Chapter 3 - THE PHONE CALL
Grace made a sound I will never forget.
Not a scream.
Something deeper.
Something that seemed ripped from the center of her body.
“AMARA!”
She ran toward the chute.
I grabbed her.
“Stop.”
“They took my baby!”
“I know.”
“Let go of me!”
“You jump down there, you die.”
“I don’t care!”
“I do.”
She slapped me.
Hard.
Every guard in the hall froze.
Grace did too.
For a second, we stared at each other.
Then she broke.
“I’m sorry.”
I released her.
“No. You’re terrified.”
My shoulder was bleeding through my shirt.
I ignored it.
“Marcus!”
He appeared with two guards.
“House secured. Two attackers down. One escaped.”
“Seal every exit.”
“Already done.”
I pointed toward Evan.
“Keep him alive.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Every person in the hallway went still.
I answered.
“Where is she?”
A distorted voice came through.
“You always did skip introductions.”
“If you hurt that child—”
“You’ll do what?”
My grip tightened.
“Things your nightmares haven’t taught you yet.”
A quiet laugh.
Then I heard Amara crying.
“Mister Julian?”
Grace lunged toward the phone.
“Baby!”
“Mommy!”
The voice returned.
“You want her alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then bring Grace to Pier Nineteen.”
Grace stared at me.
“No.”
The caller continued.
“No police. No army of soldiers. Midnight.”
“Why Grace?”
A pause.
“Because she has something that belongs to me.”
The call ended.
I turned.
“What do you have?”
Grace shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me now.”
“I’m not.”
I grabbed the paper her husband had written.
“This attack happened minutes after you gave me this.”
“That note is all I have.”
Evan laughed from the floor.
Everyone looked at him.
Blood ran from his leg.
“You people really are stupid.”
Marcus kicked his gun farther away.
“What does she have?”
Evan looked at Grace.
“Tell him.”
Grace’s face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
I saw it.
“What?”
She slowly backed away.
I stepped closer.
“Grace.”
Her voice cracked.
“My husband left me a key.”
“What key?”
“I don’t know what it opens.”
“Where is it?”
She looked upstairs.
“In Amara’s stuffed rabbit.”
My pulse stopped.
The same rabbit Amara carried everywhere.
Except tonight.
Tonight, she had brought it into the dining room.
And when the lights went out, it had disappeared with her.
Evan smiled.
“They have the key now.”
I crouched beside him.
“To what?”
His smile vanished.
“To the proof that your daughter was never supposed to die.”
May you like
Then he looked directly at Marcus.
“And neither was your wife.”
