Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Woods
The gray-haired clerk dropped a tray of mugs behind the counter, staring at the sudden commotion, but neither Elena nor I paid her any mind.
"Where is Callie?" I demanded, taking a harsh step forward, the three years of bottled rage, grief, and unanswered questions boiling over into the open air. "Where is my daughter? What did you do to my little girl?"
"I didn't hurt her!" Elena cried out, tears instantly spilling over her lower eyelids, cutting tracks through the grime on her cheeks. "I saved her, Jack! If I hadn't taken her that morning, she wouldn't have survived what was coming for your family!"
The words struck me like a physical blow. Saved her.
"She was three years old!" I shouted, ignoring the other patrons who had begun to turn and stare. "You stole my child! You left me in a living hell for three years while you dragged her through the mud, hiding in bakeries and alleys! Explain yourself right now, or I swear to God I'll call the police before you can draw another breath."
Elena looked down at Lena, who was burying her face in her aunt's oversized hoodie, crying softly. Then, Elena looked back up at me, her expression shifting from terror to a grim, desperate resolve.
"The men who killed my father didn't stop with the inheritance, Jack," Elena hissed, keeping her voice low and frantic. "They came for Callie's trust fund next. They were watching your house. They watched your every move. If I hadn't faked Callie's disappearance and taken her underground under a new name, she would have ended up like my mother—silenced and buried in an unmarked grave."
My mind spun. The syndicate. The old family wealth that Callie’s grandfather had left behind—wealth I had never cared about, but wealth that others were willing to kill to control.
"That's a lie," I breathed, though my voice lacked conviction. The pieces were starting to connect in a terrifying, jagged puzzle. "The police searched everywhere. They found nothing."
May you like
"Because the police were on their payroll," Elena said bitterly, standing up and pulling Lena up with her. "You want your daughter back? You want the truth about what happened three years ago? Then stop screaming at me in a public bakery, get in your car, and follow us to the old cabin by the lake before they realize we've surfaced."
Before I could answer, Elena grabbed Lena’s hand and bolted out the back exit of the bakery into the freezing morning mist.
