No.”
“Did your mommy?”
“No.”
“Were you afraid in the house?”
Isa nodded.
“Of whom?”
“Uncle Julian.”
Dana wrote.
“What about your daddy?”
Isa thought carefully.
Then said, “I was afraid he wasn’t coming back.”
Kais looked away.
That answer would live with him forever.
Dana spent another hour interviewing Rian and Kais separately.
She examined the kitchen.
The empty pantry.
The prescription bottles.
Police photographs.
Dr. Patel’s report.
Then she made a call outside.
Kais watched from the window.
Rian stood beside him.
“If they take her—”
“They won’t.”
“You can’t know.”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“But I know I will not stop fighting.”
Dana returned.
Isa was coloring at the dining table.
The social worker crouched beside her.
“You’re going to stay with your mommy and daddy tonight.”
Isa dropped the crayon.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Kais exhaled for what felt like the first time in hours.
“But,” Dana continued, “a judge will review everything tomorrow morning. Until then, you stay at this address, and there will be a safety check.”
Kais nodded immediately.
“Whatever you need.”
After they left, Isa ran into his arms.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can we eat now?”
He almost laughed.
Almost cried.
They ordered pizza.
Not from the mansion chef.
Not from a private caterer.
Pizza in cardboard boxes.
Isa ate two slices.
Then half of a third.
Kais watched every bite.
Rian noticed.
“She’s okay.”
“I know.”
“You’re staring.”
“I know.”
Isa looked up.
“Daddy, stop watching me chew.”
Rian laughed.
A small sound.
The first real laugh Kais had heard since coming home.
He smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
For ten precious minutes, they felt almost normal.
Then Detective Bell called.
Julian’s charter reservation at Renton had been canceled.
“He knows we’re watching airports.”
“Where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
“And the silver drive?”
“Still missing.”
Kais looked at Isa.
“Any movement on Steven Maddox?”
“We found him.”
“Where?”
“Outside Bend, Oregon.”
“Has he spoken?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
Bell hesitated.
“He’s scared.”
“Of Julian?”
“Apparently.”
Kais went outside to continue the call.
“How long until you can get him here?”
“He agreed to a remote interview tonight.”
“What does he want?”
“Protection.”
“Give it to him.”
“It’s not your decision.”
“Then tell whoever’s decision it is that I’ll fund whatever relocation is legal.”
Bell sighed.
“This isn’t one of your companies, Kais.”
“No.”
Kais stared toward the dark lake.
“It’s more important.”
At 11:03 p.m., Bell sent a message.
Maddox was talking.
At 11:41, Lena received documents.
At 12:16, they learned the truth.
Steven Maddox had serviced Alistair Hart’s boat.
Julian paid him fifteen thousand dollars to loosen a steering linkage.
Not remove it.
Not destroy it.
Loosen it enough to fail after sustained vibration.
Julian allegedly told Maddox the boat would be used in a controlled test.
Maddox believed him.
Or claimed he did.
The following morning Alistair Hart took Meridian out alone.
He never came home.
Maddox saw the news.
He confronted Julian.
Julian paid him.
Then threatened him.
For eleven years.
Rian read the interview transcript.
“Oh my God.”
Kais said nothing.
His father had not died because of a storm.
Or mechanical bad luck.
His brother’s greed had put him on a boat that could no longer steer.
Whether Julian intended death or merely risked it would be for prosecutors to determine.
To Kais, the difference felt smaller than it should have.
At 7:30 the next morning, they entered King County Superior Court.
The child-protection hearing was closed.
Julian’s attorneys appeared.
Julian did not.
They argued Kais remained under corporate investigation.
They argued Rian had untreated psychological problems.
They suggested the kidnapping story might be exaggerated.
Then Lena stood.
She dismantled them piece by piece.
Dr. Patel testified by video.
Dana Pierce presented her assessment.
Detective Bell confirmed Julian was a person of interest in multiple felonies.
The judge’s expression darkened.
Then Lena introduced the recording.
Julian’s attorneys objected.
The judge allowed limited consideration pending authentication.
It should have been enough.
But the judge had one remaining concern.
“How did a child living in one of the wealthiest homes in this county reach the point of begging neighbors for food without anyone reporting it?”
Silence.
Kais felt shame burn through him.
Then the courtroom door opened.
A bailiff spoke to Lena.
She frowned.
Then looked at Kais.
“There’s a witness.”
“Who?”
The door opened wider.
Graham Barlow entered.
The neighbor who had laughed at Isa.
He wore the same stiff expression Kais remembered.
But this time he looked ashamed.
He took the witness chair.
The judge asked why he was there.
Graham swallowed.
“Because I saw the little girl asking for food.”
“And did you report it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I thought it wasn’t my business.”
Kais stared at him.
Graham looked toward him.
“I was wrong.”
The judge asked, “Do you have anything relevant beyond what you observed?”
Graham nodded.
“My doorbell camera.”
Julian’s attorney shifted.
Graham continued.
“It recorded more than the girl.”
He handed over a storage device.
“There was a man who came to my house after she left one night.”
“What man?”
Graham pointed to a photograph in the case file.
“Cole Vance.”
Kais leaned forward.
“What did he want?”
“He told me if Isa came asking for food again, I should send her home and keep my mouth shut.”
The room went silent.
Graham looked sick.
“He said it was a family matter.”
The judge asked, “And you complied?”
“For two days.”
“What changed?”
Graham swallowed.
“She came back yesterday.”
His voice broke slightly.
“And asked me for one cookie.”
The footage was played.
There stood Isa.
Small.
Hungry.
Then hours earlier on a different clip, Cole Vance appeared beneath the porch light.
His voice was clear.
“If the kid comes over, send her back. Mr. Hart’s family doesn’t need neighbors interfering.”
Graham said, “Which Mr. Hart?”
Cole answered.
“Julian.”
Kais closed his eyes.
The case was collapsing.
Lena knew it.
The judge knew it.
Julian’s attorneys knew it.
The court dismissed the removal request.
Isa would remain with her parents.
Kais should have felt victory.
Instead his phone began vibrating the instant they stepped into the hallway.
Bell.
“Kais.”
“What?”
“We found Cole.”
“Where?”
“Tacoma.”
“And Julian?”
“Cole says Julian is headed to the old Hart airstrip outside Snohomish.”
Kais stopped walking.
“Why?”
“Your father owned a hangar there.”
“The family sold it.”
“Not according to the deed we just found.”
Bell paused.
“It was transferred to a shell company Julian controls.”
Kais’s stomach tightened.
“Is there a plane?”
“Yes.”
“When does he leave?”
“We don’t know.”
Then Bell said, “There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The silver drive has remote access.”
Kais went still.
“If Julian gets airborne with a satellite connection, he can trigger a wipe of several foreign accounts.”
“How long?”
“Possibly minutes.”
Kais looked through the courthouse windows.
Rian understood immediately.
“Go.”
He looked at her.
“You just got Isa back.”
“And I’m not losing you chasing him alone.”
“I won’t.”
She touched his face.
“Then finish it.”
Kais ran.
But three floors below, a man in a baseball cap watched him enter the elevator.
He took out his phone.
“He’s coming.”
Julian’s voice answered.
“Good.”
The man asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Julian looked across the private hangar at the silver drive plugged into his laptop.
“Nothing.”
He smiled.
“I want my brother to see exactly what happens when he chooses his family over his empire.”
May you like
Then the screen displayed a countdown.
00:29:59.
