26. Ryder

"Irefuse to believe that Gia did this maliciously," I hiss to Eric.

"The text message is from her phone, is it not?"

"Why would she out herself like that? It doesn't make sense," I reply.

"I'm with Ryder on this. I don't know much, but from what Gia says our dad taught her to be a master manipulator, and a thief, and… while that doesn't look good at this moment I really think that she'd be smarter than this if she kidnapped Chloe for real."

"It's a setup. I think it's Mia."

"You can't go blaming other people because you don't want to believe the truth right in front of your face," Ren screams at me. "I told you that you were moving too fast. I told you…"

"I told you so isn't what your brother needs right now," Rosa interjects protectively. "I know you're upset, Ren, but this isn't helping."

"You missed all the red flags," Ren hisses before she walks away.

"She's upset because this happened while Chloe was with her. Just ignore what she's saying, okay?" Rosa replies.

I shake my head and look back at Eric. "Gia isn't to blame for this."

"Why don't you head back to the house just in case Chloe goes back there? We're doing everything we can to locate Gia. I will get eyes on Mia, also just in case."

"Do you think they'll go back to the house?"

"I think that we've exhausted everything here. We'll send out the Amber Alert with the picture you've given us. You go home and find other pictures of her. Pictures with her hair pulled up, in different clothes, and so on. If she's with Gia or thinks it's Gia then she will do whatever Gia asks of her because she thinks it's a game. We need to be on alert for everything."

"Did you check Gia's cottage?"

"No. I will send an officer that way."

"We'll check it. I'll see if I can find anything there to see if she really did do this," Josh offers.

"You're not an officer. You're the brother and I can't risk evidence tampering regardless of how well I know you," Eric says. "Go home. I'll keep you posted."

I start to protest but Talia comes up to us and grabs my arm.

"Just listen to him. He knows what is best."

I shake my head. I can barely form words. I just want my daughter home safe and sound. This is a nightmare.

Josh follows me to my truck, putting his hand out for my keys. Talia, Rosa, and Ren go toward their cars.

"I'm not letting you drive," Josh says.

"I can drive."

"Nope. Let me. Let's get back to the house and see what we can find out."

"Ryder!" Eric calls out as he jogs over to us.

My stomach drops.

"Did you find her?"

"No. Sorry, I'm curious, have you told anyone else besides the immediate family that we believe Gia took her?"

"No, of course not."

"Only one officer knows. I'm not going to make it public knowledge right now. I just received a call from the CIA, an agent told me that Mia has been seen with the son of a notorious Sicilian Crime family, they believe that's who took Chloe."

"Sicilian Crime family," I repeat.

"He wouldn't give me any more information. He's on his way here as we speak. He had more than one operative in the area working the case and can't reach any of them right now."

"What in the Hell is happening?"

"We'll get to the bottom of it."

Eric walks away and Josh and I climb into my truck. We pull out of the parking lot, and he steers toward my house.

"Sofia was from Italy," I mumble as alarm bells begin ringing in my head.

"What?"

"Sofia was from Italy. What if…?"

"You're out of your mind with worry right now, making up crazy scenarios isn't going to help. Many people are from Italy, so what. Plus, Sofia said she didn't have any family left or something right? No one showed up to her funeral, no one contacted you. This has nothing to do with Sofia."

I blow out a breath and nod my head.

He's right.

The rest of the car ride is quiet as we drive. A million scenarios are running through my head. As we pull up to the gate of my house, Gia's car is in the driveway.

"What the fuck?" Josh says.

"If that is Gia, we know nothing. If it's Mia, we know nothing. If Mia is pretending to be Gia, we go along with it."

"Is she really that bold?" Josh breathes. "I'm going to text the girls and let them know, so we're all on the same page."

I hop out of the car and Mia walks out of my house.

She doesn't have the code or a key.

"Oh my God, Ryder! I just heard; I came here as fast as I could. I tried calling and texting you."

She runs to jump in my arms.

It's not Gia. It's definitely Mia. She may be wearing a long-sleeved shirt to cover up her lack of tattoos, but the shirt is also low cut and cropped, showing off her stomach. That's something that Gia wouldn't wear.

I don't feel the same spark as she's touching me either.

This is Mia. I know it is.

"Gia, I've been trying to call and text you as well. I'm losing my mind."

"Do they know who took her? Do they have any descriptions?"

"No, nothing. It's like she just disappeared into thin air."

She begins crying. "I should have been here and then…"

"It's not your fault. We're going to find her."

I go inside and Mia follows. There are things out of place in the house. I know that Chloe's Spiderman costume was on the couch and now it's not. Ren told the officer's that Chloe was dressed in a pink dress.

There are other things in the house that look off, but I shake my head and go directly to Chloe's bedroom.

Maybe this is all a bad dream. Maybe she's sound asleep in her room.

No such luck.

"Where's Louie?" I ask as Ren comes in the house. "And Daisy?"

"We didn't bring anyone with us," Ren answers from the bottom of the stairs. "Louie should be in his cage."

"He's not."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Mia make a face.

"Which one is Louie again?" she asks.

