Chapter 5 - The Roadside Memorial)
Daniel wanted to call the police.
Megan wanted to go to Hollow Creek Road.
They argued in whispers while Sophie slept between them on the hotel bed.
They had left the Bennett house shortly after sunset.
Richard had not tried to stop them.
That worried Megan more than anger would have.
Evelyn had stood in the doorway with her arms folded.
"Daniel will come home when he calms down."
Daniel had loaded the last suitcase and answered without looking at her.
"No. I won't."
But he had taken only enough clothing for a week.
Neither of them commented on that.
Now Anna's note lay on the hotel desk beside the message from Sophie's crib.
"You don't know who put it there," Daniel said.
"Exactly."
"So you're willing to walk into a dark roadside meeting?"
"No. We're both going."
"That's not better."
"Thomas Vale is alive."
Daniel stared at her.
Megan had waited until they reached the hotel to tell him about the call.
Now she told him everything.
The private medical residence.
The photograph.
Anna alive six months after her official death.
Lucas using another surname.
Daniel sank into the desk chair.
"He told me he found nothing."
"He was protecting his children."
"I thought he took my money and disappeared."
"He was scared."
Daniel rubbed his thumb over his wedding ring.
"What name was Lucas using?"
"Thomas didn't get to tell me."
"Call him."
Megan tried.
The number no longer worked.
Daniel looked at the clock.
10:42.
Megan glanced at Sophie.
"We can leave her with the hotel sitter."
"No."
"Daniel."
"No strangers."
"Then one of us stays."
He looked at her.
Both knew neither would accept that.
In the end, they called Megan's closest friend, Rachel Moore.
They told her almost nothing.
Family emergency.
Need you for two hours.
Please don't tell anyone where we are.
Rachel arrived twenty minutes later wearing pajamas under a long coat.
She saw Megan's cheek.
"What happened?"
"I'll explain tomorrow."
"Is Sophie safe?"
"Yes."
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"Is Megan safe?"
Daniel answered immediately.
"Yes."
Rachel believed him.
That mattered.
At 11:24 Megan and Daniel reached Hollow Creek Road.
The road wound between trees outside town.
No houses.
No streetlights.
Daniel drove slowly.
"There."
A small wooden cross stood near a bend.
Weathered flowers lay beneath it.
Anna Bennett.
Beloved Daughter.
Beloved Sister.
Megan's stomach tightened.
They parked.
Daniel carried a flashlight.
Megan kept her phone ready.
The woods were silent except for insects and distant water.
At 11:30 exactly, headlights appeared around the bend.
Daniel stepped closer to Megan.
The vehicle stopped fifty yards away.
A black sedan.
Nobody got out.
Its headlights turned off.
Megan's pulse raced.
Then another light blinked near the memorial.
A small battery lantern.
Neither of them had noticed it before.
Beside the lantern was an envelope.
Daniel walked toward it.
"Careful."
He crouched.
The envelope had his name.
Inside was a key card and a piece of paper.
ROOM 214.
CEDAR RIDGE.
Megan looked toward the sedan.
The engine started.
Daniel ran toward the road.
"Wait!"
The sedan accelerated away.
He returned breathing hard.
"License plate?"
"Covered."
Megan studied the key card.
A faded logo appeared in one corner.
Cedar Ridge Recovery Center.
Daniel looked at her.
"The medical residence Thomas mentioned."
They drove directly there.
The address was forty minutes away.
The facility had closed eight years earlier.
A chain-link fence surrounded several low buildings.
Windows were boarded.
A sign warned against trespassing.
Daniel parked behind an abandoned service station.
"We should call police."
"And tell them we got a mysterious key from a dead woman's memorial?"
"Yes."
"Then Richard hears about it."
Daniel looked at her.
She saw he understood.
They entered through a gap in the fence.
Building B contained room 214.
The key card should not have worked after so many years.
But when Daniel placed it against the reader, the light turned green.
The door clicked.
Megan stared at him.
"Someone maintains power here."
Inside, emergency lights glowed along the hallway.
Dust covered the floor.
Except for a line of fresh footprints.
Room 214 stood open.
Daniel went first.
The room was nearly empty.
Bed frame.
Cabinet.
Chair.
And dozens of scratches on one wall.
Megan moved closer.
Some were random.
Others formed letters.
LUCAS.
DANNY.
MOM.
Daniel touched the wall.
"Anna was here."
Megan opened the cabinet.
Inside sat a cassette recorder.
A tape was already inserted.
Daniel pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a young woman's voice.
Weak.
Terrified.
But unmistakably alive.
"Daniel, if you ever hear this, they lied to you."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Anna continued.
"I didn't die on Hollow Creek Road."
Megan grabbed Daniel's arm.
The recording crackled.
"Dad arranged the report. Mom knows. They took Lucas from me because I wouldn't sign the papers."
Daniel's breathing became uneven.
"What papers?" Megan whispered.
Anna's recorded voice continued.
"The trust."
A noise sounded in the hallway.
Footsteps.
Daniel stopped the tape.
May you like
The room went silent.
Someone was coming toward them.
