Chapter 8 - The Girl Who Wasn't Supposed to ExistJuny had not been kidnapped by a stranger. She had gone looking for someone.
The police searched the hospital.
No one found her.
Then I noticed something.
The window was locked.
The hallway cameras showed nobody entering or leaving.
Which meant whoever took Juny had been inside the hospital already.
But there was another possibility.
She had walked out willingly.
The police showed me the footage.
At 2:41 a.m., Juny sat up.
At 2:44, she removed her monitoring leads.
At 2:46, a nurse entered.
At 2:47, she left again.
Then the camera flickered.
At 2:48, Juny's room appeared empty.
"Camera malfunction," the officer said.
I watched the footage again.
The flicker lasted exactly nineteen seconds.
"Who has access to this system?"
"Hospital maintenance."
"Anyone from my family?"
"No."
Miss Castellano stepped beside me.
"Look at the hallway."
A figure appeared just before the flicker.
Blue coat.
Augusta's coat.
But the person wearing it was too short to be Daniel.
It was a woman.
My heart stopped.
"Who is that?"
The officer zoomed the image.
The face remained hidden.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
"Where is my daughter?"
A girl's voice whispered:
"She's with me."
I froze.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Sarah."
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere your father can't find."
I looked at Miss Castellano.
"How do you know my father?"
Silence.
Then:
"Because he's the reason my mother is dead."
The call ended.
I immediately gave the police the recording.
Miss Castellano looked at me.
"Sarah."
"Elise's daughter?"
She nodded.
"What did she mean?"
"We need to find her."
My father arrived.
He looked terrified.
"Is Juny safe?"
"You tell me."
He stared.
"What?"
"Who is Sarah?"
His face collapsed.
My mother came in behind him.
She whispered:
"No."
My father said:
"Sarah was never supposed to exist."
I almost hit him.
"Neither was the truth."
He sat down.
"Elise had a daughter."
"Where was she?"
"With relatives."
"Why did you say she was dead?"
"Because someone was looking for her."
"Who?"
He looked at my mother.
She was crying.
"Your mother."
I turned.
"What did you do?"
Eleanor couldn't speak.
My father answered.
"She paid someone to hide the girl."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
Miss Castellano interrupted.
"Then why was money transferred from your account to a private investigator?"
My father looked shocked.
"What?"
She showed him the ledger.
"Augusta documented it."
My mother whispered:
"I thought I was protecting you."
"From Sarah?"
"From the family."
"That's not an answer."
She finally looked at me.
"I was told Elise's daughter would destroy everything."
"By whom?"
She shook her head.
"I never knew his name."
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Come to the old marina at dawn. Bring no police.
Then another.
Bring Grandma Augusta's key.
The next morning, I went.
Miss Castellano insisted on coming.
The marina was empty.
Fog covered the lake.
A small wooden boat waited near the dock.
Sarah stood inside.
She was seventeen.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
And a scar across her eyebrow.
I knew those eyes.
I had seen them before.
In an old photograph of Elise.
Sarah stepped onto the dock.
"Juny is safe."
"Where is she?"
"She wanted to come."
"Where?"
Sarah pointed toward the boat.
Juny stepped out.
Pale.
Weak.
But alive.
I ran toward her.
She hugged me.
"I'm sorry."
I held her so tightly she could barely breathe.
"Why did you leave?"
She pulled back.
"Because I knew Sarah."
"You knew her?"
"Grandma introduced us."
My body went still.
"How?"
Juny looked at me.
"Before she died."
I stared.
"Grandma knew Sarah was alive."
"Yes."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Juny's expression broke.
"Because she said you weren't ready."
"Ready for what?"
Sarah looked toward the lake.
"The person who killed my mother is still alive."
A boat engine started somewhere in the fog.
Sarah turned.
May you like
Her face went white.
"They found us."
Related Stories