"Albino squirrel," I say with a weird look I could not hide. "I know it's hard to keep track of all of the animal's names. I struggle sometimes too."

"The squirrel is loose in the house then?"

"I'm assuming. He'll turn up eventually. Are you scared of him?"

"No. I have a friend of who is terrified of them though. I was just thinking about how she'd react if she saw it running wild in the house."

I turn around and leave the room. I notice Mia pull out her phone and start texting.

"Gia!" Josh calls out. "Have you talked to Mia? I've been trying to reach her to help out with the search, but she's not answering."

"I think she and her new man were leaving town for a few days."

"Why wouldn't she tell me that?" Talia asks.

"It was a surprise," Mia answers quickly. "She texted me a bit ago and said he surprised her with it but that she'd be back soon."

If Mia took Chloe and Mia is here, who the Hell is with Chloe? Where is Chloe?

The tension in the air is palpable as we sit in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. Gia"s absence weighs heavily on my mind, and I can"t shake the feeling of unease that gnaws at the edges of my consciousness.

Is Gia in danger too?

Mia sits across from me, her attempts at pretending to be Gia falling flat. It"s painfully obvious to everyone in the room that she"s not Gia, but no one calls her out on it. Instead, we all play along, letting her believe that we"re clueless to her deception.

I glance down at my phone, my fingers trembling as I compose a text to Eric.

Mia was at the house, with Gia"s car, pretending to be Gia when we got here. Something is wrong.

Is she still there?

Yes.

I"m going to call in a few minutes and tell you that we had a sighting. I need you to put me on speaker and go along with whatever I say. I received more information from the CIA agent. We believe we can trap Mia.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. My phone rings, and I see Eric"s name flashing on the screen, as promised.

"Ryder," he says, his voice urgent. "We have a sighting of Chloe. Meet us in town as soon as you can."

"On my way."

Everyone in the room heard Eric, so they all follow me out of the house, their faces a mix of fear and determination. Mia jumps into my car, her emotions running high as she pretends to be the loving, supportive girlfriend.

But I see through her facade, her fake concern only serving to fuel my determination to get to the bottom of this and bring Chloe home safe. I want to out her so bad. I want to find out why she would do this and why she's pretending to be Gia. I need to know that both of my girls are okay.

When we arrive at the boardwalk it's now swarming with police vehicles. We get out of the truck, Mia lacing her fingers through mine as we race toward Eric.

"We had a sighting of a little girl that fits Chloe's description with a dark headed man."

"What?" Mia gasps. "What did he look like?"

"About six feet tall. Dark hair. He was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, that's all we could really get."

"Oh no," she sobs.

"What?"

"I think it's Christoph, my ex. I got a weird message earlier from an unknown number that said he was coming for me, and he didn't care who he had to take out."

I glare back at her in shock.

"Why didn't you mention that earlier?"

"I never dreamed he would come after Chloe. I thought he was bluffing."

"Let me see your phone," Eric interjects. "I'll see if my team can trace the number."

"It's in the truck."

She turns around to go back to the parking lot and I make eye contact with Eric. Everyone begins stopping strangers and asking if they've seen Chloe. It's not long before I realize that it's been over thirty minutes and Mia hasn't returned.

"Did she ever come back with the phone?"

"No, I had someone on her but she ditched them."

"Mia texted to tell me that she was on her way up here to help look for Chloe," Josh interjects.

"Have you seen her since we got here?"

"No."

My phone begins vibrating and I look down to see Gia"s name flashing on the screen, my heart skipping a beat as I read the message.

Ryder, I have Chloe. If you ever want to see her again bring ten million dollars to the old warehouse in the wharf at midnight tonight. Alone. No cops. Do not involve the police or else.

This can't be happening.

"Eric," I say as I hand him my phone.

"Are you still doubting it's her?"

"I don't want to believe it's her, but it's her phone. Mia disappeared. I don't know what to think right now."

"Are they working together?"

"Why target me?"

"Why target Chloe?" Josh interjects. "None of this makes any sense at all."

"Let me see if we can run her number, ping it or something. Mia could have her phone if she had her car and is pretending to be her."

"Hey Chief!" a uniformed officer calls out as he jogs toward us.

"Hal down at the grocery store said that Gia came in at around nine this morning. He went out to smoke shortly after ringing her up and saw a black Cadillac pull up in between her and the car. Dispatch just got a call about twenty minutes ago about an SUV that fits the description involved in a motor vehicle accident. Only one occupant was inside, passport is Italian and the address says Palermo, Sicilia. Sicily. Looks to be blood from three other individuals inside though."

"Get me more information on the occupant. Did they run off the road?"

"Nah, responding officer says it looks like they were rammed into an embankment."

"No one else saw anything?"

"If they did, they're not coming forward."

"Call over to Serenity Falls, ask them for some off duty officers to help with the search for Chloe. I also want everyone to be on the lookout for a truck, SUV, something big that has damage to the front of their vehicle in any way."

"On it, boss."

"If it's the same car, where is Gia?"

"I don't know. The CIA agent should be here soon, we'll get answers then."

Gia isn't the person who just sent me the text. She can't be.