The Fifth Estate

By Steven R. Berger

Subjects: Abduction, Fiction, Paternity

Description: A late night knock sends writer SEBASTIAN WREN mentally back 30-some years because the woman at the door resembles his former lover, MORGAN O'CONNOR. It is Morgan's born-out-of-wedlock daughter CHELSEA. She came to solicit Sebastian's help to get back her kidnapped mother. Sebastian realizes Chelsea could not be his daughter, but the twin mysteries of her parentage and her mother's abduction, along with a scant clue on a cell phone, send the pair to L.A. where Sebastian is reunited with several old friends from his college days. The reunion introduces friends to help the pair on their journey. A phone call demands a ransom to be paid in Seattle--where Morgan had moved to ensure Chelsea's father would have no knowledge of her. The couple trek up north only to face kidnappers that manage to pull a switch; Morgan is free, but Chelsea becomes captive, and the action switches back to L.A. where a plot more sinister than kidnapping and simple ransom is finally revealed.