Chapter 8 - The Empty Safe House

The safe house door was hanging off one hinge when Dominic arrived.

Hannah jumped from the SUV before it fully stopped.

"Emma! Lily! Grace!"

Dominic caught her arm.

"Stay behind me."

"They're children!"

"And whoever did this knows exactly what they're worth to me."

Inside, the living room had been torn apart.

A lamp burned on its side.

One security guard lay unconscious near the stairs.

Another was missing.

Rosa sat on the kitchen floor with blood running from her temple.

Hannah dropped beside her.

"Where are the girls?"

Rosa pointed weakly toward the pantry.

Dominic kicked the door open.

Three small bodies huddled behind sacks of rice and canned food.

Alive.

Hannah nearly collapsed.

Lily saw her first.

"Mama!"

All three crawled toward her.

Hannah knelt and gathered them as tightly as she could without hurting them.

Dominic stood behind her, breathing like he had run miles.

For one second, he closed his eyes.

Then he turned to Rosa.

"Who came?"

"Four men. Masks. They knew the alarm code."

Vincent looked at Dominic.

"Only six people had that code."

"Make it five," Dominic said. "Change everything."

Rosa grabbed his sleeve.

"One of them asked for Hannah."

Hannah looked up.

"Me?"

"He kept saying, 'Where is the second one?'"

The room went quiet.

Dominic's phone buzzed.

A text message from an unknown number.

A photograph loaded.

It showed Hannah leaving the coffee shop that morning.

Another image showed her apartment building.

A third showed Daniel Mercer's grave.

Then a message appeared.

STOP DIGGING OR THE WRONG SISTER DIES THIS TIME.

Hannah felt ice spread through her chest.

"Wrong sister," she whispered.

Dominic read it again.

Vincent said, "That could mean Hannah."

"Or it could mean Sofia is alive," Hannah said.

Dominic's eyes snapped to hers.

Rosa began shaking her head.

Too fast.

Hannah saw it.

"Rosa."

"No."

"You know something."

"I don't."

"You do."

Rosa squeezed her eyes shut.

Dominic stepped closer. "Rosa, if Sofia is alive, tell me now."

Tears slid down the older woman's face.

"I never saw a body," she whispered.

Dominic went still.

"What?"

"At the funeral. Closed casket. Sebastian said the burns were too severe."

Vincent swore under his breath.

Rosa looked at Hannah.

"But three months after the crash, I got a phone call."

"From who?" Hannah asked.

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