I stared at the photograph on my phone.
The old house looked exactly as I remembered it.
White siding.
Dark shutters.
The maple tree near the front walkway that had grown twice as tall since we moved.
But the upstairs window was wrong.
A red mark had been drawn across the glass.
Tyler knew that room.
So did I.
It had been our spare bedroom.
The same room where I had kept old photographs, letters, wedding programs, and boxes of things neither of us could bring ourselves to throw away.
"Why would someone photograph that room?" I whispered.
Tyler didn't answer.
Captain Reyes took my phone.
He studied the image.
"Don't delete this."
"I won't."
He photographed the screen.
Then he handed the phone back.
"Did the message come from the same number?"
"Unknown number."
"Save it."
I nodded.
Reyes called someone.
Within minutes, two officers were on their way to our old address.
I stayed beside Tyler.
He was watching me.
"What?"
"You don't have to go."
"I'm not going."
"Good."
I squeezed his hand.
"You don't get to get injured and then order me around."
"I was going to say you don't have to be brave."
"I know."
He smiled.
"Fair."
The hospital room settled again.
Then a nurse entered.
She told us a detective wanted to speak with Tyler.
Reyes stopped her.
"Not tonight."
"He can speak briefly."
"No."
Tyler looked at Reyes.
"I can answer questions."
"You need rest."
"I'm awake."
"That's not the same thing."
Tyler sighed.
The nurse left.
I smiled.
"You're going to get lectured."
"I already am."
"By everyone."
"Mostly you."
"Correct."
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then Tyler said, "The little girl."
"What about her?"
"If she has that key…"
"You think she knows our old house."
"I think someone wants us to think she does."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because whoever sent the message knew about the house."
"Maybe they followed me there."
"Maybe."
"Or they knew the address from the photograph."
He looked at me.
"The photograph."
I nodded.
"The one taken from your wallet."
He went still.
"If they took that photograph…"
"They had our old address."
"Then they didn't need to follow you."
My stomach dropped.
"Which means they could have known where we lived for years."
"Maybe."
The possibility made the old memories feel different.
Neighbors.
Deliveries.
People walking past the house.
Cars parked across the street.
Any one of them could have been meaningless.
Or not.
A knock came.
Detective Mercer entered.
"Good news."
I sat up.
"We found something at the old house."
Tyler looked at him.
"What?"
"Someone had been inside recently."
My heart dropped.
"Inside?"
"Yes."
"Was anything taken?"
"Not that we can tell."
"Then why break in?"
Mercer looked at Tyler.
"Someone opened the wall behind the old bookcase."
Tyler frowned.
"There was nothing behind it."
"There is now."
He placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a narrow cavity in the wall.
Inside was a metal box.
I recognized it.
"That's ours."
Tyler stared.
"That's the box."
"The key?"
Mercer nodded.
"We opened it."
"What was inside?"
He looked at me.
"Photographs."
My breath caught.
"Which photographs?"
"Mostly old family pictures."
"Anything else?"
"A letter."
"From whom?"
Mercer hesitated.
"Your handwriting."
I looked at Tyler.
"I don't understand."
Mercer turned the photograph around.
The box was open.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
"I don't remember writing anything."
"Neither does Tyler."
Mercer looked at him.
"That's because you didn't."
Tyler stared.
"What?"
"The handwriting resembles Amanda's, but the paper is much older."
I leaned forward.
"How old?"
"At least six years."
"Before we moved?"
"Yes."
He opened his folder.
"There was also this."
He placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a woman standing outside the warehouse.
She wore a red scarf.
My heart stopped.
"Who is she?"
"We don't know yet."
Tyler stared at the picture.
"That's the woman."
"Which woman?"
"The one from the photograph Lily had."
Mercer looked sharply at him.
"You're certain?"
"I think so."
"Why?"
"The scarf."
Mercer sat down.
"Then we're getting somewhere."
I looked at the photograph.
The woman wasn't facing the camera.
Her face was partly hidden.
But she was standing beside a man.
