Chapter 18 - The Empty GardenI couldn't breathe.
"Lily!"
Marcus ran outside.
Security flooded the garden.
The gate was open.
No sign of Evelyn.
No sign of Lily.
I screamed her name.
Nothing.
Then Marcus found something near the flower bed.
Mr. Bun.
My daughter's stuffed rabbit.
His ear was torn.
I collapsed.
"No."
Marcus knelt beside me.
"We'll find her."
"You don't know that."
"I will."
His voice was different.
Cold.
Focused.
He stood.
"Lock down the estate."
Security moved.
"Nobody leaves."
He looked at Daniel.
"Find Evelyn."
Daniel nodded.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A child's voice spoke.
"Mommy?"
I grabbed the phone.
"Lily!"
She giggled.
"I'm okay."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
A woman's voice came through.
"She's safe."
"Evelyn."
"Yes."
"Let her go."
"I will."
"When?"
"When you understand."
"What do you want?"
"Nothing from you."
"Then why take my daughter?"
"Because she is the only person who knows where the account key is."
I froze.
"What key?"
Evelyn laughed softly.
"The key your mother left inside her."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll find out."
The call ended.
Marcus looked at me.
"What did she say?"
I told him.
He immediately returned to the cottage.
He searched every drawer.
Every cabinet.
Every wall.
Then Lily's drawing caught his attention.
She had drawn a purple flower.
Underneath it was a number.
Marcus stared.
"What's that?"
I whispered:
"That's not a flower."
It was a map.
The number was a coordinate.
Marcus entered it into his phone.
The location appeared.
An abandoned children's hospital.
Closed twenty years ago.
May you like
Marcus looked at me.
"That's where we go."
