Chapter 12 - THE PROMISE HE FINALLY KEPTHillcrest Observatory stood on a wooded hill overlooking the reservoir.
Evelyn had loved the place.
When Lorelai was five, she used to carry her daughter up the narrow path on clear summer evenings.
They would lie on blankets and count the stars.
Chadworth remembered joining them once.
He had complained about mosquitoes.
Evelyn had laughed and told him to stop checking his phone.
Now the observatory had become part of a nightmare he could barely comprehend.
Police vehicles approached without lights or sirens.
Detective Ruiz coordinated the operation from a command vehicle.
Chadworth remained at a secure staging point nearby.
He had been given clear instructions.
Stay back.
Keep his phone available.
Do not interfere.
Every instinct told him to run toward the building.
He forced himself to remain where he was.
He had spent years believing that love meant being able to control outcomes.
Now love required trusting people who knew how to protect his daughter.
At the rear of the observatory, officers located fresh tire tracks.
A service entrance showed signs of recent use.
Inside, one small room had been furnished with a camp bed and bottled water.
An officer heard movement behind a locked interior door.
The team moved cautiously.
When the door opened, Lorelai was sitting on the floor.
Her wrists were free.
She was frightened and exhausted, but she was alive.
An officer knelt several feet away.
“Lorelai? My name is Officer Williams. Your dad sent us to bring you home.”
The girl looked at him suspiciously.
“Can I call him?”
“Absolutely.”
He showed her his identification and used his radio to confirm her name and the location.
Then he offered her a phone.
Chadworth answered before the first ring finished.
“Lorelai?”
“Daddy?”
His legs nearly gave way.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“I'm okay.”
He could hear her trying not to cry.
“I'm coming to you,” he whispered. “The officers are going to help you first.”
“Are you really there?”
“Yes.”
“You promise?”
His voice broke.
“I promise.”
This time, he kept it.
Within minutes, the officers escorted Lorelai outside.
A medical team checked her condition before allowing Chadworth to approach.
He saw his daughter wrapped in a gray blanket.
She looked smaller than he remembered.
For one terrible second, he was back in the hospital corridor waiting for news about Evelyn.
Then Lorelai saw him.
“Daddy!”
She ran.
Chadworth dropped to his knees and caught her.
He held her so tightly that he had to remind himself to loosen his arms.
She was real.
Warm.
Alive.
His daughter.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
Lorelai clung to him.
“You came.”
“Of course I came.”
“I thought you might be too busy.”
The words pierced him.
He pulled back just enough to look into her face.
“Nothing in this world is more important than you and Gemma.”
Lorelai began crying.
So did he.
For several minutes, they remained together beneath the darkening sky.
No cameras.
No investors.
No board members.
Just a father and his child.
Later, after medical professionals confirmed that Lorelai was stable, Ruiz spoke privately with Chadworth.
“We've found evidence connecting the observatory to the Redwater financial network.”
“Did you catch Sabina?”
“Not yet. We believe she left shortly before officers entered.”
“And Elliott?”
“Also missing.”
Chadworth swallowed his anger.
“Find them.”
“We're working on it.”
Ruiz paused.
“Lorelai may have information, but she doesn't need to be questioned repeatedly tonight. We'll arrange an appropriately trained interviewer and give her time to recover.”
“Good.”
Chadworth looked toward the ambulance where his daughter sat drinking water.
“She has already been through enough.”
At home, Gemma was waiting beside Rosamund.
The instant Lorelai walked through the doors, Gemma screamed her name.
The sisters ran into each other's arms.
Bramble fell to the carpet.
Nobody cared.
Rosamund turned away, wiping tears from her cheeks.
Lorelai hugged her.
“You didn't leave?”
Rosamund smiled through her tears.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Even when I was gone?”
“I was right here with Gemma.”
Lorelai held her tightly.
For the first time in days, the Prescott mansion felt alive again.
That evening, Chadworth sat on the floor of the playroom with both daughters.
They ate pizza from paper plates.
Gemma insisted on extra cheese.
Lorelai fell asleep with her head against her father's shoulder.
Chadworth didn't move.
His phone vibrated several times.
He ignored it.
Tomorrow would bring investigators, lawyers, and impossible decisions.
Tonight, his daughters needed him.
And he intended to be there.
Near midnight, Lorelai stirred.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
She looked toward the dark hallway.
“The man who took me wasn't the boss.”
Chadworth remained still.
“What do you mean?”
“He kept asking somebody what to do.”
“Did you hear a name?”
Lorelai nodded.
“Mr. Crane.”
Chadworth's heart began pounding.
“Did you see him?”
“Only for a minute.”
He gently brushed hair from her forehead.
“You don't have to tell me anything else tonight.”
But Lorelai caught his sleeve.
“Daddy, I need you to know one thing.”
“What is it?”
“When Mr. Crane came into the room, Sabina told him I knew about Mommy.”
Chadworth felt an icy chill.
“What did he say?”
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Lorelai's eyes filled with fresh tears.
“He said he should have made sure Mommy never had a chance to hide that book—and this time he wasn't going to make the same mistake.”
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