The man's face was also turned away.
Between them was a little girl.
Lily.
I knew it immediately.
"That's her."
Mercer nodded.
"We believe so."
I looked closer.
Lily was holding the man's hand.
The woman had one hand on her shoulder.
They looked like a family.
Or like people pretending to be one.
"Who are they?"
"We're still working on that."
"What about the man?"
"His identity is unclear."
"Is he Lily's father?"
"We believe so."
Tyler looked at the photograph.
"Then why did she say he's dead?"
Mercer leaned back.
"Because he may be."
"May be?"
"We haven't found a body."
The room went quiet.
I looked at Tyler.
He seemed lost in thought.
"What?"
"I know the man."
My heart tightened.
"You do?"
"I've seen him."
"Where?"
Tyler pointed to the photograph.
"At the station."
Reyes looked at him.
"When?"
"Months ago."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Mercer leaned forward.
"What did he do?"
"He came to the station asking about me."
My mouth went dry.
"You never told me."
"I didn't think it mattered."
"Tyler."
"I know."
Mercer asked, "What did he say?"
Tyler rubbed his forehead.
"He asked if I was working."
"Did you speak with him?"
"Briefly."
"What did he want?"
"He said he needed help."
"What kind?"
"He wouldn't explain."
"Did he mention Lily?"
"No."
"Did he mention the warehouse?"
"No."
"Did he mention your wife?"
Tyler paused.
"Yes."
I stared at him.
"What did he say?"
"He asked whether Amanda was still living at the old house."
The room went completely still.
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
Mercer wrote something down.
"When was this?"
"About three months ago."
"And you didn't report it?"
"I didn't think he was threatening anyone."
I looked at Tyler.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"Stop saying that."
"I'm sorry."
Mercer stood.
"We need to understand the connection between that man, the woman, Lily, the warehouse, and your old house."
I looked at the photograph again.
The little girl stood between two adults.
She looked small.
Not merely young.
Small in the way children look when they're trying to take up less space than they need.
"Can I see her?"
Mercer shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because we're trying to establish whether she is in immediate danger."
"She is."
He looked at me.
"From whom?"
I pointed at the photograph.
"Someone put her inside a burning building."
"We don't know that."
"Then find out."
Mercer didn't argue.
He nodded.
Reyes's phone rang.
He stepped away.
We watched him listen.
Then he turned.
"Amanda."
I looked up.
"There's been another message."
My stomach tightened.
"What does it say?"
He looked at me.
"Tell Amanda to remember the blue room."
I froze.
The blue room.
Our old spare bedroom.
The room where the photograph had been kept.
The room shown in the message.
I looked at Tyler.
He was staring at me.
"What's in the blue room?" he asked.
I couldn't answer.
Because suddenly I remembered.
A small wooden box.
A photograph.
And something I had not seen in six years.
A letter from a woman I had never met.
I had found it after we moved into the house.
I had assumed it had been left by the previous owner.
Then, one week later, it disappeared.
I had forgotten about it.
Until now.
I looked at Reyes.
"The blue room had a letter."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
"What did it say?"
"I don't remember."
Tyler looked at me.
"You never told me."
"I forgot."
Mercer stared at both of us.
"Where is the letter now?"
"I don't know."
Reyes's phone buzzed again.
He looked at the screen.
Then his expression hardened.
"What?"
He turned the phone toward us.
Another photograph had arrived.
This one showed the hospital.
Our floor.
Our hallway.
Taken from somewhere nearby.
And at the bottom of the image was a single line:
*Now you remember.**
Tyler's fingers closed around mine.
Outside our room, footsteps stopped.
Again.
This time, nobody reached for the door.
We waited.
A shadow appeared beneath it.
Then slowly moved away.
Mercer looked at Reyes.
Reyes looked at Tyler.
And Tyler whispered the words none of us wanted to hear.
"Whoever this is, they're already inside the hospital."
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Hospital Had Become Another Trap, and the Person Watching Us Knew One Forgotten Detail About Our Old Home
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 8 of 40
