Chapter 13 - THE SECOND KIDNAPPING
Daniel reached Lily’s room in seconds.
The window was open.
The curtains snapped in the wind.
Lily was gone.
Her stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
“No.”
Daniel ran to the backyard.
A side gate hung open.
Alvarez shouted into her radio.
Officers spread through the neighborhood.
Mark came running from next door.
“What happened?”
“Lily’s gone.”
Mark’s face drained of color.
Then he pointed toward the alley.
“I saw a gray van ten minutes ago.”
Daniel grabbed his shoulders.
“Which way?”
“North.”
“Toward the lake road.”
Alvarez ordered units to block the highway.
Daniel picked up Lily’s rabbit.
Something hard pressed beneath the fabric.
He remembered Sarah’s video.
The trust was the only structure Grant could not control.
He tore open the seam.
Inside was a tiny brass key wrapped in red thread.
Lily had been carrying it for years without knowing.
Mark stared.
“The red bird?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Maybe the key to it.”
His phone rang.
Grant.
Daniel answered.
“You touch her and I swear—”
“Save the threats.”
Grant sounded calm.
“Bring the key.”
Daniel looked at the rabbit in his hand.
Grant knew.
“How?”
“Sarah always liked sentimental hiding places.”
“Where is Lily?”
“Safe for now.”
Claire screamed in the background.
Then Lily’s voice came through.
“Daddy!”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I’m coming, sweetheart.”
Grant laughed softly.
“No police.”
The call ended.
Alvarez had heard everything.
“We can track him if he calls again.”
Daniel looked toward the lake road.
“There may not be another call.”
He climbed into his truck.
Alvarez grabbed the door.
“You are not going alone.”
Daniel stared at her.
“My daughter thinks I’m coming.”
Then Mark held up his phone.
“I’m coming too.”
On his screen was the original backyard video.
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At the very end, behind Claire, a black SUV briefly passed the open gate.
Grant was driving it.
