Chapter 12 - The Road to the Lodge
Daniel made it three steps before Ruiz blocked the hotel door.
“You are not going alone.”
“He has my daughter.”
“And if you walk in blind, he’ll have you too.”
Sarah picked up Lily’s stuffed rabbit and held it against her chest.
“He wants me,” she said. “I’ll go.”
“No.” Daniel’s answer was immediate.
“He kept me alive for three years because he thought I had evidence. That’s what this is about.”
Daniel faced her. “He took three years from you. He doesn’t get one more second.”
Ruiz built a plan around what Grant believed: Daniel and Sarah would appear to obey. State police would stay outside the property line and use drones from a distance.
Vanessa, still in custody, provided one crucial fact.
“There’s a tunnel from the old icehouse to the lodge basement,” she said. “Grant used it when he was a teenager.”
“Why didn’t you mention that before?” Ruiz asked.
“Because I was hoping he’d run.”
Daniel stared through the interview glass.
Vanessa lowered her head.
“I know that makes me a coward.”
“It makes you responsible,” Daniel said.
They left at dusk.
The hunting lodge sat forty miles north, surrounded by pine forest and abandoned quarry roads. Rain started again as Daniel drove.
Sarah sat beside him wearing a small wire beneath her jacket.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“For what?”
“For not trusting you three years ago.”
“You were trying to protect me.”
“I was also angry. Your company always came first. Grant knew it. He used it.”
Daniel gripped the wheel.
“If we get Lily back, I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure she never wonders what comes first.”
Sarah looked out the window. “When we get her back.”
They reached the lodge at 8:17 p.m.
The front door stood open.
Inside, one lantern burned on the floor.
“Grant!” Daniel shouted.
A speaker crackled overhead.
“Welcome home, little brother.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
“Where’s Lily?”
A child cried somewhere beneath them.
“Daddy!”
Daniel ran toward the basement door.
May you like
The speaker came alive again.
“Take one more step, Dan, and the room she’s in fills with water.”
