Chapter 4 - THE RECORDING IN THE DOLLSophie refused to let go of me.
We hid in a storage room behind the kitchen while the venue remained locked down.
Marcus had disappeared.
Amanda stayed outside the door.
I didn't trust her.
But I didn't trust leaving her alone either.
Sophie was breathing quickly.
“Daddy?”
“I'm here.”
“Is Amanda bad?”
I looked at the little girl in my arms.
“I don't know.”
She nodded slowly.
Then she whispered, “Mommy said the lady was lying.”
I froze.
“What lady?”
“The lady in the blue coat.”
“When did you see her?”
“At home.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My heart hammered.
“What was she doing?”
Sophie pointed toward the stuffed rabbit tucked under her arm.
“She talked to Bunny.”
I stared.
“The rabbit?”
Sophie nodded.
“She put something inside.”
I took the rabbit.
One of its ears had been sewn back awkwardly.
I cut the thread with a kitchen scissors.
A tiny recorder fell out.
I pressed the button.
Static.
Then voices.
Amanda.
And another woman.
The woman in the blue coat.
“You promised the child would be transferred quietly.”
Amanda replied, “I never agreed to transfer custody.”
“Your signature says otherwise.”
“I didn't know what I was signing.”
“You knew enough.”
“What happens after Daniel signs?”
Silence.
Then the woman said:
“Daniel disappears from the company within seventy-two hours.”
My blood froze.
“And Sophie?”
“She disappears tonight.”
Amanda whispered something.
“What?”
“They won't kill her.”
The woman's voice turned cold.
“I didn't say they would.”
I stopped the recording.
Amanda stood outside the door.
Her face was drained of color.
“You heard it,” she whispered.
I opened the door.
“Who is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Her name.”
“I don't know.”
“You've met her.”
Amanda nodded.
“Three times.”
“And you never asked who she was?”
“She called herself Helen Ward.”
I knew that name.
Not personally.
Professionally.
Helen Ward was the lawyer who had handled the trust dispute after my wife died.
I had assumed she was retired.
Apparently, she wasn't.
Sophie tugged my sleeve.
“Daddy.”
I looked down.
“She was at home.”
“Who?”
“The lady.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did she do?”
Sophie pointed toward my bedroom.
“She went behind the picture.”
The painting above my safe.
My safe.
I walked toward it.
Amanda followed.
I removed the painting.
The wall safe was still closed.
I entered the combination.
Empty.
My emergency documents were gone.
My wife's handwritten letters.
The original trust agreement.
A sealed envelope marked:
FOR SOPHIE, WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH.
Gone.
I turned toward Amanda.
“You took them.”
“No.”
“You knew about the safe.”
“I did.”
“How?”
“Helen told me.”
I stared at her.
“And you never told me?”
Amanda shook her head.
“They threatened Sophie.”
“Those documents were about my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
She looked at the floor.
“Because the documents contain something that can destroy them.”
I stepped closer.
“What?”
“A name.”
“Whose name?”
Amanda looked toward the hallway.
Before she could answer, the building's fire alarm began screaming.
Red lights flashed.
Smoke poured under the door.
“Fire!” someone shouted.
I grabbed Sophie.
Amanda grabbed the rabbit.
We ran.
Halfway down the corridor, a ceiling panel crashed in front of us.
Sparks flew.
Sophie screamed.
Then a figure emerged through the smoke.
The woman in the blue coat.
Helen Ward.
She stared at me.
Then at Sophie.
Her expression was not angry.
It was almost relieved.
“You found the recorder,” she said.
I shielded Sophie.
“You stole my documents.”
“No.”
She took one step forward.
“They were stolen long before tonight.”
“By who?”
She smiled faintly.
“Your wife.”
I felt Amanda stiffen.
“My late wife?”
Helen nodded.
“She knew what they were planning.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
Helen reached into her coat.
I stepped back.
She pulled out a photograph.
My late wife.
Holding newborn Sophie.
On the back was written a date.
Then one sentence.
WHEN THEY COME FOR HER, DON'T TRUST THE MAN WHO SAVES YOU.
I stared at the words.
My voice barely came out.
“What does that mean?”
Helen looked directly at Marcus, who had appeared behind her in the smoke.
“It means,” she said, “the man who was supposed to protect your family has already betrayed it.”
May you like
Marcus raised his gun.
And aimed it at me.
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