Chapter 4 - the open back door
Ethan ran.
"Maisie!"
The kitchen door swung in the afternoon breeze.
Her high chair straps hung loose.
Daniel shoved through the front door behind him.
Corinne jumped to her feet.
"I didn't touch her."
Ethan grabbed the stuffed rabbit from the floor.
"Maisie!"
He rushed into the backyard.
The lawn was empty.
The wooden playhouse stood near the hedge.
The gate at the rear of the property was open.
Ethan's blood turned cold.
He ran toward it.
Then he heard crying.
Faint.
From the side of the house.
He rounded the corner.
Maisie stood beside her little bicycle.
A woman crouched several feet away.
Ethan stopped.
She wore a gray sweatshirt, jeans and a baseball cap pulled low.
Her hands were raised.
"Don't scare her."
Ethan rushed forward and lifted Maisie.
The child wrapped herself around him.
"Who are you?"
The woman stood slowly.
She looked about fifty.
Tired eyes.
No makeup.
A hospital ID badge hung from a cord around her neck.
Ethan recognized the logo.
Northbridge Recovery Center.
Daniel came around the corner and froze.
"Rebecca?"
The woman looked at him.
"You weren't supposed to be here."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Neither were you."
Ethan stepped between them.
"Someone starts explaining now."
Rebecca looked at Maisie.
"I called you this afternoon."
Ethan stared.
"The phone call?"
She nodded.
"I saw Corinne leave Northbridge records storage yesterday."
Corinne had followed them into the yard.
Her face changed immediately.
"She's lying."
Rebecca ignored her.
"I worked nights when Claire was admitted."
Ethan's grip tightened around Maisie.
"You knew Claire?"
"I took care of her."
"Where is she?"
Rebecca looked genuinely pained.
"I don't know."
Corinne laughed nervously.
"Convenient."
Rebecca turned.
"You should be in prison."
Corinne went still.
Daniel stepped between them.
"Rebecca, what exactly did you see yesterday?"
"Corinne had files from the closed ward."
"I haven't been near Northbridge in months," Corinne said.
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
"Your wife was there at 9:40 yesterday morning."
Ethan stared at Corinne.
"Where were you yesterday?"
"Shopping."
Rebecca pulled out her phone.
She showed Ethan a photograph.
It was blurry but unmistakable.
Corinne walking through a side entrance carrying a document envelope.
The timestamp read Thursday, 9:42 AM.
Ethan felt sick.
"What were you doing there?"
Corinne's voice hardened.
"I don't owe this woman an explanation."
"You owe me one."
Corinne looked at Daniel.
Something passed between them.
Ethan noticed.
"What?"
Daniel said, "Corinne had authorization to visit Claire."
Ethan's attention snapped toward him.
"You gave it to her?"
"Initially."
"Why?"
"Claire asked for her."
The answer made no sense.
"Claire barely knew Corinne."
Rebecca spoke quietly.
"That wasn't true."
Everyone turned.
She continued.
"Claire knew Corinne very well."
Ethan frowned.
"From where?"
Rebecca looked at Corinne.
"Ask her about Boston."
Corinne's face tightened.
Ethan remembered something.
Before marrying Ethan, Corinne claimed she had lived in Boston for two years while working for a nonprofit.
Claire had also attended graduate school there.
But they had always said they met years later through a charity board in North Carolina.
"Did you know Claire in Boston?"
Corinne said nothing.
Rebecca answered instead.
"They were roommates."
Ethan stared.
Daniel looked equally shocked.
Corinne's voice became sharp.
"For one semester."
Rebecca shook her head.
"Two years."
"How would you know?"
"Because Claire told me."
Ethan felt as if the ground were shifting beneath him.
"What else did she tell you?"
Rebecca glanced toward Maisie.
"Not here."
Ethan lowered his voice.
"Then where?"
Rebecca looked toward the street.
"Somewhere without windows facing the road."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
Before Rebecca could answer, a black sedan appeared at the far end of the street.
It moved slowly.
Too slowly.
Rebecca saw it.
Her face changed.
"We need to go."
Daniel looked at the car.
"Do you recognize it?"
Rebecca stepped backward.
"They found me."
Ethan's heart accelerated.
"Who?"
Rebecca ran toward her vehicle.
Corinne suddenly grabbed Ethan's arm.
"Don't go with her."
He pulled away.
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what she's involved in."
Rebecca opened her driver's door.
"Ethan, if you want to know why Claire disappeared the first time, bring those documents."
The black sedan accelerated.
Daniel shouted, "Get inside!"
Rebecca drove away.
The sedan followed.
Ethan stood holding Maisie as both vehicles vanished around the corner.
Then his phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent him a photograph.
The image showed Claire.
Alive.
Sitting in what looked like a hospital room.
A newspaper rested on her lap.
The date visible on the front page was only five weeks old.
May you like
Below the photograph was a message.
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT HER TO STAY ALIVE.
