Chapter 6 - THE CHILD TAKEN INTO THE SNOW
Hospital cameras showed Hannah pushing Sophie through a basement service corridor.
Sophie wore no shoes.
She still had on the thin nightgown from the mansion.
Hannah wrapped her in a hospital blanket before carrying her into a waiting SUV.
Nathan drove.
They left Aspen toward the northern mountain roads.
A snowstorm had begun.
State police closed the highway.
Nathan’s vehicle disappeared from traffic cameras near an abandoned ski lodge owned by Caldwell Systems.
The property had once been used for executive retreats.
Claire hated it.
She said the narrow access road felt unsafe during winter.
After her death, I stopped visiting.
Nathan knew the lodge remained stocked with food, fuel, and emergency equipment.
He could hide there for days.
Vanessa’s attorney claimed she knew nothing about the kidnapping.
Then investigators found an outgoing call from her hotel room to Hannah’s burner phone.
The call lasted four minutes.
Vanessa had access to the hospital schedule.
She knew when Sophie would leave the secured floor.
Police arrested her before sunset.
She demanded immunity in exchange for Sophie’s location.
“We already know the lodge,” Detective Ruiz told her.
Vanessa smiled.
“You know where Nathan wanted you to look.”
The vehicle near the ski lodge might be another distraction.
Vanessa claimed Nathan planned to cross into Canada through a private airstrip.
Sophie would be used as leverage.
If I transferred my company shares, she would be returned.
If I refused, Nathan would present himself as the uncle who rescued her from an unstable father.
The kidnapping would become another manufactured story.
I recorded a message for Nathan.
“You have one hour to return Sophie.”
“No negotiation.”
“No shares.”
“No escape.”
“You return my daughter, or every file connected to you becomes public.”
Sarah warned me.
“You are threatening a man holding a child.”
“I am telling him the truth.”
We released a limited amount of evidence.
News networks obtained the mansion footage.
The country watched four little girls being denied food.
They watched Vanessa remove blankets.
They watched Nathan discuss the damaged plane.
Public opinion shifted in minutes.
Nathan could no longer portray himself as a protector.
He was now the most wanted man in Colorado.
At 7:40 p.m., he called.
Sophie’s small voice came through first.
“Daddy?”
“I am here.”
“It is cold.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Uncle Nathan says you do not want me.”
“He is lying.”
Nathan took the phone.
“You destroyed everything.”
“You did that.”
“Transfer the shares.”
“No.”
“You think the police reach us before she freezes?”
My hands shook.
“You need her alive.”
“Do I?”
The line went silent.
Then Nathan whispered.
“Ask Vanessa what happened to Claire’s driver.”
He ended the call.
Claire had been driving alone according to the police report.
But she originally left the fundraiser with a hired driver.
His name was Peter Lang.
He disappeared the same night.
I asked investigators to search old employment files.
Peter had a younger sister.
May you like
Hannah Doyle.
The woman helping Nathan kidnap Sophie was connected to Claire’s death.
