Chapter 5 - SOMEONE IN THE DARK
Aaron drew his weapon.
“Police!”
Silence.
Daniel grabbed his phone and turned on the flashlight.
Boxes cast long shadows against the concrete walls.
“Who’s there?”
Something moved behind the old crib.
Aaron swung the light.
A teenage boy raised both hands.
“Don’t shoot!”
Daniel stared.
The boy couldn’t have been older than seventeen.
“Who are you?”
“Caleb.”
“How did you get in here?”
“I came before you.”
“Why?”
Caleb’s eyes moved toward the moon box.
“Because that belonged to my dad.”
Daniel frowned.
“Your dad?”
“Dr. Warren Hale.”
Aaron lowered his gun slightly.
Daniel felt another shock.
“You’re Dr. Hale’s son?”
Caleb nodded.
“My dad told me if anything happened to him, I should watch this unit.”
“For two years?”
“I check it once a month.”
“Why?”
“Because Mrs. Mercer said someone would eventually come for the box.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“Emily?”
Caleb nodded.
“She knew my dad.”
“Where is the key?”
Caleb held up his hands.
“I didn’t take it.”
Aaron found the emergency release and forced the metal door upward.
The facility manager came running.
“I didn’t close that!”
Aaron immediately requested security footage.
Three minutes later, they watched a grainy camera recording.
A man in a baseball cap had entered the hall.
He pulled the door closed.
Then walked away.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Aaron paused the footage.
The man’s face was partially visible.
Daniel knew him.
“Ethan.”
His brother.
Aaron swore softly.
Caleb looked confused.
“Your brother?”
Daniel said nothing.
His phone rang.
Margaret.
He answered.
“Where is Sophie?”
Daniel froze.
“She’s with my neighbor.”
“Are you sure?”
“What does that mean?”
Margaret started crying.
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
“Vanessa just called me.”
“What did she say?”
“She knows you found Emily’s letters.”
Daniel looked at Aaron.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Margaret’s voice broke.
“But she said if you keep digging, Sophie will lose both parents.”
Daniel ended the call and immediately called his neighbor, Mrs. Kendall.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Daniel’s heart began pounding.
He ran toward his car.
Aaron followed.
“Call units.”
Daniel barely heard him.
He drove like a man being chased.
When he reached his house, the front door stood open.
“Mrs. Kendall!”
No response.
He ran inside.
The living room was empty.
Then Mrs. Kendall appeared from the bathroom.
Her forehead was bruised.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel grabbed her shoulders.
“Where’s Sophie?”
“She took her.”
His blood turned to ice.
“Who?”
“Vanessa.”
Mrs. Kendall started crying.
“She said you’d been in an accident.”
“She said you sent her.”
“I realized she was lying when Sophie started screaming.”
“She pushed me.”
Daniel looked toward the front door.
“Which way?”
“I don’t know.”
Aaron entered behind him.
“We’ll get an Amber Alert moving.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
A text.
Unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
Sophie sat inside the back seat of a car.
Her face was wet with tears.
Beneath the photo were seven words.
BRING THE LETTERS TO THE BLUE HOUSE.
COME ALONE.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
May you like
YOU HAVE FORTY MINUTES.
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