Chapter 5 - Lily's Bracelet
I forgot my leg.
I forgot the brace.
I forgot the money.
“What did you say?”
Keller backed away. “I only know what Lauren told me.”
Lauren's voice sharpened. “He's lying.”
Marcus was already calling Nora.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
My chest tightened.
“Library. Now.”
Marcus ran. I followed as fast as I could, the brace slamming against the floor with every uneven step.
The library door was locked from the inside.
“Nora!” Marcus shouted.
No response.
He hit the door once with his shoulder. The old frame cracked. A second strike broke the latch.
The room was empty.
One French door stood open to the garden.
On the carpet lay Lily's little silver bracelet.
I picked it up with shaking fingers.
It had been a gift from my mother. Lily wore it every day.
Marcus took it from me and turned the clasp over.
A tiny black dot sat where the decorative screw should have been.
He swore under his breath.
“Tracker?” I asked.
“Microphone. Maybe both.”
Behind us, Lauren appeared in the doorway with Keller.
I turned on her.
“Where is my daughter?”
“I don't know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“Vincent, listen to me—”
I slammed my cane against the desk hard enough to split the silence.
“Where is Lily?”
For a second, everyone froze.
Then we heard a soft knock.
From inside the wall.
Marcus looked toward the built-in shelves.
Knock.
Knock-knock.
I knew that rhythm.
Lily used it when she played hide-and-seek.
I crossed the room and pulled books from the lower shelf. Marcus found a recessed latch behind a leather atlas and pressed it.
The shelf swung inward.
Nora was crouched in a narrow service passage with Lily in her arms.
Lily burst into tears when she saw me.
“Daddy!”
I dropped to my knees despite the pain and held her.
Nora was crying too.
“He came through the garden,” she said.
“Who?” Marcus asked.
“The second guard. Owen.”
Marcus's face went flat.
Owen had worked for us for four years.
Nora handed Marcus a folded piece of paper she had torn from Owen's jacket during the struggle.
On it was a floor plan of the mansion.
May you like
One room was circled in red.
Lily's bedroom.
