Chapter 4: The Voice on the Phone
Chapter 4: The Voice on the Phone
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
The call had already ended, but I still held the phone against my ear.
That laugh.
It wasn't just a child laughing.
It was Lily's laugh.
The tiny hiccup at the end.
The little squeal she always made when she was trying not to giggle.
I'd heard it every birthday, every Christmas morning, every time she'd beaten me at our favorite card game.
I would have recognized it anywhere.
My hand began to shake so violently that the phone slipped from my fingers and landed on the hallway floor.
Detective Aaron Miles picked it up.
"What happened?"
I could barely force the words out.
"They have Lily."
Marissa, standing at the foot of the attic ladder, went white.
"No..."
"They played her laugh."
Aaron's face hardened.
"Are you certain?"
I looked straight into his eyes.
"I've been her grandmother for six years."
He nodded once.
"I believe you."
Within seconds, he was speaking into his radio.
"Possible child abduction threat. Notify dispatch. I want units at Riverside Elementary, Daniel Whitaker's residence, and the hospital immediately."
Marissa gasped.
"Lily's at school."
Aaron looked at her.
"Not anymore."
She frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It's after six."
Her face drained of color.
"The after-school program..."
She pulled out her phone and dialed with trembling fingers.
No answer.
She called again.
Straight to voicemail.
Aaron took my phone.
"Don't touch anything until our tech team arrives."
He opened the recent call log.
The number was already listed as Unknown.
"They blocked it."
"Can you trace it?"
"We'll try."
His expression suggested he wasn't optimistic.
Professional criminals knew how to hide.
This caller clearly did.
We raced back to the hospital.
Halfway there, Aaron's phone buzzed.
He answered on speaker.
"This is Miles."
A woman's voice came through.
"Detective, we just spoke with the director of the after-school program."
"Go on."
"Lily Whitaker was signed out at 3:52 p.m."
Marissa clutched the dashboard.
"By who?"
There was a pause.
"The paperwork says... her father."
Marissa stared ahead.
"No."
The dispatcher continued.
"They checked the security footage."
Aaron tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Was it Daniel?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"Someone wearing Daniel's jacket... and a baseball cap."
Silence filled the car.
"They showed the staff Daniel's driver's license on a phone screen."
"They used a fake ID?" Aaron asked.
"We believe so."
Marissa covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
When we reached the hospital, two uniformed officers were already waiting outside Daniel's room.
Aaron flashed his badge.
"Any change?"
"He's awake."
Marissa didn't wait.
She rushed inside.
Daniel looked pale beneath the white hospital sheets.
A bandage wrapped around his abdomen.
Machines beeped steadily beside him.
The moment he saw us, tears filled his eyes.
"Mom."
I crossed the room and took his hand.
"You're alive."
"Barely."
I squeezed his fingers.
"What happened?"
His gaze shifted to Aaron.
"Is the room secure?"
Aaron checked the hallway before closing the door.
"It is now."
Daniel swallowed painfully.
"They took Lily."
Marissa broke down.
"I know."
He closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Aaron stepped closer.
"Daniel, who attacked you?"
"I don't know his name."
"Did you see his face?"
"For a second."
"Could you identify him?"
"Yes."
Aaron nodded.
"We'll arrange that."
"But first..."
He leaned in.
"What were you planning to tell your mother tonight?"
Daniel looked at me with an expression I'd never seen before.
Not fear.
Guilt.
The kind that had been carried for years.
"I lied to you."
I felt my heart sink.
"What about?"
"Everything started after Dad died."
My breath caught.
"Daniel..."
"I found something in his workshop."
My mind raced back twenty years.
My late husband, Thomas, had spent countless weekends in that old detached garage.
After his heart attack, I'd packed away most of his tools without looking through every box.
"What did you find?"
Daniel looked toward the ceiling as if searching for the strength to continue.
"A metal lockbox."
I froze.
"The one from the attic?"
He nodded weakly.
"I moved it years ago."
Aaron and I exchanged a quick glance.
"So the intruder was looking for that box," Aaron said.
Daniel nodded again.
"What's inside?" I asked.
He answered in barely more than a whisper.
"My father kept records."
"What kind of records?"
"He was an accountant."
"I know that."
"He wasn't just an accountant."
The room became painfully still.
"He worked for people who hid money."
Aaron's expression sharpened instantly.
"Money laundering?"
Daniel nodded.
"At first, he thought he was doing ordinary bookkeeping."
"And later?"
"He realized he was helping move millions through shell companies."
I couldn't reconcile those words with the man I'd been married to for thirty-two years.
"No."
"He tried to leave."
Daniel's voice cracked.
"They wouldn't let him."
Tears blurred my vision.
"Your father never told me."
"He was trying to protect you."
Aaron folded his arms.
"The records in the lockbox..."
"They identify everyone."
"Politicians?"
"Business owners."
"Judges?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Some."
Aaron inhaled slowly.
"Where is the lockbox now?"
Daniel looked directly at me.
"I hid it somewhere no one would ever think to look."
"Where?"
Before he could answer, every monitor in the room suddenly erupted into shrill alarms.
The heart monitor spiked wildly.
A nurse burst through the door.
"Everybody out!"
Doctors flooded into the room.
Aaron grabbed my arm and pulled me into the hallway.
The door slammed shut behind us.
Through the small window, I watched medical staff surround Daniel's bed.
One doctor shouted, "He's crashing!"
Marissa screamed.
"What happened?"
A nurse looked toward the IV pole.
Her face turned pale.
"The medication..."
She picked up the empty syringe attached to Daniel's IV line.
"This isn't ours."
Aaron's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Someone had entered Daniel's room.
May you like
Not to finish the stabbing.
To make sure he never revealed where the lockbox was hidden.
