Chapter 9 - THE PERSON BEHIND MEI fought.
Hard.
The hand tightened.
Then Miller burst through the door.
“LET HER GO!”
The attacker shoved me aside and ran.
Miller chased him.
I fell against the wall.
Emma screamed.
I pulled her into my arms.
“It's okay.”
She clung to me.
“He said you'd come.”
“Who?”
“The man who visits.”
“What man?”
“He wears Daddy's watch.”
My blood ran cold.
Daniel's watch.
I remembered it.
A silver watch with a broken clasp.
After Daniel died, I had searched everywhere for it.
It was never found.
I looked at Emma.
“Did he say his name?”
She shook her head.
“He says everyone calls him Uncle.”
I thought of David.
Then Victor.
Then Miller.
Too many possibilities.
We left the house.
At the police station, Emma sat beside me.
She wouldn't let go of my hand.
Miller returned.
“We lost him.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No.”
“But Emma did.”
Emma shook her head.
“He always wears a mask.”
Miller crouched.
“Can you tell me anything about him?”
“He smells like smoke.”
Miller exchanged a glance with me.
Smoke.
Daniel had smelled faintly of cedar smoke after business trips.
But that could be coincidence.
Then Emma suddenly asked:
“Mommy, where's Caleb?”
I froze.
She had never met Caleb.
“How do you know his name?”
She pointed to the table.
A file had been left open.
Caleb's hospital records.
She recognized him instantly.
“He's your brother.”
Emma said it casually.
As though she'd known him for years.
I stared at her.
“How?”
“He told me.”
“Who?”
“The man.”
Miller leaned forward.
“What else did he tell you?”
Emma looked afraid.
“He said Caleb would make you tell the truth.”
“What truth?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Suddenly, Miller's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then hung up.
“Caleb is missing.”
My entire body went numb.
“No.”
“He disappeared from the hospital again.”
“How?”
“Someone accessed his room using your son's medical ID.”
I looked at Emma.
The little girl was crying.
I grabbed my coat.
“We have to find him.”
Miller nodded.
We drove toward the hospital.
On the way, my phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
Caleb sitting in a chair.
Alive.
A man stood behind him.
His face was blurred.
The caption read:
YOU WANTED YOUR CHILDREN BACK.
Then:
NOW CHOOSE ONE.
I screamed.
Another message arrived.
BRING THE NOTEBOOK TO THE OLD CHURCH.
Miller stared at me.
“Don't respond.”
I nodded.
Then a final message appeared.
COME ALONE, SARAH.
Under it was a countdown.
59:59.
The clock had already started.
May you like
And in the photograph…
Caleb was crying.
