Chapter 5 - The Threat Emerges
Forty-eight hours later, Evelyn Ross was stabilized in the intensive care unit at St. Jude’s Memorial Hospital. Two armed police officers stood guard outside her door round the clock.
In her hospital room, Miller sat in a vinyl armchair beside her bed, taking notes as Evelyn spoke in a raspy, quiet voice.
"I have the flash drive, Sergeant," Evelyn whispered, resting her thin hands on the hospital blanket. "It contains full financial records, audio recordings, and wire transfers proving that Arthur Vance bribed city officials, ordered the arson of three family-owned businesses, and paid off local law enforcement to turn a blind eye."
"Where is the drive, Evelyn?" Miller asked, leaning in close.
Evelyn closed her eyes, trying to remember the chaotic terror of that afternoon in the woods.
"When I heard Marcus Kane's footsteps outside the lodge," Evelyn said, her voice shaking, "I panicked. I knew if he caught me with the drive, he'd destroy it. Through the gap in the wooden cellar hatch, I saw a little girl playing in the dirt. I slipped the flash drive through the small ventilation grate near the ground... right into the pocket of her little pink cardigan."
Miller froze. His pencil hovered over his notebook.
"You put the evidence... in Lily’s pocket?" Miller asked, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck.
"It was the only way to hide it," Evelyn wept softly. "I told her to run. I didn't mean to drag a child into this, Sergeant... I was terrified."
Miller didn't wait to hear another word. He bolted out of the hospital room, pulling out his phone as he sprinted down the corridor.
"David! Pick up!" Miller barked into his phone as he reached his car.
"Sergeant?" David’s voice answered over the line. He sounded relaxed, the sound of a cartoon playing in the background. "Is everything okay?"
"David, I need you to listen to me very carefully," Miller commanded, throwing his car into drive and roaring out of the hospital parking lot. "Go to Lily's room right now. Find the pink cardigan she was wearing on Saturday in Oakhaven. Do not touch anything inside the pockets. Just check if there's a thumb drive inside!"
Over the phone, Miller heard David’s footsteps echoing down the hallway of his home, followed by the rustle of clothes in a closet.
"Hold on, Sergeant... let me check her laundry basket... okay, here's the cardigan. Let me feel the pockets..."
David’s voice suddenly went dead silent.
"David?" Miller shouted into the phone, weaving violently through traffic. "David, are you there?!"
"It's... it's a small black metal flash drive," David whispered, his voice trembling with sudden, overwhelming dread. "Sergeant... what is this?"
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"Lock your front door!" Miller yelled over the blaring siren. "Do not open the door for anyone! I am five minutes away!"
Before Miller could finish his sentence, the sharp sound of shattering glass exploded through the phone speaker, followed by Sarah’s blood-curdling scream from the living room.
