“No, I think Kate found her, and she was trying to hide the fact from me. I had already started a new life in Ohio for her, and she didn’t want me to have to run again to protect her. The next thing I knew, Arin called to tell me Elizabeth had been kidnapped.”

“It would have been much simpler if, when Arin called you, you told her about Kate and Owen.”

Running her fingers through her hair, Alanna tried to explain, “I wasn’t sure they were the ones responsible. I was unaware Kate had found her.”

Closely watching her expression, the lawyer gave her a slight nod, showing she believed her. “How did you end up in the car with Hudson? Were you aware Elizabeth was in the trunk?”

“Two of the owners of empty homes that I sold complained about finding trash and unmade beds when they did their walk-throughs. One of them had cameras and had put up the video for me to watch. I recognized Owen and Elizabeth in them.”

“You should have immediately—”

Alanna put up a hand to stop what her lawyer was about to say. “I’ve told myself that a million times, but I didn’t. I was too afraid Owen would kill Elizabeth to prevent himself from getting charged with kidnapping. I went to each of the houses that I hadn’t been sold yet. Luckily, I caught sight of Owen pulling out of one of them and followed him. He must have noticed me and pulled over in a parking lot. When I confronted him and told him I wanted to know where Elizabeth was, he told me he would drive me to her. Stupidly, I got in the car, and instead of taking me to her, he wanted to know how I knew he had Elizabeth.”

“He wanted to know who else knew,” Mrs. Bates murmured under her breath.

“Yes, but I’d already learned that lesson—not to involve anyone else with him and Kate. I was still trying to convince him that I hadn’t told anyone when the car door opened, and I was dragged out by the trucker and his legion of friends.”

“You had no idea Elizabeth was in the trunk?”

“No, if I had, I would have called the police. He must have put her in the trunk before I arrived at the house.”

Her lawyer raised a questioning brow. “What I don’t get is: why, when there were so many men around when she was taken out of the trunk, and then again when she was released from the back of the semi, didn’t she clear you?”

Alanna’s voice became strained with pain. “Because the other person she was afraid of wasn’t there.”

“Ms. Easton.”