Chapter 9 - EMILY DISAPPEARED
I don't remember driving.
I remember red lights.
I remember horns.
I remember screaming Emily's name before I even reached Rachel's front door.
Her bedroom window was open.
The screen had been cut.
Police arrived within minutes.
Rachel was hysterical.
“I checked on her twenty minutes ago.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
Then she remembered.
A delivery van.
White.
No logo.
Security footage from a neighbor showed it parked behind the house.
A man stepped out.
Baseball cap.
Gray jacket.
He disappeared behind Rachel's home.
Four minutes later, he returned carrying something wrapped in a blanket.
My daughter.
An Amber Alert went out.
Police traced traffic cameras.
The van headed north.
Then disappeared.
I called Rebecca.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Police were already searching for her.
She had vanished from her mother's house less than an hour earlier.
Nathan was also missing.
I wanted to tear the city apart.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Emily.
Alive.
Sitting on a bed.
Terrified.
Underneath was a message.
BRING SARAH'S JOURNAL.
COME ALONE.
I showed police.
They told me not to respond.
I responded.
WHERE?
Three minutes passed.
Then:
OLD CARTER LAKE CABIN.
MIDNIGHT.
NO POLICE.
I knew the cabin.
It belonged to my father before he died.
We hadn't used it in years.
Only family knew about it.
That made Sarah's journal suddenly more terrifying.
Someone Daniel trusts completely.
I looked at Rachel.
She was sitting on the couch.
Crying.
My sister.
My only sibling.
Someone who had known the cabin since childhood.
She looked up.
“What?”
I said nothing.
I hated myself for even thinking it.
Then a detective walked toward us.
“Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“We traced the burner phone.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
He looked toward Rachel.
May you like
“The first signal came from inside this house.”
Rachel stopped crying.
