Chapter 9 - The Garage Door

Emma screamed Lily's name until her throat burned. From below came a crash, a beat of silence, then a small voice: “I'm okay!”

Daniel wrenched the service door farther open. The lift had dropped less than a full floor before a safety catch stopped it. Through the shaft they heard Lily crawling toward the garage.

“Keep moving!” Emma shouted.

The blast had shattered the chandelier over the foyer. Flames licked a curtain by the grand staircase, but the house sprinklers failed to activate. A valve had been turned off in the basement.

Rosa led Emma through the kitchen to the garage. The side door opened onto a wall of cold air, but the main garage gate stayed locked. Lily stood behind it pounding with one small fist.

“Mommy, somebody's out there!”

Emma grabbed Lily and pulled her behind a car. A silhouette moved beyond the gate's frosted windows, followed by the crunch of tires on gravel. They heard a male voice: “Target's in the garage.”

Through the windshield Emma saw the wreath she'd hung with Lily two weeks before, its red ribbon whipping in the wind. The mansion had looked like a holiday postcard from the street. She understood now that beauty could hide danger just as easily as darkness could.

Daniel took a heavy wrench from the workbench. “Back away from the door.”

Emma studied the emergency release rope hanging from the garage motor. “Rosa, can you drive?”

“I drove this family for seventeen years before they decided I was too old to be useful.” Rosa reached for the keys of Daniel's pickup. “Try me.”

Daniel yanked the release rope. The garage door lifted a hand's breadth, then jammed. A black boot appeared beneath it.

“Mrs. Whitmore sent us,” a man shouted. “The child comes with us, nobody gets hurt.”

Emma felt Lily trembling against her. She pressed the child into Rosa's arms, climbed into the driver's seat of the pickup, and started the engine.

Daniel realized her plan. “Emma, no.”

The man outside raised a metal bar.

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Emma put the truck in drive and said, “He doesn't get to touch my daughter.”

CHRISTMAS EVE BETRAYAL • THE MISSING DAUGHTER