Chapter 473
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* This isn’t an old woman at all! Her build and the way she walks it’s nothing like someone elderly .
Caitlin nanowed her eyes as she rewatched the surveillance footage. A person’s age could often be guessed from posture and gait. This on called–afilari lady had white hair, yes, but her movements were far too steady and energetic.
Something clicked.
“ And I know that silhouette… That’s Megan! No wonder she looked familiar!”
“Megan? You mean that woman who was begging you in the mall to spare her son?” Zinnia asked.
“Yes! It must be her. She’s trying to use Patricia to threaten me, force me to let her son go.”
The more Caitlin thought about it, the more convinced she became. Megan had clearly reached the point of desperation.
She immediately called Sebastian to report her theory.
Sebastian and his team were still reviewing vehicles that had passed by the park entrance when he got Caitlin’s call. Upon hearing her suspicion, he ordered an immediate investigation into Megan’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Zeke had left the hospital and was anxiously heading to the scene. Ximena pulled up in her car, waving for him to get in.
After a brief hesitation, Zeke opened the door and got in. Without a word, Ximena drove straight toward the amusement park.
They arrived to find Caitlin. When she saw Zeke standing there in slippers and a hospital gown, she stared at him in shock .
“Zeke, why are you out here like this?”
“I saw the news. I heard something happened to the kids–I had to come. What’s going on?”
Moved by his concern, Caitlin told him the truth.
“Arthur and the boys are fine. It’s Patricia… she’s missing.”
Ximena had just caught up and immediately asked, panicked, “What happened to Patricia? Caitlin , what happened?!”
She had helped raise Patricia–how could she not care?
“She was taken during the chaos. We’re all doing everything we can to find her.”
Caitlin pulled up the video and showed it to them. Ximena took one look and gasped.
“That’s Imani, isn’t it?”
“Imani? You know this woman?” Caitlin asked, surprised.
“She’s our housekeeper at the estate. That outfit, that hairstyle–it’s her! Why would she take Patricia? I’ll call her right now!”
Ximena immediately tried to contact Imáni.
Caitlin stared at the footage again, beginning to doubt her earlier conclusion. Could it really be the Vanderbilt estate’s housekeeper and not Megan in disguise?
But moments later, Ximena got a call back from the head butler at the estate, who confirmed Imani hadn’t left all day .
“It’s not her. Imani’s at the estate–she’s never left. So who is this woman?”
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“ Someone must’ve dressed up like imant to trick Patricia, Caitlin said. “It’s the only explanation . Patricia would never follow a shanger dit be
“ Oh god … what do we do ?” Ximena was nearly in tears. Zeke, overwhelmed and helpless, called his team and ordered them to join the renter
Ten minutes later, a new lead emerged.
A witness came forward, claiming to have seen an older woman walking with a pretty little girl outside the amusement park just after the incident. They got into a black van. The witness remembered that the license plate ended in the number 8.
Surveillance footage confirmed that it was the same pair.
This was a breakthrough.
Sebastian relayed the info to the police, who began checking black vans with plates ending in 8.
Meanwhile, James had traced Megan’s phone. GPS records showed it had indeed been near the amusement park at the exact time of the incident.
The timeline matched perfectly–it was almost certainly Megan in disguise.
“We’ve got her location!”
James pinpointed Megan’s coordinates through her phone, but just two minutes later, the device was powered off and the signal vanished.
Then Felix called in from the police department.
The van’s movement had been tracked–its
led toward a construction site on the outskirts of the city.
That location was within the same area where Megan’s signal had last pinged.
The suspect was confirmed.
“Everyone, move out!”
Sebastian led the team personally. On the way, he called Caitlin.
“Caitlin! It was Megan! A witness confirmed it. We’ve got her location and we’re heading there now.”
“Send me the address–I’m coming too!”
Caitlin, Ximena, and Zeke all jumped in their car and sped toward the site.
The black van had stopped outside an unfinished construction site.
Megan pulled Patricia from the vehicle. The little girl looked around in confusion. This wasn’t the Thompson Residence.
“This isn’t Grandma’s house… Where’s Grandma?”
Megan, dressed to impersonate the estate’s housekeeper Imani, had used that disguise to trick Patricia into leaving with her.
Now, faced with the child’s questions, she kept up the act.
“She’s upstairs, sweetie. I’ll take you to her, okay ? ”
A man in all black, with a baseball cap and a mask hiding his face, stepped out of the van. He pulled on black gloves and walked toward Patricia .
The girl instantly sensed something was wrong and struggled against Megan’s grip.
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*Hall want to go back! I want my mommy ! ”
She yanked her little hand free and made a run for it.
* Come back! Don’t rum!”
Megan couldn’t let her go—this child was her only chance of getting her son back.
But she couldn’t keep up with Patricia’s tiny, quick legs. The man in black, however, moved like lightning. He lunged forward and scooped Patricia up tucking her under his arm like she weighed nothing.
“Put me down! I want Mommy! I want Daddy!”
Patricia cried out, kicking and flailing, but it was useless.
The man carried her like a sack, climbing the metal stairs of the skeletal building.
Megan followed, breathless but eager. “Sir, I brought her. When can I get my son back ? ”
“Soon.”
That was all the man said.
But even that was enough to make Megan’s heart race. She followed him higher, eyes burning with hope.
“Mommy… Daddy… please…”
Patricia’s cries echoed through the empty shell of the building. She was like a terrified little chick in the grip of a wolf.
On the fifth floor, the man tied her to the edge of the scaffolding. There were no railings or safety features–just crumbling concrete and open air.
He opened a black duffel bag.
Inside was a small explosive device.
He began strapping it to Patricia’s body.
Someone save this little angel–before it’s too late.