Chapter 3 - Nobody in the Bedroom
Daniel entered first.
Empty.
Window locked.
Closet empty.
Under the bed, nothing.
But the floorboard beside the radiator had been lifted.
Beneath it was a narrow maintenance opening.
Too small for an adult.
Large enough to pass something through.
Like an envelope.
Daniel shone his flashlight inside.
The opening connected to the wall cavity between apartments.
Someone had been close enough to hear everything.
Perhaps close enough to enter another way.
Mrs. Carter said:
“Old buildings have maintenance passages.”
Daniel looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve lived here seventeen years.”
“How long has Sarah lived here?”
My name made Emily look up.
“Mom.”
“Three years,” Mrs. Carter answered.
Daniel looked at my phone.
Why had I left it?
Because I expected to return?
Or because I knew someone could track it?
He opened only what emergency circumstances allowed.
The last outgoing call was at 11:48 p.m.
Four seconds.
Unknown number.
Then a text sent immediately afterward:
HE FOUND ME.
No recipient name.
Just a number.
Daniel recognized the area code.
It belonged to the town where he grew up.
His pulse accelerated.
Then Emily said:
“Mom has another phone.”
Daniel turned.
“What other phone?”
“The red one.”
“Where?”
Emily pointed toward the kitchen.
“Cookie jar.”
Inside an old ceramic jar beneath packets of sugar was a tiny red prepaid phone.
One saved contact.
N.
Daniel called it.
A phone began ringing.
Not inside the apartment.
Across the hall.
Everyone slowly turned toward Mrs. Carter.
She went completely pale.
Daniel lowered the phone.
“Why does Sarah’s secret phone call yours?”
Mrs. Carter shook her head.
“It doesn’t.”
The ringing continued behind her door.
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
“Open your apartment.”
“No.”
“Mrs. Carter.”
“You don’t understand.”
Emily whispered:
“She knows Mommy.”
Mrs. Carter began crying.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
“How?”
Mrs. Carter looked at the children.
Then surrendered.
“My name isn’t Carter.”
The hallway seemed to become smaller.
“My real name is Laura Bennett.”
Daniel knew that surname.
Everyone involved in Nathan’s disappearance knew it.
Thomas Bennett had been the last adult to report seeing Nathan alive.
He died without ever being charged.
Daniel stared at the woman across from him.
“Thomas Bennett was your father.”
“Yes.”
“And Sarah?”
Laura’s eyes filled with tears.
“My sister.”
Daniel looked toward Emily.
Sarah had deliberately moved across from the daughter of the last man known to have seen Nathan.
This wasn’t random.
“What were you two doing?”
Laura whispered:
“Trying to find out which one of you came back.”
Daniel frowned.
“Which one of us?”
Then Emily tugged his sleeve.
“Officer Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“My mom has your picture too.”
May you like
“Where?”
“In the box she said never to open.”
