Chapter 3 - The Girl Who Saw Too MuchDaniel picked up the yellow ribbon.
He stared at it for several seconds before speaking.
“Sarah, are you sure?”
“I tied it in her hair myself.”
He examined the ribbon, then the footprint.
His daughter had been here.
The realization struck him like a physical blow.
He turned toward the security supervisor.
“Open that door.”
The supervisor selected another key.
It didn't turn.
“It's been changed, sir.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
Evelyn stood at the entrance, pale but composed.
“Who has the key?” he demanded.
“The maintenance contractor, probably.”
“Which contractor?”
“I don't remember.”
“You approved every renovation on this property.”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“And now you're suggesting I keep an inventory of every doorknob?”
Sarah had already moved toward the door.
She pressed her ear against it.
Nothing.
“Mia?”
Silence.
She knocked.
“Sweetheart, it's Mommy. If you can hear me, say something.”
There was no answer.
Daniel directed security to find a locksmith while another employee searched for a spare.
Sarah crouched beside Zoe, who had reluctantly followed them with her mother, Renee Bennett.
Renee had been a friend of Sarah's since their daughters attended the same preschool. She worked as an elementary-school librarian and lived a few miles away.
When Sarah told her about Evelyn's threat, Renee immediately brought Zoe close.
“Baby, nobody is angry with you.”
Zoe shook her head.
“Grandma Evelyn is.”
“She's not your grandmother,” Renee said softly.
Zoe stared at the floor.
Sarah noticed that Zoe's small hands were shaking.
“What did she say to Mia?”
Zoe hesitated.
“She said there was a surprise.”
Sarah felt hope rise.
“What kind?”
“A special birthday surprise.”
“Where?”
Zoe looked toward the locked door.
Then behind them.
Evelyn was still standing near the stairwell.
Sarah shifted so the little girl could no longer see her.
“It's okay.”
Zoe lowered her voice.
“Grandma Evelyn said Mia had to come alone.”
“Did Mia want to?”
The girl shook her head.
“She asked if I could come, too.”
“And what happened?”
“Grandma said no.”
Renee kissed her daughter's hair.
“You're doing really well, sweetheart.”
Zoe began to cry.
“I should've gone with her.”
Sarah pulled the child into a gentle embrace.
“No. You did exactly the right thing by telling us.”
Then Zoe whispered something that made Sarah's blood run cold.
“She said Mia had to be brave because Mommy wasn't going to be here forever.”
Sarah stared at her.
“Who said that?”
“Grandma Evelyn.”
Behind them, Daniel's phone rang.
He stepped aside to answer.
It was the head of estate security.
After listening for several seconds, his expression changed.
“What do you mean the recordings are missing?”
Sarah rose.
“Daniel?”
He ended the call.
“The west-wing cameras were disabled this morning.”
“When?”
“Eleven seventeen.”
Sarah checked her watch.
Mia had disappeared around two thirty.
“Who disabled them?”
“They're checking.”
Evelyn gave a dismissive laugh.
“Those cameras have been unreliable for years.”
Daniel said nothing.
He was looking at a notification on his phone.
An internal security alert showed that the west-wing camera system had been disabled remotely using an administrator account.
The account name was unmistakable.
E. WHITMORE.
Daniel looked up at his mother.
“Why did you shut off the cameras three hours before Mia disappeared?”
Evelyn's expression did not change.
May you like
But she reached for the banister.
And gripped it so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
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