Chapter 69: The Tracking Device

Elena didn't scream when the black SUV pulled out of the driveway. She didn't struggle against the guard whose hand was a lead weight on her shoulder. The cold, analytical part of her brain—the part that balanced ledgers while the world burned—took over. Fury was a wasted emotion; she needed an actionable asset.

"Mom, please," Mia’s voice drifted back from the open door of the vehicle, small and broken. "Just... go inside."

"I'm not going anywhere, Mia," Elena said. She looked directly at Julianne, who was watching from the porch with the satisfied air of a dealer closing a high-stakes hand. "I’m helping her pack. You wouldn't want her arriving in Zurich without her essentials, would you?"

Julianne’s eyes narrowed, searching for the trick. Elena’s sudden compliance was a red flag, but the clock at Teterboro was ticking. Julianne checked her watch and gave a sharp, imperceptible nod to the guard.

"Five minutes," Julianne snapped. "And don't leave her side, Elias."

Elena followed Mia back into the house, her heels clicking a rhythmic, desperate tempo on the hardwood. The guard, Elias, trailed them like a shadow. Inside Mia’s room, the air was still thick with the scent of lavender and the ghost of the girl who had wanted to be a doctor.

"Pack the heavy coat, Mia. The blue one," Elena said, her voice steady as a surgeon's. She began pulling clothes from the dresser, piling them into an open duffel bag.

She felt Elias’s gaze on the back of her neck. He was standing in the doorway, his hand resting on the frame, watching every movement. Elena reached for Mia’s leather laptop sleeve, her fingers brushing against the small, circular device hidden in her palm.

She turned her back to the door, using her body as a shield. While she pretended to tuck a pair of wool socks into the corner of the duffel, she pressed the AirTag deep into the ripped lining of the bag’s internal pocket. She felt the adhesive catch. It was a $29 insurance policy against a multi-million dollar disappearance.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Mia whispered, her eyes wide with a flicker of the old, sharp intelligence.

"Ensuring your stability," Elena replied. She zipped the bag shut with a finality that made Elias step back. She handed the duffel to the guard. "She’s ready."

Elena walked them back to the SUV. She stood on the gravel, her arms crossed against the biting Connecticut wind, as the engine roared to life. She didn't wave. She didn't cry. She waited until the taillights vanished around the curve of Orchard Lane before she pulled her own phone from her pocket.

The find-my-network app was already open. A single blue dot pulsed on the screen, a heartbeat in the dark. It was moving toward the interstate, heading south toward the private airfields of New Jersey.

Elena turned to the empty house. Mark was still in the hallway, a ghost in his own foyer, but she didn't even look at him. She had the only thing that mattered.

If she couldn't stop them, she would track them.