Chapter 4 - Eight Missing Days
At St. Catherine’s Hospital, the doctor told me Amelia was dehydrated, bruised, exhausted, and lucky.
Lucky.
I hated the word.
There was nothing lucky about spending days in darkness under your own home.
Police separated us for statements. Detective Lena Brooks, a calm woman with tired eyes and a navy blazer, sat across from me in a family consultation room.
“When did you last see your wife before today?”
“Eight days ago. Friday night.”
“Argument?”
“No.”
“Any reason she might leave?”
“That’s what my mother kept telling everyone.”
Brooks looked up. “Your mother said that?”
“Amelia’s handbag disappeared. Her passport disappeared. Her car was found at the train station. It looked staged.”
“You told police that at the time?”
“I did.”
She wrote something down.
“What about the hidden compartment?”
“I didn’t know it existed.”
“Who did?”
I thought of Mother’s words.
Don’t open that door.
“I think Eleanor did.”
Brooks studied me. “Your mother.”
“Yes.”
My stomach twisted saying it aloud.
Through the glass wall, I could see Noah asleep across two chairs with Mei beside him. My son had cried until he couldn’t stay awake.
Brooks lowered her voice. “Your wife asked specifically that your mother and aunt not be allowed near your child.”
“I know.”
“We’re arranging temporary protection at the hospital.”
“Temporary?”
“Until we understand what happened.”
I leaned back, jaw tight. “I understand enough.”
“You understand the beginning.”
She was right.
That scared me more.
A nurse entered. “Mr. Reed? Your wife is asking for you.”
Amelia looked smaller in the hospital bed than I remembered. No makeup. Hair washed but still damp. An IV taped to her hand.
I sat beside her.
She stared at the closed door.
“They didn’t keep me under there for eight days,” she said.
I frowned. “What?”
“I was somewhere else first.”
“Where?”
She looked at me.
“Your family’s lake house.”
My blood ran cold.
The lake house had been empty for three years.
At least, that was what Mother had told me.
Amelia reached for my hand.
“And Daniel?”
May you like
“Yes?”
“Someone helped them.”
