Sydney rose and got another bottle of water from the mini fridge. “All I have is the twenty grand in my safe from my purse the other day. I’ve given everything else to Mom and Dad.”
“Why, Sydney?” Blake asked. “You’re of age now. You don’t have to give them your money.”
“I do it for Duke,” Sydney said. “They adopted him and took responsibility for him. I wanted to do my part.”
“We have to find them and find Duke,” Sam said.
Blake rubbed his temples. “They could be anywhere, anywhere at all, if they dipped into that money.”
“But the money’s in the Caymans.” Sydney took a sip of water. “How could they get it?”
“Online transfers, wirings, any old way. It’s easy as pie to transfer money these days.”
“But they didn’t bring a computer, and a transfer could be traced.” Sam stood and paced. “There’s no way they could have— Oh my God.”
“What, Sam? What?” Sydney’s pulse raced.
“When was the last time you looked in your safe, Sydney?”
“Not since I put the money there. You don’t think—”
But she knew exactly what Sam was thinking, and by the look on Blake’s face, he was thinking the same thing.
She gulped as she keyed in the code to her safe.
Before she opened the door, she knew.
Her money was gone.
Chapter Eighteen
This is all my fault. This is all my fault.
Sydney couldn’t breathe.
A noose was squeezing her neck. Her throat constricted. Sharp fingers of acid climbed up her esophagus, threatening to choke her.
“God, what should we do?”
Blake’s voice. That was Blake’s voice.
“She’ll be okay.”
Sam’s voice. Ah, the soothing timbre of Sam’s voice. Her man. Her love.
Warm hands caressed her, dulcet tones soothed her. “It will be okay, sweetheart. We’ll figure this out. We’ll find our son.”
Sam lifted her away from the empty safe and laid her on the bed. “Get her some more water,” he said to Blake.
No water. Just Sam. Only need Sam.
And Duke. Want to see Duke.
Until now, Sydney had been sure of one thing—her parents would never hurt Duke. She’d seen the fear in her mother’s eyes when they thought Duke might have leukemia. It had mirrored her own.
And her father, what had he been thinking? He had started to come around where Sam was concerned. He seemed ready to work something out.
Yet they’d left.