Mia started to cry. Ethan didn’t move. He was barely conscious.
Silvio looked at the little girl. Then at his sister. Then at Grant.
“Who else knew they were supposed to disappear?”
Lucinda looked at Grant. Grant looked at the floor.
Silvio grabbed Grant’s chin and forced him to look up. “Who else?”
Grant’s voice was barely a whisper. “My mother.”
Silvio felt the blood drain from his face. “Eleanor?”
Grant nodded. “She’s been staying at the guest house. She knew. She helped us plan it.”
“Plan what?”
“The accident. The one that was supposed to happen on the way home. The car would go off the bridge. The children would drown. We would say we were in the other car. We would say we tried to save them.”
Silvio felt sick. He released Grant and stepped back. “You were going to kill them.”
“We weren’t going to kill them. It was just a plan. We hadn’t decided yet.”
“You left them in a car in August for hours. That was a decision.”
Grant didn’t answer.
The ambulance arrived. Paramedics rushed in. They took Ethan first. His pulse was weak. His breathing was shallow. They put him on a stretcher and carried him out. Mia was carried next. She was crying. She reached for Silvio.
“Uncle Silvio,” she whispered. “Don’t leave me.”
He took her hand. “I’m not leaving you. I’m right here.”
He rode in the ambulance with them. He held Mia’s hand the whole way. Ethan was unconscious. The paramedics worked on him. Silvio watched. He prayed.
At the hospital, Ethan was rushed into the emergency room. Mia was examined in a separate room. She was dehydrated. She was scared. But she was alive.
Silvio called his mother. She was in Italy. She answered on the second ring.
“Silvio? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Lucinda. And Grant. They tried to kill the children.”
His mother didn’t speak for a long moment. Then she said, “I’m coming home.”
“You need to call the police. Tell them what you know.”
“I will.”
She hung up. Silvio sat down in the waiting room. He put his head in his hands. He had come to the estate for a family dinner. He had found his niece and nephew locked in a car. He had discovered a plot to kill them. His sister was a monster. His brother-in-law was a coward. His brother-in-law’s mother was a conspirator.
He didn’t know how long he sat there. Eventually, a doctor came out. She was young. She looked tired.
“Mr. Vance?”
Silvio stood up. “Yes.”
“Ethan is stable. He’s dehydrated. He has heat exhaustion. But he’s going to be okay.”
