Chapter 8 - Finding LeoDante Calder did not panic loudly.
He became terrifyingly precise.
Within sixty seconds, his security team had Leo’s school on the line, Elena had demanded the sign-out record, and Maren was calling the nanny Vivian had dismissed at the gala.
I stood frozen beside the conference table, useless with fear.
Then Dante looked at me.
“Leo trusts you.”
My heart slammed.
“What do you need?”
“If Vivian reaches out, he may ask for you. If he calls, keep him talking.”
I nodded.
My hands were already shaking.
Elena put the school’s email on the screen.
There it was.
A scanned sign-out sheet.
Name: Vivian Bellamy.
Relationship: Family Friend.
Authorized by: Emergency contact verbal approval.
Dante’s face went white-hot.
“I never approved that.”
The school administrator sounded close to tears through the speakerphone.
“Mr. Calder, the woman knew your security phrase.”
Dante went still.
“What phrase?”
“She said, ‘Celia’s songbird.’”
The room changed.
Maren sank slowly into a chair.
Dante did not move at all.
I whispered, “What does that mean?”
Maren answered, voice hollow.
“Celia used to call Leo her songbird.”
Dante closed his eyes.
Only for a second.
Then he opened them, and the man who looked back was colder than winter glass.
“Vivian didn’t know that.”
Elena said, “Who did?”
“Family. Maren. Leo’s nanny. My driver. Celia’s sister.”
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
Dante answered on speaker.
A woman’s voice sang softly.
Not Vivian.
Older.
Eleanor.
“Dante, darling. What an unfortunate morning you’ve created.”
Maren gripped the chair arm.
Dante’s voice was quiet.
“Where is my son?”
“Safe. Safer than he is with unstable employees and internet mobs.”
My nails dug into my palms.
Dante said, “You have ten seconds.”
Eleanor laughed gently.
“You don’t give orders today. You will issue a public correction stating that Bellamy House has been unfairly targeted. Ms. Hayes will withdraw her complaint. Your lawyer will destroy the footage. Then Leo will be returned before dinner, embarrassed but unharmed.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
She was recording.
Dante knew.
We all knew.
But he did not sound triumphant.
He sounded murderous in the quietest possible way.
“You kidnapped my child to manage a press cycle.”
“Such dramatic language. Vivian picked him up because he was distressed.”
“You used my dead wife’s private name for him.”
Silence.
Then Eleanor’s voice sharpened.
“You powerful men are all alike. You think nobody else can play rough.”
That sentence revealed something.
Eleanor Bellamy was not acting out of panic anymore.
She was punishing Dante for refusing to bend.
For embarrassing her daughter.
For choosing a waitress over her dynasty.
Dante leaned toward the phone.
“Listen carefully. If Leo hears one raised voice, if he cries once because of you, if you put one hand on him, I will not ruin your reputation.”
Eleanor chuckled.
“No?”
“No,” he said. “I will tell the truth so thoroughly that your grandchildren will change their last name.”
The call ended.
For one second, nobody breathed.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Dante’s eyes snapped to mine.
I answered.
A tiny whisper came through.
“Miss Nora?”
My knees nearly buckled.
“Leo. Hey, sweetheart. Are you okay?”
“I’m in a big house.”
Dante covered his mouth with one hand, trying not to make a sound.
I put the phone on speaker.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Good. That’s good. You’re doing so well.”
“I told the lady I wanted Daddy.”
“I know. Daddy is looking for you.”
“She said Daddy is busy with bad people.”
I swallowed hard.
“Well, she’s wrong.”
There was a pause.
“Are you bad people?”
“No, Leo.”
“I didn’t think so.”
His voice cracked.
“I have Mr. Stomps.”
“Good. Hold him tight.”
Dante mouthed, Keep him talking.
I nodded.
“Can you tell me what you see?”
“A painting of horses. A big window. Water outside.”
Water.
Dante grabbed a tablet from Marco.
Elena whispered, “Bellamy family properties on water.”
Maren was already searching.
