Chapter 5 - The Woman In The Photograph
Daniel stared at the phone screen.
He didn't blink.
He couldn't.
The photograph was impossible.
The woman standing in the picture was Emily's daughter.
Lily's mother.
The woman everyone believed had disappeared.
The woman Emily said was gone.
But she was alive.
Standing beside the person who had sent the message.
Daniel looked up slowly.
"Emily."
His voice was different.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Afraid.
Emily immediately knew something had happened.
"What did you see?"
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
The second Emily saw the image, all the color disappeared from her face.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered:
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"You know her."
Emily looked away.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
The man across the street watched them quietly.
He wasn't rushing.
He wanted them to see the truth.
Or at least, the version of the truth he wanted them to believe.
Daniel held the phone tighter.
"Who is she?"
Emily looked at Lily.
The little girl was watching her.
Waiting.
"Her name is Anna."
Daniel frowned.
"Lily's mother."
Emily nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why did you tell me she was gone?"
Emily looked hurt.
"Because I thought she was."
The answer made Daniel stop.
"You thought?"
Emily took a breath.
"Daniel, eight years ago, when I disappeared, I wasn't the only person they were hunting."
She looked at Lily.
"Anna found out too much."
Daniel glanced at the black vehicle.
The people standing nearby.
The man waiting.
"What exactly did she find?"
Emily looked at him.
"The truth about the company."
Daniel shook his head.
"My company?"
Emily nodded.
"Your company was used as a cover."
Daniel looked frustrated.
"By who?"
Emily didn't answer.
Not immediately.
Because the answer was someone she feared.
Someone whose name she didn't want to say.
Finally, she whispered:
"Your closest partner."
Daniel felt the words hit him.
"No."
Emily looked at him.
"I saw the documents."
"Who?"
She remained silent.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Who?"
Emily's eyes filled with regret.
"Richard."
The name echoed in Daniel's mind.
Richard Hale.
His best friend.
His business partner.
The man who had stood beside him when he built his first office.
The man who had comforted him after Emily's death.
The man who had told him to stop searching because there was nothing left to find.
Daniel looked back at the man across the street.
The man smiled slightly.
As if he already knew.
"You finally understand."
Daniel turned.
"Did Richard send you?"
The man didn't answer.
But his silence was enough.
Daniel felt something inside him break.
Eight years.
Eight years of trusting the wrong people.
Eight years of believing he knew who stood beside him.
Lily suddenly grabbed his hand.
"Mr. Whitmore."
Daniel looked down.
She was scared.
"Don't believe everything they say."
Daniel froze.
"Why?"
Lily looked at Emily.
Then whispered:
"My mom said everyone would try to make you angry."
A pause.
"She said when you're angry, you stop thinking."
Daniel looked at the little girl.
For someone so young, she sounded like someone who had lived through too much.
Emily stepped forward.
"She's right."
Daniel looked at her.
"Then tell me the truth."
Emily lowered her eyes.
"The full truth is worse than you think."
The snow continued falling.
Nobody moved.
Finally, Daniel opened the envelope he had picked up from the ground.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
And a flash drive.
His hands tightened.
There was a message written on the paper.
Daniel,
You trusted him because you thought he saved you.
He didn't save you.
He built the cage.
Daniel looked at Emily.
"Who wrote this?"
Emily shook her head.
"I don't know."
Daniel picked up the flash drive.
"What's inside?"
The man across the street finally spoke.
"Everything."
Daniel turned.
The man's voice carried through the cold air.
"Every payment."
"Every hidden account."
"Every person who disappeared."
Daniel looked at him.
"Why give this to me?"
The man smiled.
"Because Richard doesn't need you anymore."
Daniel's expression changed.
"What does that mean?"
The man looked toward Emily.
"It means he already has what he wanted."
Emily suddenly grabbed Daniel's arm.
"We need to go."
Daniel looked at her.
"Why?"
Her face was filled with fear.
"Because Lily isn't the only person he has."
A silence followed.
Daniel looked at the black vehicle.
Then at Emily.
"What are you saying?"
Emily looked at Lily.
"Richard took someone else."
Daniel felt his heart drop.
"Who?"
Emily didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Because Daniel already knew.
The only person Richard could use to control Emily.
The only person connected to everything.
Anna.
Lily's mother.
The woman in the photograph.
Daniel looked at the phone again.
The picture had been taken inside a room.
Not outside.
Not somewhere random.
Behind Anna was a wall.
A familiar wall.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
His own house.
The house where he had lived for eight years.
The house where Richard had visited hundreds of times.
Daniel's breathing changed.
"No."
Emily looked at him.
"What?"
Daniel zoomed in on the photo.
In the corner of the image was a small object.
A painting.
A painting that had always been hanging in his living room.
But there was something else.
A person standing behind Anna.
Only half visible.
Daniel's face turned pale.
Because he recognized the person.
Someone who should have been impossible.
Someone who was supposed to be dead.
The man across the street stepped closer.
"Now you understand why we had to find Lily first."
Daniel looked up.
"Who is behind her?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, Daniel's phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a familiar voice whispered:
"Daniel..."
His hand froze.
Because he knew that voice.
It belonged to someone he had buried eight years ago.
"Don't trust Emily."
Daniel looked at the woman standing beside him.
The voice continued:
"She was the one who helped them hide me."
Emily's face changed.
"Daniel, hang up."
But it was too late.
A second voice came through the phone.
A child's voice.
Terrified.
"Please help me..."
Daniel stopped breathing.
Because the child on the phone was not Lily.
May you like
And then the person holding the phone whispered one final sentence:
"Your daughter is still alive."
