Chapter 12: The Enemy We Never Saw
Nobody spoke after we read the message.
The house felt different.
Like the walls themselves had been holding secrets.
Emma fell asleep on the couch that night.
I refused to let her be alone.
Rachel sat across from me.
For once, neither of us tried to pretend.
“Who is the fourth person?””
Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
“You knew my father.””
“Yes.””
“You knew Daniel.””
“Yes.””
“You knew about Emma.””
“Yes.””
I stared at her.
“And you don’t know who that is?””
She looked ashamed.
“No.””
I wanted to be angry.
Maybe I should have been.
But then I looked at Emma sleeping.
And I remembered something.
Rachel had been afraid too.
She had made terrible choices.
But fear had been controlling her for years.
My phone rang.
Mr. Collins.
I answered.
“Hello?””
His voice sounded urgent.
“You need to leave the house.””
My body tensed.
“Why?””
“I found something in your father’s files.””
“What?””
“A name.””
I looked at Rachel.
“What name?””
The lawyer hesitated.
Then said:
“Your mother’s.””
I froze.
“My mother?””
“Yes.””
“My mother died when I was ten.””
“I know.””
“Then why is her name in these files?””
Silence.
“Because she wasn’t the person you thought she was.””
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?””
Before he answered, the call cut off.
I immediately called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Rachel stood.
“What happened?””
I looked at the phone.
“I think something happened to him.””
Then the lights went out.
The entire house fell into darkness.
Emma woke up.
“Daddy?””
“I’m here.””
I grabbed a flashlight.
Then I heard something.
A sound upstairs.
A door opening.
Rachel whispered:
“Emma’s room.””
We ran.
The bedroom door was open.
The window was broken.
Cold air rushed inside.
Emma’s bed was empty.
My heart stopped.
“Emma!””
I ran toward the window.
A piece of paper sat on the floor.
I picked it up.
Three words.
*“She knows everything.””*
Rachel looked over my shoulder.
Then she covered her mouth.
“What?””
Her face was full of fear.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Rachel.””
She couldn’t speak.
“Who took her?””
Her voice came out as a whisper.
“The person my father warned me about.””
I grabbed her shoulders.
“Who?””
Rachel looked at me.
And for the first time since I met her…
she looked completely helpless.
“Your mother.””
I stepped back.
“That’s impossible.””
Rachel shook her head.
“No.””
She pointed at the note.
“She never died.””
The flashlight slipped from my hand.
Because somewhere in the darkness outside…
May you like
someone had taken my daughter.
And the person behind it was someone I had mourned for twenty years.