“What else, sweetheart?”
“It smells like flowers and old books.”
Eleanor’s voice sounded faintly in the background.
“Leo?”
He whispered faster.
“I’m hiding under a table.”
My heart broke.
“You’re very brave.”
“I don’t want to be brave.”
“I know.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“No child should have to be brave because adults are behaving badly.”
Dante looked away.
His shoulders shook once.
Then Leo whispered, “There’s a lion.”
“A real lion?”
“No. Stone. Outside the window.”
Maren stood suddenly.
“Manchester estate.”
Dante turned.
“What?”
“The Bellamy summer house in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Eleanor’s father imported two stone lions for the garden.”
Marco was already moving.
“Forty-two minutes by car. Twenty-eight if state police clear Route 128.”
Elena snapped, “They already have kidnapping on recording. Call it in.”
Dante looked at me.
“Stay on with him.”
I nodded.
He left with three security men, Elena, and the police liaison.
Maren stayed beside me.
I sat on the floor because my legs would not hold me.
“Leo, can you still hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about Mr. Stomps.”
“He’s a triceratops.”
“That’s the one with three horns, right?”
“Yes. He protects small dinosaurs.”
“Then he’s doing his job.”
Leo sniffed.
“Miss Nora?”
“Yeah?”
“Did my mommy send you?”
My heart stopped.
Maren covered her mouth.
I closed my eyes.
“No, sweetheart,” I said softly. “But I think your mommy would be very proud that you called for help.”
He was quiet for a long time.
Then he whispered, “I miss her.”
“I know.”
“I forgot her voice yesterday.”
The pain in those five words nearly split me open.
“You didn’t forget her,” I said. “Sometimes our hearts keep voices in quiet rooms. They come back when we need them.”
Maren began to cry silently.
Leo asked, “Do you have a mommy?”
“I did.”
“Where is she?”
“She died too.”
“Oh.”
Another pause.
“Do you forget her voice?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “But then I make her soup recipe, and I remember how she sang badly in the kitchen.”
Leo breathed a tiny laugh.
“My mommy sang badly too.”
“Then they would have liked each other.”
Outside the phone, a door opened.
Leo went silent.
I heard footsteps.
Then Vivian’s voice.
“Leo? Come out now.”
His breathing became fast.
I kept my voice calm.
“Leo, listen to me. Don’t hang up. Put the phone in your pocket if you need to. Daddy is coming.”
Vivian’s voice grew closer.
“Leo, don’t be difficult.”
Then Eleanor.
“Give me the phone.”
A rustle.
Leo cried out, “No!”
The line muffled.
My stomach lurched.
“Leo!”
For three seconds, there was only scraping sound.
Then Eleanor’s voice came on.
“Well, Nora. You really do attach yourself to children quickly.”
Maren stood.
I forced myself not to scream.
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“He’s scared.”
“Children cry.”
“Because you kidnapped him.”
Eleanor’s voice turned icy.
“You should have taken the money.”
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Maren took my shoulders.
“Nora.”
“I lost him.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You kept him talking long enough.”
Twenty-six minutes later, Dante called.
His voice was rough.
“We have him.”
I covered my mouth.
Maren closed her eyes.
“He’s safe?” I asked.
“He’s safe.”
Behind him, Leo sobbed, “Miss Nora?”
“I’m here.”
“I stayed brave.”
“No,” I whispered. “You stayed smart.”
Dante’s voice came back, low and shaken.
“He wants to see you.”
I looked at Maren.
She nodded.
Two hours later, when Dante carried Leo through the townhouse door, the boy reached for me.
I took him carefully, stitches pulling in my hand.
He wrapped both arms around my neck and sobbed into my shoulder.
Dante stood in the doorway, covered in rain, watching his son hold onto a waitress with forty-three dollars to her name as if she were the only solid thing left.
And Eleanor Bellamy, I later learned, had made one final mistake at the estate.
May you like
She had smiled at the police cameras.
Like she still thought the world belonged to her.
