Chapter 12 - The Empty Crib
We reached Noah's sister's house with police four minutes later.
The front door was open.
Noah ran upstairs.
Sofia's crib was empty.
"No."
Noah ripped open the bathroom door.
"Sofia!"
Noah's sister, Beth, stumbled out with duct tape around one wrist.
"They took her."
"Who?"
"A man. Mask. He hit me."
"Where is Sofia?"
"He took the diaper bag. The baby monitor. Everything."
Detective Ross grabbed my shoulders.
"Claire. Focus. Did your mother say anything?"
I gave him my phone.
Then Beth shook her head.
"Wait."
She pointed at the floor.
A small white sock lay near the closet.
I picked it up.
There was a blue thread tied around the ankle.
Not ours.
Ross examined it.
"Marker?"
Beth started crying.
"He tied that on before he took her."
"Why?"
"To identify her."
My mother had once told me a story about hospital tags being switched when Emily died.
Someone had moved her.
Someone was preparing to move Sofia the same way.
Ross launched an Amber Alert and alerted highways, airports, and bus stations.
Then Noah found something inside the diaper bag's outer pocket.
A folded paper.
The kidnapper had missed it because it was wedged beneath the changing mat.
It wasn't ours.
An address was written in block letters.
47 Millstone Road.
"The old Harper farmhouse."
Stephen had mentioned it earlier.
My grandfather bought it under a shell company and used it for cash meetings.
Ross called tactical officers.
Noah grabbed his coat.
"You're not coming," Ross said.
"That's my daughter."
"And you'll get her killed."
I stepped between them.
"I'm going."
"No."
I looked Ross in the eyes.
"My mother wants me. That's why she took Sofia."
He didn't argue.
Because we all knew it was true.
Twenty-three minutes later, we stopped half a mile from the farmhouse.
All the lights were off.
Then my phone buzzed.
A live video appeared.
Sofia was strapped into a car seat.
Behind her stood my mother.
Marlene looked directly into the camera.
"Come inside alone, Claire."
May you like
Then she held up the rusted key.
"And bring what belongs to me."
