Chapter 4 - The Message on the Wall
I didn't sleep.
Emily eventually did, curled on her side in the hospital bed with the stuffed dog beneath her chin.
I sat beside her until sunrise.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the cage.
The green pool.
Elena's wallet.
The message on the farmhouse wall.
Tell Daniel to stop looking.
But I couldn't stop.
Not anymore.
By morning, federal investigators had become involved.
The flash drive in Elena's car contained evidence crossing state lines.
Julian had apparently spent years creating false identities and shell companies.
He targeted people who trusted him.
Widows.
Retirees.
Small business owners.
People going through divorces.
People desperate enough to believe someone who promised help.
Elena had found bank records and hidden video files.
She had copied them.
Then she'd tried to leave.
That explained why Julian had become desperate.
But it didn't explain where Elena was.
At nine o'clock, Detective Morales entered our room with another investigator named Agent Brooks.
Brooks was calm, direct, and careful with Emily.
“We believe your mother may still be alive.”
Emily sat upright.
“Why?”
Brooks placed a printed photograph on the table.
It showed the abandoned farmhouse.
In one room, muddy footprints crossed the floor.
Two sets.
“One belongs to Julian,” Brooks said. “We believe the other may belong to your mother.”
“You can tell that?”
“Not completely. But there are signs someone left through the back window.”
“Mom escaped?”
“Possibly.”
I felt hope again.
Painful hope.
The kind that made breathing harder.
Brooks continued.
“We also found tire tracks from two vehicles.”
“Meaning?”
“Julian had help.”
That confirmed what the neighborhood camera had shown.
Someone had picked him up.
“Do you know who?”
“We're working on it.”
Then Brooks turned to Emily.
“Your mother left that flash drive because she expected someone to find it.”
Emily nodded.
“She wanted Dad to.”
“Yes.”
“That means she had a plan.”
Brooks smiled slightly.
“I think so.”
That afternoon, they released Emily from the hospital.
She came home with me.
When we entered my small house, she stood in the hallway for a long time.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You can tell me.”
She looked toward the bedroom.
“Can I sleep in your room tonight?”
“Of course.”
“And tomorrow?”
“As long as you want.”
Her face crumpled.
I knelt.
She hugged me.
“I thought you weren't coming.”
The words nearly destroyed me.
“I will always come.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have known something was wrong.”
“No.”
“I should have listened better.”
Emily shook her head.
“Julian said if I told you, he'd hurt Mom.”
I held her tighter.
“That wasn't your burden to carry.”
For the first time, she cried like a child.
Not silently.
Not carefully.
She sobbed against me until her whole body shook.
That evening, she finally slept.
I sat at the kitchen table staring at my phone.
At 11:43 p.m., it rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then breathing.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice whispered, “Daniel.”
I stood so quickly the chair fell backward.
“Elena?”
“Don't say my name.”
“Where are you?”
“Is Emily safe?”
“Yes.”
A sob came through the phone.
“Oh, thank God.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Police are looking for you.”
“I know.”
“Julian is looking for you too.”
“I know.”
“Then let us help.”
“He has people.”
“Who?”
“People I trusted.”
“Elena.”
“I made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“I thought he was stealing money.”
“He was.”
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“I mean I thought that was all.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What else?”
“I found recordings.”
“What recordings?”
“I can't explain.”
“Try.”
“Julian has been blackmailing people for years.”
“We know.”
“You don't understand. Judges. Business owners. Police officers.”
I looked toward the hallway.
“Are you saying someone inside law enforcement is helping him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Elena, come home.”
“I can't.”
“Emily needs you.”
“I know.”
“Then stop running alone.”
Silence.
Finally she whispered, “There's another copy.”
“Of the files?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Do you remember where we took Emily for her fifth birthday?”
I closed my eyes.
“Riverside Park?”
“The carousel.”
“Yes.”
“Locker twenty-seven.”
“What locker?”
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
Her voice suddenly became urgent.
“You cannot trust anyone who knows about the bracelet.”
“Why?”
“Because only three people knew.”
I stopped breathing.
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Emily.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
She whispered a name.
“Detective Morales.”
The room went cold.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“I told him months ago.”
“You knew Morales before this?”
“I went to him when I first became suspicious.”
“What happened?”
“He told me I didn't have enough evidence.”
“Elena—”
“Daniel, do not give him the second drive.”
A noise sounded behind her.
She gasped.
“What was that?”
“I have to go.”
“Wait!”
“Get Emily somewhere safe.”
“Where are you?”
“I'm sorry.”
The line went dead.
I stood in my kitchen staring at the phone.
Seconds later, headlights swept across the front windows.
A car pulled into my driveway.
I moved toward the curtain.
Detective Morales stepped out.
Alone.
He walked toward my front door.
Then knocked.
“Daniel?”
I didn't answer.
He knocked again.
“I know you're awake.”
I looked toward Emily's bedroom.
Then at my phone.
“Elena called you, didn't she?” Morales said through the door.
My blood turned cold.
I hadn't told anyone.
Nobody.
Not even Emily.
Morales knocked a third time.
“Open the door, Daniel.”
I backed away.
Then I noticed something through the side window.
Another car was parked down the street.
Dark.
May you like
Engine running.
And sitting behind the wheel was Julian.
