Chapter 8 - MARGARET'S LETTER

Grant refused the demand.

"I will not trade my daughter for a letter," he said.

Lily walked toward him and placed her rabbit on the desk. She pointed to the hidden recorder, then to herself.

"No," Grant said gently. "You are not bait."

She took a pencil and wrote on a notepad: MOM WANTED ME TO BE BRAVE.

Grant read it twice. Then he crouched in front of her.

"Being brave does not mean walking into danger," he said. "It means trusting the people protecting you."

Detective Hayes built a controlled operation around the shipyard. The police would use a copy of the recorder. Lily would remain at the estate with Dr. Morris and me.

At four in the morning, Grant and Caleb drove toward the river with the decoy.

Ten minutes later, the estate lost power.

Emergency lights failed on the second floor. Someone had disabled the backup generator from inside the property.

Caleb's deputy, a quiet man named Pierce, ordered everyone into the safe room. As we crossed the service hall, Lily stopped.

She pointed at Pierce's hand.

A gold serpent ring circled his finger.

It matched the bracelet in her drawing.

Pierce saw her looking.

His face changed.

He reached for his weapon.

I pulled Lily behind a stone column as Dr. Morris screamed. Pierce fired once into the ceiling, then grabbed the therapist and dragged her toward the back staircase.

"Bring me the recorder," he said. "Or the doctor goes over the railing."

I held up the stuffed rabbit.

"Let her go first."

Pierce smiled. "You are a housekeeper. Stop pretending you are in control."

He did not know I had switched the real recorder into my apron pocket before Grant left.

I tossed him the rabbit.

The moment he caught it, Lily pressed the red fire alarm beside the column.

Steel doors dropped across the hallway, separating Pierce from the stairs. Dr. Morris broke free. Guards rushed in from the lower corridor.

Pierce was arrested before he reached the service exit.

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