Chapter 5 - The Empty Bedroom)
Laura screamed Emily’s name.
Daniel ran outside.
Claire called police.
Raymond searched the backyard.
Margaret remained in the kitchen.
Calm.
Too calm.
Laura came downstairs holding the note.
“You knew.”
Margaret stared at her.
“You knew somebody was coming.”
“No.”
Laura slapped her.
Daniel turned.
Margaret touched her cheek.
Laura shook with rage.
“If anything happens to my daughter—”
“It won’t.”
The room stopped.
Daniel stared at his mother.
“How can you know that?”
Margaret realized what she had admitted.
Raymond stepped closer.
“Who took her?”
Margaret refused to answer.
Daniel grabbed her phone.
She fought him.
He opened the recent calls.
One number appeared six times.
Raymond recognized it.
“Jesus.”
“Who?”
“My brother.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
Raymond looked at Margaret.
“At least I thought I did.”
The police arrived.
Detective Nathan Brooks took command.
Security footage showed Emily climbing voluntarily through the bedroom window.
She had followed someone.
The camera caught only a partial figure.
Female.
Laura nearly collapsed.
“Why would she go willingly?”
Claire looked at Margaret.
“Because she recognized her.”
Margaret said nothing.
Detective Brooks separated everyone.
Within forty minutes, an Amber Alert was prepared.
Then Laura’s phone rang.
Emily.
Laura answered immediately.
“Baby?”
“Mom.”
Emily sounded frightened but unharmed.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A woman’s voice spoke in the background.
Emily whispered, “She says you have to bring the blue folder.”
“Who?”
Silence.
“Emily?”
Then her daughter said something strange.
“Mom, she looks like Grandma.”
The call ended.
Everyone turned toward Margaret.
Daniel whispered, “Who looks like you?”
Margaret sat down.
Her hands began shaking.
Claire suddenly understood.
“No.”
Margaret looked at her.
Claire backed away.
“No fucking way.”
Daniel demanded, “What?”
Claire stared at her mother.
“Emily.”
Margaret whispered, “Don’t.”
“Emily Hayes.”
“Claire.”
“Dad’s sister.”
Laura stared between them.
Claire’s voice cracked.
“She didn’t disappear when she was fourteen.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Claire finished.
“You knew where she was.”
Margaret finally whispered the truth.
“She’s my sister too.”
Daniel looked as if the floor had vanished beneath him.
Because Thomas Hayes’s missing sister could not possibly have been Margaret’s sister.
May you like
Not unless Daniel’s parents had been related before they married.
Or unless one of them was never Daniel’s biological parent at all.
