Chapter 5
I do not remember leaving the police station.
I remember Detective Harris shouting.
I remember Mark grabbing the passenger handle as I accelerated.
I remember calling my mother seventeen times.
No answer.
Calling Lily’s tablet.
No answer.
Calling the neighbor near the lake.
No answer.
Every mile felt like an hour.
Harris stayed behind us with lights flashing.
Other units approached from the opposite direction.
My mind filled with images I could not stop.
Lily in that basement closet.
Lily crying with orange juice in her hair.
Lily asking if her mother had ever wanted her.
Now Daniel had found her.
Because of Vanessa.
Because I had brought Vanessa into our lives.
Mark looked at me.
“Slow down.”
“I can’t.”
“You die on this road, you don’t help Lily.”
I hated him for being right.
I lifted my foot slightly.
When we reached the gravel turnoff, two sheriff’s vehicles were already there.
The front gate to the lake house stood open.
I had closed it.
I knew I had.
I jumped out before the truck stopped.
Harris shouted, “Grant, stay back!”
I ran anyway.
The front door was open.
A chair lay on its side.
My mother’s phone was shattered near the porch.
“Lily!”
Nothing.
“Mom!”
A deputy grabbed my shoulder.
“Sir, let us clear the house.”
“That’s my daughter!”
Another deputy entered.
Then another.
Thirty seconds later, one shouted, “Clear!”
I ran inside.
The kitchen was empty.
A mug was broken on the floor.
Pancake mix still sat on the counter.
In the living room, Lily’s stuffed bunny lay beside the couch.
I picked it up.
Her bunny.
She never went anywhere without it.
My legs weakened.
“Grant!”
Mark was outside.
I ran to him.
He stood by the back steps.
My mother was lying in the grass near the dock.
Alive.
I dropped beside her.
“Mom!”
Her eyes opened.
“Oh, God.”
“Where’s Lily?”
She grabbed my shirt.
“He took her.”
My stomach dropped.
“Daniel?”
“I think so.”
“What happened?”
“He knocked on the door.”
“Why did you open it?”
“He said he was a deputy.”
She started crying.
“He showed me a badge.”
Harris crouched beside us.
“Then what?”
“He asked if Lily was here.”
My mother looked sick with guilt.
“I said yes.”
“Mom.”
“I thought police sent him!”
“What happened?”
“He stepped inside. I knew something was wrong when he locked the door behind him.”
She touched the back of her head.
“He hit me.”
“Did you see a vehicle?”
“Gray SUV.”
“Direction?”
“North road.”
Harris immediately radioed the description.
I stood.
“I’m going after them.”
“No.”
I turned.
“Harris—”
“You don't know where he is.”
“He has my daughter.”
“And if you drive blindly through the county, you could interfere with the units looking for her.”
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Help me think.”
I stared at him.
“Daniel wants something.”
“He wanted money from Brooke.”
“But he called me.”
Harris nodded.
“He wanted me to know he had her.”
“Exactly.”
Mark said, “Then he’ll call again.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person froze.
Harris lifted one finger.
He activated recording equipment.
I answered.
“Where is she?”
Daniel laughed.
“She’s quieter than I expected.”
“Put Lily on.”
“Say please.”
I closed my eyes.
“Please.”
A pause.
Then I heard breathing.
“Daddy?”
My knees almost gave out.
“I’m here, baby.”
“I want Grandma.”
“I know.”
“Where’s Bunny?”
“I have him.”
She started crying.
“Bring him.”
“I will.”
Daniel took the phone.
“She’s adorable.”
“If you touch her—”
“Don’t be stupid.”
“What do you want?”
“Vanessa released.”
“That isn’t up to me.”
“Then make it up to you.”
“How?”
“You tell police the videos were misunderstood.”
I stared at Harris.
He nodded for me to continue.
“You want me to lie?”
“I want you to fix what your family broke.”
“She abused Lily.”
Daniel sighed.
“You really don’t understand my sister.”
“Then explain her.”
“She wanted a family.”
“She had one.”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“She had your leftovers.”
My hands curled into fists.
“She got Claire’s husband. Claire’s house. Claire’s daughter. Everything still belonged to Claire.”
My stomach turned.
“So she punished Lily because Lily reminded her of Claire?”
“Vanessa tried.”
“Tried what?”
“To make the girl love her.”
“By locking her in a closet?”
“She loses control.”
“And you help her.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “Watch yourself.”
I pushed harder.
“You followed Claire.”
Harris looked at me sharply.
“You took those pictures.”
Daniel breathed slowly.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I heard the recordings.”
Silence.
“I saw the video from the night she died.”
A longer silence.
Then Daniel laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because he was nervous.
“You think that proves something?”
“I think you were behind Claire when she crashed.”
“You should stop talking.”
“Did Vanessa tell you to scare her?”
“Stop.”
“Did you force her off the road?”
“I said stop!”
Lily screamed in the background.
My entire body went rigid.
“Don’t yell around her!”
Daniel’s breathing became heavy.
“Bring me the memory card.”
Harris wrote something on paper.
KEEP HIM TALKING.
I said, “Where?”
“I’ll call again.”
