Chapter 8: The Yellow House
“No.”
Lauren grabbed Owen’s arm.
“What do you mean, no? He has my daughters!”
“We don’t know that.”
“He sent the message from the same number.”
“A number anyone could be using.”
Lauren’s eyes filled with panic.
“We have to go.”
“We’re not bringing Lily.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
Owen showed the message to Officer Harris.
Within minutes, state police were notified.
The address of the yellow house was pulled from archived property records.
It had never been sold.
The property belonged to a shell company controlled by Eleanor Whitlock.
“She lied for fifteen years,” Owen said.
Harris checked his weapon.
“We approach this as a possible hostage situation.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“My nieces are inside.”
“You’ll remain behind the perimeter.”
Owen stared at him.
“I know the house.”
“You knew it as a child. That doesn’t make you tactical support.”
Lauren stepped forward.
“I’m going too.”
Harris shook his head.
“You are both staying back.”
Lily sat inside Nathan’s office wrapped in a blanket.
She listened to every word.
“Daddy.”
Owen went to her.
“I need you to stay with Officer Daniels.”
Lily looked at Lauren.
“Are Madison and Harper in trouble?”
“We don’t know.”
“Because of me?”
“No.”
“The message said to bring me.”
Owen crouched.
“This is not because of you. Adults made terrible choices long before you were born.”
“What if they hurt my cousins?”
“They won’t.”
It was a promise Owen had no power to make.
Lily saw that.
“Mommy Sarah said promises only count if you work for them.”
Owen’s throat tightened.
“She said that?”
Lily nodded.
“She said being brave doesn’t mean you go where the bad person wants. It means you make them come into the light.”
Owen stared at her.
Sarah had been teaching Lily how to survive before Owen understood there was danger.
He kissed her forehead.
“I’m going to bring them into the light.”
The yellow house stood thirty miles south, beyond an abandoned horse farm and a road half-covered in ice.
Owen and Lauren followed the police convoy despite Harris’s order to remain in Franklin.
They stopped behind a line of unmarked vehicles half a mile from the property.
The house looked smaller than Owen remembered.
Yellow paint peeled from the siding.
The green front door hung crooked.
The bluebird mailbox had faded almost white.
No lights were visible.
Harris approached Owen’s car, furious.
“I told you not to come.”
“You knew I would.”
“That doesn’t make it less stupid.”
Lauren leaned forward.
“Have you found my daughters?”
“Thermal imaging shows at least three people inside.”
“Adults or children?”
“We can’t tell.”
Owen studied the house.
“There’s a cellar entrance on the east side.”
Harris looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“My grandmother stored preserves there.”
“That could help.”
A negotiator called the number that sent the threat.
No answer.
Police loudspeakers ordered the occupants to come outside.
Nothing moved.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
A light appeared upstairs.
One flash.
Then darkness.
Lily’s voice echoed in Owen’s memory.
Make them come into the light.
Owen looked at the house again.
The cellar.
The upstairs room.
The porch swing.
Something was wrong.
“If Daniel wanted an exchange, why hasn’t he contacted us?”
Harris said nothing.
“Because he didn’t send the message.”
“That’s possible.”
“It’s a setup.”
Lauren grabbed Owen’s sleeve.
“Then who is inside?”
A gunshot cracked through the night.
Lauren screamed.
Police moved toward the house.
The front door flew open.
Madison ran outside barefoot.
“Mom!”
Lauren tried to break through the perimeter.
Owen caught her.
“Wait!”
Madison stumbled down the porch steps.
An officer reached her and carried her behind cover.
Blood covered the front of her pajama shirt.
Lauren collapsed beside her.
“Where’s Harper?”
Madison sobbed.
“It’s not my blood.”
“Whose is it?”
“The man.”
“What man?”
“He came to help us.”
Owen felt dread rise.
“What happened?”
“Grandpa Hale was there.”
Judge Preston Hale.
Madison cried harder.
“He said Grandma told him to take us somewhere safe. Then the other man came through the cellar.”
“Daniel?” Owen asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What did he look like?”
“A scar on his face.”
Daniel.
“Where is Harper?”
Madison pointed toward the house.
“She wouldn’t leave him.”
Another gunshot sounded.
Then the upstairs window shattered.
Smoke began pouring from the roof.
Harris shouted orders.
Officers advanced.
Owen ran with them.
Harris grabbed his coat.
“Stay back!”
“My niece is inside!”
A side door burst open.
Daniel Mercer emerged carrying Harper.
Blood soaked his shoulder.
He fell to one knee.
Owen rushed forward as officers surrounded him.
“Put the child down!”
Daniel lowered Harper carefully onto the snow.
“She’s alive.”
Harper opened her eyes.
“Mom?”
Lauren ran to her.
Daniel lifted his empty hands.
Owen stared at him.
Up close, the resemblance was undeniable.
Daniel had Richard’s height.
Eleanor’s mouth.
Owen’s eyes.
“You sent the message?” Owen demanded.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Preston.”
“Where is he?”
Daniel looked toward the burning house.
“He went back for the files.”
A loud explosion shook the ground.
Flames burst from the upstairs windows.
Daniel tried to stand and collapsed.
Owen caught him.
“Why did Preston take the girls?”
“To force Lauren to stay quiet.”
“About what?”
“His part in Sarah’s death.”
Owen gripped Daniel’s coat.
“You were with Sarah that night.”
“Yes.”
“My father was there.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Daniel coughed.
“Not here.”
“Tell me!”
Daniel looked into Owen’s eyes.
“Sarah wasn’t running from Richard.”
“Then who?”
The roof of the house collapsed behind them.
May you like
Daniel whispered one name.
“Lauren.”
