Chapter 5 - THE PASSPORT
The locksmith opened my safe forty minutes later.
Lily’s passport was gone.
So was her birth certificate.
And twelve thousand dollars in emergency cash.
Officer Ramirez photographed everything.
“Who knew the combination?”
“Only me.”
“Are you sure?”
I thought about it.
Then remembered Vanessa standing behind me last Christmas while I put Lily’s documents away.
Maybe she saw.
Maybe she filmed me.
Maybe I had trusted my wife enough to never imagine I needed to hide a combination from her.
“When were you scheduled to return?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“What time?”
“Flight landed at eight.”
Ramirez nodded slowly.
“So they had approximately thirty more hours.”
Thirty hours.
If my client hadn’t canceled Thursday’s meeting, I would still be in Chicago.
I looked at Lily.
She was sitting at the kitchen table coloring with Mrs. Collins.
Thirty hours.
By the time I landed, they might have been gone.
I swallowed.
“Can they leave the country?”
“Not easily now.”
“Not easily?”
“We’ve issued alerts. Airports are being notified. Border systems will flag the child’s passport.”
“What if they drive?”
“We’re checking.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Ramirez looked at me.
“Speaker.”
I answered.
“Hello?”
Vanessa.
“Ryan.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“Where are you?”
“Please listen.”
“Where are you?”
“I need you to calm down.”
I almost laughed.
“You abused our daughter.”
“I made mistakes.”
“You locked her in a room.”
“I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You planned to steal her passport.”
Silence.
Ramirez held up one finger, signaling me to keep her talking.
“Vanessa?”
She breathed into the phone.
“I was going to leave.”
“With Lily?”
“She’s my child too.”
“You were going to take her without telling me.”
“You would’ve stopped me.”
“Of course I would’ve stopped you.”
“Exactly.”
My blood went cold.
“You planned this.”
“Ryan, Daniel said we could start over.”
“Where?”
She didn’t answer.
“Mexico?”
Nothing.
“Canada?”
Nothing.
Then Daniel’s voice came through the phone.
“You should’ve stayed in Chicago.”
I stood.
Ramirez gestured for calm.
“Daniel.”
“You ruined everything.”
“You locked my daughter in a room.”
“That kid is a nightmare.”
My vision darkened.
“Say that again.”
Ramirez shook his head.
Don’t react.
Daniel laughed.
“You think you’re some hero because you came home early? You have no clue what Vanessa put up with.”
“What did you do to Lily?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you do?”
“Ask your perfect little girl.”
The line went dead.
I immediately looked at Ramirez.
“What did he mean?”
“We don’t know.”
I walked toward Lily.
She looked up from her coloring book.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
She smiled faintly.
I sat beside her.
“Can I ask you something?”
Her smile disappeared.
“Did Daniel ever hurt you?”
She looked down.
My stomach tightened.
“Lily?”
Her crayon stopped moving.
“He said it was a secret.”
“What secret?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“He took me somewhere.”
Ramirez stepped closer.
I kept my voice soft.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was Mommy there?”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
“How many times?”
She held up three fingers.
My heart started pounding.
“What happened there?”
May you like
She whispered,
“There were other kids.”