“You let Lily go first.”
“No.”
“Then you get nothing.”
“You’re not in a position to negotiate.”
“Yes, I am.”
My voice shook, but I kept going.
“Because you need that card badly enough to kidnap a five-year-old.”
Silence.
Harris nodded.
I continued.
“And you’re scared of what’s on it.”
Daniel whispered, “Your wife should have destroyed it years ago.”
That sentence changed everything.
Harris wrote it down.
I said, “Vanessa knew Claire recorded her.”
“She knew Claire recorded everyone.”
“So you were there too.”
Daniel went silent.
Then the call ended.
Harris immediately spoke into his radio.
They had a partial tower location.
Northwest.
Rural.
Within roughly eight miles.
Too large.
But something Daniel said bothered me.
Bring me the memory card.
He believed I had it.
Where would he expect me to bring it?
Somewhere connected to Claire?
I looked at my mother.
“Did Claire ever go anywhere near here?”
“What?”
“The lake area.”
She thought.
“Before she died?”
“Yes.”
My mother looked toward the water.
“Her father had an old cabin.”
I froze.
“Where?”
“It was sold years ago.”
“Where?”
She pointed north.
“Maybe six miles.”
Harris heard her.
“Address?”
She didn't remember.
Mark did.
He had helped Claire’s father repair the roof once.
Harris radioed the address.
Two patrol units moved.
I wanted to go.
Harris refused.
Then my phone vibrated.
A text.
COME ALONE.
An address.
Mark read it.
His face drained.
Claire’s father’s old cabin.
Harris looked at me.
“He’s there.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He asked for me.”
“We’ll use that.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you go.”
My mother gasped.
“But not alone.”
They put a tracker beneath my shirt.
A tiny audio transmitter.
A second device in my shoe.
The real memory card remained at the station.
Police placed a blank card inside Claire’s necklace.
Harris held my shoulders before I got into the truck.
“You do exactly what he says unless Lily is in immediate danger.”
“I’m bringing her home.”
“That is the goal.”
“No.”
I looked him in the eye.
“That is the only outcome.”
The cabin stood at the end of an abandoned dirt road.
I parked fifty yards away.
No police lights.
No sirens.
Backup waited out of sight.
I walked.
Every step hurt.
The front door opened.
Daniel stood there.
Tall.
Thin.
Baseball cap.
A pistol in one hand.
And Lily in the other.
Her face was wet with tears.
But she was alive.
“Daddy!”
I started toward her.
Daniel raised the gun.
“Stop.”
I stopped.
“Give her to me.”
“The card.”
I held up the necklace.
His eyes locked onto it.
“Throw it.”
“Lily first.”
He laughed.
“You think this is a movie?”
“No.”
I looked at my daughter.
“This is my life.”
Daniel pulled Lily closer.
She whimpered.
I wanted to tear him apart.
Instead I lowered my voice.
“Lily, look at Daddy.”
She did.
“You remember our counting game?”
Her lips trembled.
She nodded.
“Start counting.”
“One.”
Daniel frowned.
“Shut up.”
“Two.”
“Lily.”
“Three.”
I threw the necklace.
It landed in the dirt several feet away.
Daniel’s eyes followed it.
For half a second.
That was enough.
Lily remembered the game.
At five, she dropped.
Exactly as I had taught her when we practiced what to do if a dog ever jumped at her.
She fell flat.
I charged.
Daniel fired.
The shot exploded through the trees.
I felt heat near my shoulder.
Then we collided.
His gun flew.
I hit the ground with him.
He punched me.
I drove my shoulder into his chest.
“Daddy!”
“Run, Lily!”
Daniel grabbed my throat.
I hit him again.
Then the woods erupted with shouting.
“Police!”
“Hands!”
Daniel froze.
I rolled away.
Deputies swarmed him.
Lily ran straight into my arms.
I held her so tightly she squeaked.
“Daddy!”
“I’ve got you.”
She was shaking.
I kissed her hair.
Her forehead.
Her cheeks.
“I’ve got you.”
Harris approached.
“Are you hit?”
I looked at my shoulder.
Blood.
Not much.
The bullet had grazed me.
“I’m fine.”
I wasn't.
But Lily was alive.
Daniel lay handcuffed in the dirt.
He looked at me and smiled.
“Vanessa’s going to hate you for this.”
I turned.
“No.”
He blinked.
I held my daughter closer.
“She doesn’t get to matter anymore.”
At the hospital, Lily refused to leave my lap.
Doctors checked her.
No major injuries.
Dehydrated.
Terrified.
But safe.
My shoulder needed six stitches.
My mother arrived crying so hard she could barely speak.
Lily reached for her.
“Grandma!”
The three of us held each other.
For the first time since the birthday party, I believed we might survive this.
Then Harris entered.
He closed the hospital door.
“We got Daniel talking.”
I looked up.
“About Claire?”
“Yes.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
Harris continued.
“Daniel says he followed Claire that night.”
I stopped breathing.
“He says Vanessa paid him to frighten her.”
“Did he cause the crash?”
Harris looked at me.
“He claims Vanessa was in the car with him.”
May you like
The room went silent.
“And he says she was the one driving.”
