Chapter 9 - Mara Had Already Chosen Where Brett Would Go
File Three on the recorder changed Brett’s memory into something concrete.
Mara’s voice was gentle.
“Brett, you’re staying with us tonight.”
Brett’s six-year-old voice:
“Grandma will get mad.”
“She can be mad.”
“Where are we going?”
“To Grandpa Stallone’s first.”
Then Daniel:
“Your mom and dad will meet us there tomorrow.”
That was the plan.
Not kidnapping.
Not stealing Brett from family.
His own parents already knew enough to want him away from Eleanor temporarily.
Mara and Daniel were simply getting him somewhere safe for the night.
But Brett never left with them.
Why?
The next audio file answered that too.
Eleanor had intercepted them before they could take him out of the house.
“You will not take my grandson anywhere.”
Mara responded:
“His parents already agreed.”
Then Eleanor:
“They don’t know what’s best for him.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“And you do?”
A long silence.
Then Mara:
“We’re leaving. Brett stays upstairs tonight. Tomorrow his parents handle this.”
That mattered.
Mara and Daniel did not have Brett with them when they left.
They were going to my house first to give me the recorder.
Then return with Brett’s parents the next day.
Eleanor didn’t need to chase them to recover a child.
She chased them for one reason:
The recorder.
And when she reached their wreck, she believed the only surviving copy was somewhere inside that SUV.
That meant the next question was brutally specific.
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How much time did she spend searching for it before she finally called for help?
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