Chapter 2 - The KeyThe first thing I did was lock Ryan in an interrogation room.
The second was call my captain.
The third was make sure Evan was nowhere near a window.
Something about the phone call had changed the atmosphere in the station.
It was no longer just a child abuse case.
It was personal.
And whoever had called me knew exactly who I was.
I sat across from Evan in the interview room.
A paper cup of hot chocolate rested between us.
He didn't touch it.
His eyes stayed on the brass key.
"Where did your dad get this?"
"He told me it was important."
"When?"
"Three nights ago."
"Was he hurt?"
Evan looked down.
"Yes."
My chest tightened.
"What happened?"
"He came home bleeding."
"From where?"
"His head."
"What did he say?"
Evan glanced at the camera in the corner.
"Can you turn it off?"
"Why?"
"Because they listen."
I felt something cold move through me.
"Who listens?"
"The people in the house."
I leaned closer.
"What house?"
Evan began twisting his fingers.
"The house with no number."
I didn't understand.
"Every house has a number."
"Not this one."
He reached into his pocket.
A small folded piece of paper appeared.
He gave it to me.
There was an address written on it.
I unfolded it.
My stomach dropped.
I knew the street.
Daniel and I had grown up there.
The house belonged to our grandparents.
It had burned down eleven years ago.
Or at least, that's what I'd been told.
"Who gave you this?"
"Dad."
"Does he live there?"
Evan shook his head.
"He said it wasn't safe."
"What happened to him?"
"I don't know."
"Did Ryan hurt him?"
"I don't know."
Evan began crying.
"He told me to run if he didn't come back."
My mind raced.
"Why did you come here specifically?"
"Because Dad told me."
"What exactly did he say?"
Evan wiped his face.
"He said, 'When you're scared, find Jack. He'll know what to do.'"
I closed my eyes.
Daniel had always done that.
Even as a kid, when I was six and he was twelve, he made plans.
Backups.
Escape routes.
Places to hide.
He had once told me that every locked door had a key.
Sometimes the key wasn't metal.
Sometimes it was knowing who to trust.
I stared at the brass key.
Maybe this was his final message.
A knock sounded at the door.
Bennett entered.
"Jack."
I stood.
"What?"
"We searched Ryan's vehicle."
"And?"
"We found a second phone."
My pulse jumped.
"Anything on it?"
"Locked."
"Get a warrant."
"Already requested."
He hesitated.
"There was something else."
He placed a photograph on the table.
I picked it up.
A grainy image.
A man standing beside a dark SUV.
The photograph was old.
But the man was unmistakable.
Daniel.
My brother.
Alive.
I stared at the image.
"Where did you find this?"
"In Ryan's trunk."
My hands began shaking.
The photograph showed Daniel standing beside a woman.
A woman I had never seen before.
And between them was a baby.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
HE DOESN'T KNOW YET.
I looked at Evan.
"Who is the woman?"
He whispered, "My mom."
"Where is she?"
His face changed.
"She's missing."
The room went silent.
"For how long?"
"Since last night."
I felt the pieces moving.
Daniel disappeared nine years ago.
Evan was eight.
Ryan claimed to be the boy's father.
Evan said Daniel was his father.
Daniel had somehow survived.
And Evan's mother was now missing.
I stood quickly.
"We need to find that house."
Bennett looked at me.
"What house?"
I folded the address.
"The one that burned down."
Before I could leave, Evan grabbed my sleeve.
"Wait."
His voice was trembling.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"My dad said the key opens a room."
"What room?"
"The room where they kept him."
I stared at the brass key.
A key attached to Daniel's hospital bracelet.
A key hidden by an eight-year-old boy.
A key Ryan had nearly killed to retrieve.
"Where is the room?"
Evan pointed toward the photograph.
"Under the house."
My phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
This time, nobody spoke.
Instead, I heard a child crying.
Evan's crying.
But Evan was sitting directly in front of me.
Then a man's voice whispered:
"Bring the key to the old Miller house."
The call ended.
Evan looked at me.
"Jack?"
I couldn't answer.
May you like
Because outside the interview room, every light in the station suddenly went out.
And in the darkness, someone pulled the emergency exit open.
