Chapter 12 - The Girl in the Yellow Coat
The photograph was recent.
The girl looked about ten. She had dark hair, a gap between her front teeth, and a red backpack hanging from one shoulder. The background showed a brick school and a blue sign.
Graham stared at the image.
“Is that her?” he asked.
Lucy leaned over his shoulder. “I don’t know.”
Nina took the phone. “Don’t reply.”
The school was in a suburb outside Columbus. The trust had paid tuition there for six years. A private investigator confirmed that a girl named Sophie Hartwell lived with foster parents under a sealed placement order.
Elise cried when she heard the name.
“Sophie,” she whispered. “I wanted to name her Sophie.”
Graham felt anger rising again, but it was mixed with something more frightening: hope.
They drove to Ohio with Nina’s team. They did not approach the school. They waited until the girl came out with her class, laughing with two friends, her backpack bouncing against her shoulders.
Graham saw the way she tilted her head when she listened.
Elise made a small sound.
“That’s my mother’s expression,” she said.
A woman in a blue coat met Sophie at the gate. She looked around before guiding the girl toward a car. Nina’s investigator photographed the license plate.
The woman was not listed as Sophie’s legal guardian.
“She’s being moved,” Nina said.
A second car pulled up behind them.
Caleb Rusk stepped out.
Graham moved before Nina could grab him, but Lucy caught his arm.
“Look at the girl,” she said. “If you run at him, she’ll be the one who pays.”
Caleb opened the passenger door. The woman in blue pushed Sophie inside.
Graham’s phone rang.
Victor.
“Do you see her?” Victor asked.
Graham’s blood turned cold.
“Let her go.”
“You’re still thinking like a father. Think like a businessman. Withdraw your claims, sign the resignation, and the girl stays where she is.”
“You’re threatening a child.”
“I’m offering you a choice.”
Graham looked at Sophie’s car pulling away.
Then Lucy stepped forward and spoke loudly enough for the phone to catch.
“Victor, you made one mistake.”
A pause.
May you like
“You assumed we were waiting for you to tell us where she was.”
Across the street, a police cruiser turned on its lights.
