Chapter 7 - The Red Mailbox)
Daniel did not sleep.
At three in the morning he sat in his sister's kitchen listening to the audio captured by the smart speaker.
The recording was incomplete.
Static.
Vanessa's voice.
He knows.
A man's voice.
How much?
Enough.
Then several seconds missing.
Finally Vanessa again.
We move her tomorrow.
Daniel replayed the sentence.
His sister Rachel stood behind him.
"Move who?"
Daniel did not answer.
He already knew what his mind wanted to believe.
Claire.
Rebecca arrived at dawn.
She listened to the recording.
"This helps."
"Helps?"
"For the warrant."
"You still don't have it?"
"Judge is reviewing the application."
Daniel stood.
"They are moving someone."
"Daniel."
"What if Claire is alive?"
Rebecca held his gaze.
"Then the worst thing you can do is alert them before officers are ready."
Emma appeared in the doorway.
Neither adult had heard her.
She was wearing pajamas and holding Claire's old beach photograph.
"When are we going?"
Daniel looked at her.
"We aren't."
"Police are."
"You're staying here."
Emma's jaw tightened.
Daniel stood.
"That isn't negotiable."
She looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca said gently, "Your dad is right."
Emma left without arguing.
Daniel should have recognized that as a warning.
At eight twenty Rebecca received confirmation.
Search warrant approved.
Officers would meet near Bellamy at ten.
Daniel insisted on coming.
Rebecca refused.
"This is a police search."
"Claire is"
"Possibly there. Which is exactly why you stay away."
Daniel punched the kitchen counter.
Rebecca did not react.
"Your daughter needs you alive and rational."
That stopped him.
He nodded.
At nine fifteen Vanessa texted.
Emergency at restaurant. Charity dinner moved earlier. I'll be home late.
Daniel forwarded it to Rebecca.
At nine thirty he went upstairs to check Emma.
Her room was empty.
The window was closed.
Bathroom empty.
He ran downstairs.
"Rachel."
His sister entered.
"What?"
"Where's Emma?"
"I thought she was with you."
Daniel's blood went cold.
He grabbed his phone.
Emma's tablet location showed movement downtown.
He called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then an image appeared in his mind.
Claire's warning.
Emma will know.
Daniel ran to the car.
Rebecca answered on the first ring.
"Emma is heading to Bellamy."
"What?"
"She left."
"Daniel, do not"
"I'm already going."
Rebecca cursed.
"We're seven minutes out."
Daniel drove faster.
Emma sat in the back seat of a rideshare three blocks ahead.
She had taken something from Daniel's garage before leaving.
The encrypted drive.
She found it by accident.
Months earlier Claire had created a red toy mailbox with Emma during a rainy Sunday afternoon.
They had painted flowers on it.
Emma used it to leave notes for her parents.
When Daniel moved boxes into the garage after Claire disappeared, the mailbox went onto a shelf.
That morning Emma had remembered something.
The last afternoon she saw Claire, her mother had gone into the garage alone.
Emma had followed.
Claire had been standing beside the red mailbox.
At the time Emma thought she was leaving a note.
Now Emma searched.
Inside she found a small black flash drive taped beneath the roof.
A folded piece of paper surrounded it.
FOR DANIEL IF I CANNOT EXPLAIN.
Emma read the first line.
Merrow is stealing from the Carter trust.
The second line made her stop breathing.
Vanessa knows.
Emma put the drive in her pocket.
Then she left.
By the time Daniel reached Bellamy, the restaurant's charity guests were arriving.
Valets moved cars.
Photographers stood near the public entrance.
Daniel ignored all of them.
He entered through the side door.
A hostess hurried toward him.
"Mr. Carter"
"Where's Vanessa?"
"Kitchen, I think."
Daniel walked faster.
His phone rang.
Rebecca.
"We're outside."
"Emma's here."
"Do not enter the service area until"
Daniel ended the call.
Then he heard shouting.
A kitchen worker was saying, "I tried to stop her."
Daniel ran.
Around the corner.
Into the narrow service hallway.
Emma stood in front of the freezer door.
A heavy meat tenderizer in both hands.
Vanessa rushed toward her from behind.
Daniel saw the terror on his wife's face.
Emma raised the tenderizer.
May you like
Then she screamed the sentence that changed everything.
"My mom is in there."
