Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE I CAME HOME TO
Lily was released that evening.
The emergency order gave me temporary physical custody.
Rachel was prohibited from removing Lily from my care until the hearing.
I didn't take my daughter home.
Not yet.
My older sister Claire lived twenty minutes away.
She cried when she saw Lily.
Then she cried again when Lily asked if she could sleep beside Buster.
Buster lay outside her bedroom door all night.
The next morning, I returned to my house with two police officers and Katherine.
Rachel wasn't there.
Neither was Brad.
The party had disappeared.
Broken glasses had been cleaned.
Bottles were gone.
The house smelled like disinfectant.
But there were things cleaning couldn't erase.
Brad's shoes beside my closet.
His razor in my bathroom.
His clothes hanging beside mine.
My photographs had been removed from the bedroom.
A picture of Rachel and Brad sat on the dresser.
I picked it up.
They were standing on a beach.
The date printed on the back was six weeks earlier.
I had been deployed for four months.
Brad hadn't moved into my life after Rachel believed I was dead.
He had been there while she knew I was alive.
Katherine photographed everything.
Then I opened my desk.
My files had been disturbed.
Insurance documents were missing.
Tax records were missing.
A copy of my will was missing.
I felt something cold settle inside me.
One officer asked whether I owned a safe.
I nodded.
It was hidden behind a cabinet in the study.
When I opened the panel, the safe door was already unlocked.
Empty.
My passport was gone.
An emergency cash envelope containing $8,000 was gone.
A flash drive containing family records was gone.
Then Katherine noticed something in the trash bin.
Shredded paper.
The police collected it.
Upstairs, I walked into Lily's bedroom.
Half her toys were gone.
A small suitcase sat beneath her bed.
Inside were clothes.
Shoes.
Her birth certificate.
And a child's passport.
Packed.
Ready.
I called Katherine.
She stared at the suitcase.
"This wasn't for a sleepover."
"No."
I picked up Lily's passport.
"Where was Rachel planning to take her?"
We didn't know.
Then one officer called from downstairs.
He had found something behind the couch.
A printed airline itinerary.
Three passengers.
Rachel Walker.
Brad Collins.
Lily Walker.
Destination:
Cancún, Mexico.
May you like
Departure date:
Two days from now.
