Chapter 18 - Lily in the Building
Sarah stopped breathing.
"How is she there?"
Margaret checked the hotel room.
Empty bed.
Open connecting door.
A note lay on the pillow in childish handwriting.
DADDY SAID HE NEEDS ME.
Mark went white.
"I didn't send that."
Daniel grabbed his coat.
Police were already responding, but Sarah refused to remain behind.
At headquarters, officers blocked the lobby.
The elevators had been disabled from the twenty-first floor.
Fire stairs only.
Sarah showed the live camera feed to the incident commander.
Lily stood near the elevator, confused.
Thomas crouched several feet away from her.
No audio reached them.
Then Claire stepped into frame.
She had brought Lily.
Sarah understood.
Claire had used a copied version of Mark's number to message Lily on the old child-safe tablet Margaret kept for video calls.
The same trick used against Margaret.
Thomas pointed toward the archive room.
Claire shook her head.
They were arguing.
Lily backed toward the wall.
Sarah pressed both hands against the security desk.
"Come on, baby. Stay there."
On screen, Claire suddenly took Lily by the hand and moved her away from Thomas.
Thomas grabbed Claire's arm.
She struck him with her free hand.
He stumbled.
The gasoline can tipped but remained closed.
Police reached the floor from the west stairwell.
Thomas ran.
Claire pulled Lily behind a concrete column.
Officers surrounded Thomas before he reached the opposite stairwell.
No fire was started.
No one was hurt.
Sarah reached Lily minutes later.
Lily launched herself into her arms.
"Mommy! I thought Daddy was here!"
Sarah held her so tightly Lily squeaked.
"I'm here. I'm here."
Across the hallway, Claire sat handcuffed against the wall.
She looked at Sarah.
"I brought her here," Claire said. "But I didn't know Thomas had gasoline."
Sarah's voice shook. "You kidnapped my daughter."
Claire closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Then she looked toward Thomas.
"And if I hadn't changed my mind, he'd have made it look like Mark took her."
An officer opened Thomas's briefcase.
Inside was a passport, cash, and one more file.
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On the tab were the words:
LILY BENNETT - TRUST.
