Chapter 51 - THE GIRL AT THE GATE
The first sign that something had changed came on a rainy Monday morning.
Emma was walking toward the foundation when she noticed a teenage girl standing outside the gate.
She couldn't have been older than sixteen.
Her clothes were soaked.
Her shoes were torn.
And she was clutching a plastic grocery bag against her chest.
Emma stopped.
“You're going to catch a cold.”
The girl looked up cautiously.
“I was told this place helps people.”
“It does.”
“My name is Ava.”
Emma opened the gate.
“Come inside.”
Ava didn't move.
“Are you going to ask questions?”
“Only the ones you want to answer.”
The girl stared at her.
Then she stepped inside.
Twenty minutes later, Emma learned that Ava had been living with an abusive relative and had run away after protecting her younger brother.
Her brother was missing.
Emma's expression changed.
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“Where was he last seen?”
Ava pulled a photograph from the grocery bag.
A little boy.
Eight years old.
Emma looked at the image.
Something inside her immediately tightened.
“What is his name?”
“Ethan.”
Emma sat down.
“Then we're going to find Ethan.”
Lorenzo, standing nearby, heard every word.
He already knew what Emma was going to do.
She wasn't going to ask whether helping was convenient.
May you like
She was simply going to begin.
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