Chapter 4 - The Woman Upstairs
Sarah ordered Grant secured in the patrol car while officers surrounded the house.
Lily remained with a female paramedic beneath the shelter of an ambulance that had arrived moments earlier.
“Who is the woman?” Sarah asked again.
Lily stared at her wet feet.
“Evelyn.”
“Does Evelyn live here?”
Lily nodded.
“Daddy says she’s his friend. She says she is teaching me how to behave.”
Sarah crouched to Lily’s level.
“Is Evelyn inside now?”
“Yes.”
“Why did your father say no one else was there?”
Lily looked toward the upstairs window.
“Because Evelyn told him she doesn’t exist.”
The answer sent a chill through Sarah that had nothing to do with the storm.
The officers announced themselves and ordered anyone inside to come out.
No response.
James checked the side entrance. Another officer covered the rear door.
Sarah returned to Grant’s patrol car.
He sat in the back seat, breathing hard.
“Where is Evelyn Mercer?”
Grant looked away.
“There is no Evelyn Mercer.”
“We heard her voice.”
“You heard a television.”
“Your daughter identified her.”
“My daughter imagines things.”
Sarah studied him.
Grant’s fear was real now.
Not fear of the police.
Fear of the woman inside the house.
Sarah stepped back as James reported that the rear door was open.
The officers entered.
The first floor was empty.
In the kitchen, two bowls remained on the table. A third chair had been pushed against the wall, as if someone had moved it quickly.
A purse sat beside the refrigerator.
Inside was a driver’s license belonging to Evelyn Mercer.
Upstairs, officers found Lily’s bedroom door damaged around the lock. Rain had flooded the carpet near the open window.
They searched the remaining rooms.
No Evelyn.
Then James noticed a narrow door inside the master bedroom closet.
Behind it was a staircase leading to the attic.
Sarah raised her flashlight.
The attic smelled of dust and damp wood. Boxes were stacked against the walls. A narrow trail led toward a small window overlooking the front yard.
The curtain was still moving.
Evelyn was gone.
James discovered a second opening behind a wardrobe. It led to an exterior maintenance ladder at the rear of the house.
“She left while we were entering,” he said.
Sarah radioed every nearby unit.
Grant was transported to the station.
Lily was taken to the hospital for an examination and placed under emergency protection.
Before the ambulance doors closed, she held Sarah’s hand.
“Will Evelyn come back?”
Sarah wanted to promise that she would not.
Instead, she gave Lily the only promise she knew she could keep.
“We’re going to find her.”
May you like
Lily looked through the rain at the dark house.
“She always finds people first.”
