Lily's room was empty.
The bed was untouched.
The stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
The window was open.
I stopped breathing.
“Lily!”
I searched the bathroom.
The hallway.
Sarah's bedroom.
The closet.
Nothing.
Then I heard Elaine behind me.
“Barbara!”
She came running up the stairs.
“She was here a minute ago.”
“What?”
“I heard the floor creak.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Reynolds reached us.
“Don't touch anything.”
I spun toward him.
“My granddaughter is missing.”
“I know.”
“Then find her.”
He looked through the window.
“There are tire tracks.”
We ran outside.
Rain had begun falling.
Fresh marks crossed the driveway.
A dark vehicle had left the property less than five minutes earlier.
Reynolds called for units.
Martin stood near the doorway.
His face had gone gray.
“What?”
He stared at the tire tracks.
“I know that vehicle.”
“Whose?”
He hesitated.
“Mr. Harrison's.”
My heart dropped.
The lawyer.
The man Sarah had named.
The man who had been present at the funeral.
The man who had handled the trust.
The man who had told me to trust the legal process.
I felt sick.
“Call him.”
Reynolds already was.
The call went to voicemail.
Again.
Nothing.
Martin pointed toward the road.
“There.”
A small object lay in the wet grass.
I ran toward it.
It was Lily's pink hair clip.
I picked it up.
It was still warm from the rain.
My hands shook.
“She was here.”
Reynolds looked at me.
“We'll get her back.”
“I don't want promises.”
“I know.”
“I want my granddaughter.”
He nodded.
“We're going to find her.”
We returned inside.
Martin walked straight to the table.
“The photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“The family photograph Sarah kept in the blue room.”
Elaine looked confused.
Martin said, “She used it as a marker.”
I remembered the hidden keypad.
The picture of Sarah, David, and Lily.
“What about it?”
“Look at the corner.”
We examined the photograph.
There was a faint pencil mark behind Lily's shoulder.
A small number.
Seven.
Martin's expression tightened.
“Seven what?”
“I don't know.”
Reynolds took a photograph of it.
Then his phone rang.
He listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Keep the unit there.”
He ended the call.
“Mr. Harrison's car was found abandoned.”
My chest tightened.
“Where?”
“Near the old train station.”
“Is Lily there?”
“No.”
“What did they find?”
“A child’s shoe.”
I nearly collapsed.
Elaine caught me.
“Barbara.”
“I can't do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Sarah was the brave one.”
Elaine held my shoulders.
“And now you're the one who has to be brave for Lily.”
Her words sounded like something Sarah might have said.
I forced myself upright.
“Let's go.”
At the station, officers searched every platform.
The rain had turned the pavement black.
A small shoe lay near a bench.
It belonged to Lily.
But there was no blood.
No sign of struggle.
Reynolds crouched beside it.
“She may have taken it off herself.”
“Why?”
“Because someone told her to.”
I looked around.
“Where would they take her?”
Martin answered.
“Somewhere Sarah used.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Your daughter had emergency locations.”
“Where?”
“I only knew one.”
“Tell me.”
“The old lake house.”
I remembered it.
Sarah had inherited the property from her grandmother.
She rarely used it.
David hated going there.
He said the road was terrible.
He had always called the place useless.
Now I understood why Sarah had kept it.
We drove there.
The house sat beyond a narrow road surrounded by trees.
The porch light was on.
Reynolds stopped the car.
“Stay behind me.”
We approached.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, everything smelled of damp wood.
Then we heard a child's voice.
“Grandma?”
I nearly cried from relief.
“Lily!”
She came running from the back room.
I dropped to my knees.
She threw herself into my arms.
I held her so tightly she squeaked.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Who brought you here?”
She pointed toward the kitchen.
“A man.”
“Who?”
“He said Mommy told him to.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he look like?”
“Tall.”
“Did he have glasses?”
“No.”
“A beard?”
She shook her head.
“Did he walk funny?”
She thought.
“No.”
“Did you know him?”
She nodded.
“He knew Mommy.”
I looked at Reynolds.
“Where is he?”
Lily pointed toward the lake.
“He went outside.”
We rushed to the back door.
A figure stood near the water.
He turned.
Martin.
I stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
He raised both hands.
“I brought her here because someone was following her.”
“You took my granddaughter!”
“To save her.”
“You should have told me.”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because your phone was compromised.”
Reynolds approached.
“Who was following her?”
Martin pointed toward the road.
“The same person who attacked me.”
“Who?”
“I still don't know.”
A vehicle appeared in the distance.
Black SUV.
Reynolds drew his weapon.
“Everyone inside.”
The SUV stopped.
The door opened.
Thomas stepped out.
He looked exhausted.
“Don't shoot.”
Reynolds kept his weapon raised.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Thomas obeyed.
“I came to help.”
“You've been lying to us.”
“I know.”
“Where were you tonight?”
“Trying to find Martin.”
“Why?”
“Because David told me to kill him.”
The words fell into the cold air.
I stared at him.
“David ordered you?”
Thomas nodded.
“He said Martin knew too much.”
“Did you attack him?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Thomas looked toward Martin.
“Linda.”
Martin's face hardened.
“She wasn't alone.”
Thomas nodded.
“She had someone with her.”
“Who?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Mr. Harrison.”
I felt the ground shift beneath me.
“The lawyer?”
“He was paying Linda.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted the trust.”
Reynolds lowered his weapon slightly.
“Why would Harrison want the trust?”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“Because he helped create it.”
Elaine whispered, “That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
Thomas explained that Harrison had been quietly diverting legal fees through shell companies.
He had discovered the trust contained more money than anyone realized.
Sarah found the irregularities.
She confronted him.
Harrison panicked.
He contacted Linda.
Linda contacted David.
Jessica became involved.
And the plan to discredit Sarah began.
But Thomas insisted Harrison had not ordered the final push.
“He wanted her scared,” Thomas said.
“Who ordered the murder?”
Thomas looked toward the lake.
“I don't know.”
Martin stepped forward.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Martin looked at me.
“Sarah told me before she died.”
My breath caught.
“Who?”
He said the name.
And for a moment, I could not understand it.
Because the person Sarah had named was someone I had never suspected.
Someone who had not been at the funeral.
Someone who had been absent whenever the family gathered.
Someone who had quietly received money from the Parker account for years.
Someone Sarah had trusted more than anyone.
Her own business partner.
Click here to continue reading: PART 11: Sarah’s Business Partner Was the Missing Link, but His Confession Revealed That the Murder Had Never Been About Money Alone
The Woman Beside My Daughter’s Coffin Smiled as Though the Funeral Were the Beginning of Something She Had Already Won
Part 10 of 20
