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A minute later, Kerry was pointing his camera at Ryder, who stood in front of the Cedar Creek Inn sign.
“I’m in Cedar Creek, Nevada, where it is rumored that baby Charlotte has come to reunite with the Margolis family. My sources tell me that she is at this hotel, the Cedar Creek Inn, and we’re about to track her down to get the first interview, or at least the first sound bites from her.”
Ryder jogged across the parking lot as Kerry followed. The footage they would later post was not controlled by a stabilizer. Instead, it was rough and raw as the video bounced while Ryder ran to the back door of the inn and pushed through it. In the stairwell, she climbed three flights of stairs while Kerry followed behind, capturing everything. On the third-floor landing, Ryder stopped and turned to the camera. She spoke in a whisper.
“I’ve got it from a good source that baby Charlotte, aka Sloan Hastings, is staying in room three-oh-three.”
Ryder slowly pushed open the door to the hallway, and Kerry moved the camera to capture the room number on the door halfway down the hall. But just as Ryder was about to exit the stairwell, the door to room 303 opened. She quickly pulled the staircase door closed while Kerry adjusted the camera and aimed it through the vertical window in the door. The mesh of the Georgian wired glass blurred the footage. A man in a suit and tie walked out of room 303 wheeling a suitcase behind him. He walked to the far end of the hallway, pressed the call button, and then entered the elevator. Kerry zoomed in on his face just as the doors were closing.
When the man was gone, Ryder hurried down the hallway to room 303. She took one last look into the camera before she inserted the key and opened the door.
“Sloan Hastings?” Ryder called out as the door swung open.
She walked in with Kerry following.
“Sloan Hastings?”
When it was clear that the room was empty, Ryder turned back to Kerry.
“Hurry!” she said as she raced back down the hallway and took the stairs two at a time, Kerry following close behind and capturing footage that was sure to be disorienting and blurred.
When they made it out the back door, they ran into the parking lot and searched for the man in the suit. He was nowhere.
CHAPTER 47
Cedar Creek, Nevada Thursday, August 1, 2024
ERIC HURRIED TO THE PASSENGER SIDE AND CLIMBED INTO SLOAN’S car. The tires spit gravel as she backed down the driveway and brought Eric up to speed on the details of Margot Gray.
“Margot Gray?”
“That’s the woman’s name. Wendy Downing was an alias.”
“But why is she confessing to you. Or to me, or whatever is happening?”
“Guilt. From what she told me, Margot Gray was just twenty-three years old when a man approached her at the diner she waitressed at with a deal she couldn’t refuse. The man told her he was an attorney and needed her help with an adoption.”
“Guy Menendez?”
“Yes. He told her he needed to cut through red tape in order to get a little girl to a couple who wanted to adopt her. Margot said she needed the money and decided not to ask questions. When recent news broke that baby Charlotte had returned home and that police were looking for a woman named Wendy Downing, she finally figured it out.”
“Then, what, this lady tracked you down?”
“Yeah. The podcast she listens to mentioned that I was in Cedar Creek reuniting with the Margolis family. She found me by hacking into the Vrbo database.”
“And she’s at your rental now?”
“No, I put her up at the Cedar Creek Inn. I figured my rental’s about to be overrun by reporters. I convinced her to stay put while I found you. She’s very much on edge. It dawned on her that coming clean about her role in my abduction could likely get her in some trouble.”
“It will. Unless she can lead us to Menendez and help us figure out what happened to your birth parents. Then there’s probably a deal for her.”
Sloan nodded. “I’m not sure she knows any more than she told me. Guy Menendez knew what he was doing. He chose Margot because she was an easy target. And it sounds like the guy’s been keeping tabs on her for thirty years. She said every couple of years he either calls her or shows up to check on her. Gives her money and makes sure there’s nothing she needs or is worried about.”
“She’s been in contact with him recently?”
“Sounds like it. She gave me his cell number. I’m hoping it’ll help us find this guy.”
Eric nodded. “My office will be able to trace the number. Let me talk to her first.”
