Chapter 6 - THE CAR OUTSIDE THE HOUSE
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Daniel Reeves stood outside the house.
The black SUV remained parked beneath the streetlight.
Its engine was still running.
I could see the faint glow of the dashboard through the windshield.
Lily was pressed against my side.
"Grandpa," she whispered.
"I'm here."
"Is that the man from Mommy's pictures?"
I looked at her.
"Yes."
She squeezed my hand.
Mark was standing beside the window, staring down at the street.
Vanessa stood behind him.
"Close the blinds," she whispered.
Mark didn't move.
"Mark."
He finally reached for the curtains.
The moment the fabric closed, the sound of a car door echoed outside.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was walking toward the house.
I turned to Vanessa.
"Does he have a key?"
"No."
"Does he know the alarm code?"
"I don't know."
"Does he know where you live?"
She looked at me.
"Yes."
A knock came at the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Lily flinched.
Mark walked downstairs.
I followed him.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
"Don't open it."
Mark turned.
"Why?"
"Because if he's here, he wants something."
"Maybe he wants to talk."
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"He doesn't talk."
The knocking stopped.
We waited.
Nothing.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
I opened it.
My stomach dropped.
It was Lily.
Sleeping.
In her bedroom.
Taken from inside the house.
I looked at the ceiling.
"Everyone stay here."
Mark grabbed my wrist.
"What?"
I showed him the phone.
His face went white.
"That's impossible."
Vanessa whispered:
"No."
Mark ran upstairs.
We followed.
Lily's bedroom door was open.
The curtains were moving.
The window was unlocked.
Mark rushed to it.
"Nobody touches anything."
I pulled Lily behind me.
Then I noticed something on the windowsill.
A small black object.
A camera.
Not the birthday camera.
A miniature security camera.
I picked it up carefully.
Vanessa stared at it.
"That's not mine."
Mark looked at her.
"Then whose is it?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
I examined the device.
There was a tiny memory card inside.
I removed it.
Then the lights went out.
Lily screamed.
The entire house fell into darkness.
Someone downstairs slammed a door.
Mark whispered:
"Stay here."
"No," I said.
"Everyone stays upstairs."
I grabbed the flashlight from my phone.
Then we heard glass breaking.
The sound came from the living room.
Mark ran downstairs.
I followed.
Vanessa followed me.
The front window had been shattered.
But no one was inside.
On the floor was a small metal box.
Mark stared at it.
"What is that?"
I crouched beside it.
There was a note taped to the top.
Three words.
FOR SARAH'S FAMILY.
I opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
This time, the photograph showed Sarah's car.
The same car involved in the accident.
But there was something different.
The license plate was visible.
And written across the bottom was a date.
The date was two days before Sarah died.
Vanessa stared at it.
"I've seen that car."
"Where?"
"At the insurance office."
"When?"
"The day Sarah disappeared."
Mark looked at her.
"Why was Sarah's car there?"
Vanessa shook her head.
"It wasn't Sarah's car."
"What?"
She pointed at the photograph.
"That isn't the car Sarah drove."
I looked again.
Same model.
Same color.
Almost identical.
But Vanessa was right.
There was one difference.
The driver's side mirror.
Sarah's had been cracked.
This one wasn't.
Mark stepped backward.
"Then whose car was it?"
Nobody answered.
Then Lily spoke from behind me.
"Mommy's."
I turned.
"What?"
She pointed toward the photograph.
"That's the car from Mommy's last video."
My blood ran cold.
"What video?"
"The one Vanessa didn't want me to see."
Everyone turned toward Vanessa.
She closed her eyes.
"I knew this day would come."
Mark grabbed her shoulders.
"What video?"
May you like
Vanessa whispered:
"The last recording Sarah ever made."
