Chapter 3 - The Daughter’s Testimony
I walked over to Sophie. The child looked like a ghost, her eyes dark and hollow. She didn't look like a spoiled country club princess; she looked like a survivor.
"Auntie Rachel," she whispered, her voice devoid of the high-pitched giggle she usually affected. "Mommy has a safe in the wall behind the master bedroom painting. The code is my birthday. She says if anyone ever asks, I don't know anything. But she put Noah in the pool because she said he was 'the final piece of the puzzle.' I don't know what the puzzle is, but I heard her talking to a man named Silas about a 'transfer of assets.'"
I held her hand, my heart breaking for this child who had been raised in a house of secrets. "Sophie, you’re safe now. She can’t hurt you anymore."
"She’s not the one I’m afraid of," Sophie replied, pulling a small, encrypted USB drive from her pocket. "Silas is. He was the one who sent her the gummies. He told her if the boy didn't 'expire' by five o'clock, he’d come to the house and do it himself."
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 4:15 PM.
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I turned to Detective Miller, my hands shaking. "The man is coming to the house. If Lauren is in custody, he’s going to think the job isn't finished. And he’s going to realize Sophie is the only one who knows the code to that safe."
The realization hit me: the trap wasn't just for Noah. It was for anyone who could expose the network. Lauren was the puppet, but Silas was the puppeteer, and he was currently on his way to a house where my son’s life was still hanging in the balance.
