Chapter 5 - THE WHITE VAN
“Move!”
Officer Grant shoved Vivian behind the kitchen wall.
His partner drew his weapon but kept it pointed toward the floor.
Ethan ran outside.
Carla had almost reached the ambulance with Emmie.
“Get her inside!”
The white van accelerated.
For one terrible second, Ethan thought it was going to ram the ambulance.
Instead, it swerved past the driveway.
The passenger window lowered.
A phone appeared.
Someone inside took pictures.
Then the van sped away.
Grant's partner rushed to his cruiser.
“I've got the plate.”
Vivian laughed bitterly.
“You think that plate is real?”
Grant stared at her.
“Who was driving?”
“I don't know.”
“Who are you afraid of?”
Vivian said nothing.
Ethan climbed into the ambulance beside Emmie.
Carla placed oxygen under the girl's nose.
“You're coming?”
“I'm her father.”
Carla nodded.
The doors started closing.
Vivian suddenly shouted from the porch.
“Ethan!”
He looked back.
She was handcuffed now.
Her expression was desperate.
“Check the card.”
“What?”
“The back.”
The ambulance doors shut.
Ethan stared at the white card still in his hand.
He turned it over.
There was more writing.
Tiny numbers.
7 — 14 — 3 — 9
Below them:
If she remembers, call D.
Ethan showed Carla.
“Does this mean anything?”
“No.”
Emmie's eyes opened.
“Seven fourteen.”
Ethan leaned close.
“What is it?”
“Room.”
“What room?”
She swallowed.
“At the clinic.”
“What clinic?”
Emmie looked frightened.
“The one with no sign.”
Carla glanced at Ethan.
“Has your daughter been taken to a medical facility recently?”
“Not by me.”
Emmie whispered, “Vivian took me.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Ethan almost stopped breathing.
“Yesterday you were supposed to be at school.”
“I wasn't.”
“What?”
“Vivian picked me up.”
“How?”
“She told them you were sick.”
Ethan sat back.
The school had released his daughter to someone who had lied about him.
“How long were you at this clinic?”
Emmie closed her eyes.
“A long time.”
“What happened there?”
Carla touched Ethan's arm.
“Let her conserve energy.”
He nodded, fighting every instinct in his body.
Emmie still whispered.
“There were kids.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
“Were they sick?”
She shook her head slowly.
“One girl kept saying she wanted her mom.”
Ethan's hand tightened around the card.
Carla checked Emmie's monitor.
“Heart rate is dropping.”
Ethan snapped toward her.
“What does that mean?”
“Emmie, stay with me.”
The little girl's eyes fluttered.
“Dad…”
“I'm here.”
“I remember what D looks like.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“Who is D?”
Emmie's lips barely moved.
“He came to our house.”
Ethan's skin prickled.
“When?”
“Before Mom died.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
His wife, Laura, had been dead for fourteen months.
And only one stranger had visited their home the week before her fatal car crash.
A man who introduced himself as an insurance investigator.
Ethan had never seen him again.
Until suddenly he remembered the man's name.
May you like
Daniel Voss.
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