Chapter 4 - The Bag With the Red Thread
“We need a warrant to break that concrete,” Ruiz told me. “I'm working on it.”
“What about the pool?”
“Scene technicians are recovering everything. Do not go back there.”
Emily grabbed my wrist. “Mom said they couldn't find the red thread.”
Ruiz crouched to her eye level. “What red thread, Emily?”
“The one on the bag. She tied it herself.”
Emily closed her eyes and struggled to remember. I waited. For years, Sarah and I had argued about schedules, money, and who had forgotten which school event. Now I would have given anything to hear her complain about a late pickup again.
“Mom was crying,” Emily said at last. “She told Jason she'd already made copies. He made her get in the car, and the officer came over. But after they left, I saw Mom's scarf by the pool.”
“Did you see Sarah get back?” Ruiz asked.
Emily shook her head.
By evening, the technicians had recovered three bags. Ruiz called me into a family room away from Emily. Naomi sat beside me while the detective opened a folder.
“No human remains,” Ruiz said immediately.
My breath left me in a rush.
“Inside we found a destroyed laptop, several phones, shredded paperwork, and clothing. One bag was tied with red embroidery thread.”
“What was in that one?”
Ruiz hesitated. “A small waterproof pouch containing a house key and a receipt from a storage facility. Sarah's name was on the rental agreement.”
“Then she's alive?”
“It means she planned ahead. We don't know where she is.”
I stared at the receipt. The facility was twenty minutes away, close to the highway. Sarah had always been organized. She labeled leftover containers with dates and filed school forms before the teachers even sent reminders.
“She was trying to leave us a trail,” I said.
Naomi leaned forward. “Has anyone secured that unit?”
Ruiz looked uncomfortable. “The account was closed yesterday. Someone accessed it using Sarah's identification.”
“Jason?”
“Possibly.”
My phone buzzed. An unknown number had sent a photograph of Emily sleeping in her hospital bed, taken from the hallway window less than a minute earlier.
Under the picture were six words.
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WE CAN STILL REACH HER, BEN.
THE THINGS BENEATH THE WATER • 20 CHAPTERS
