The sunlight on the floor looked bad. The clean dishes looked bad. Even the peaches Rayan had brought were still in their paper bag on my countertop like some cruel little joke.
He had walked into my house smiling, knowing my daughter was alive. He had been right where I was now. He had looked at my face and lied to me. Suddenly, my sadness turned into something more burning.
Rage. No, it wasn’t rage. It was bigger than rage. It was the kind of fury that awakens when someone hurts your daughter and smiles while doing it.
I sat up straight and dried my face. Think. I whispered to myself. Think. If I called the police right away and they moved too slowly, Rayan Onda could hide somewhere else.
If I did nothing, Janet would remain trapped. Sian would go back for her phone and see that I had read the messages. Everything could explode before she got any help. She needed someone she could trust, someone firm, someone who would believe her.
I grabbed my own phone and called my younger brother, Sam. Sam Parker had been the stubborn one in the family since he was 10. He fixed cars, chopped wood, and never let anyone put nonsense in his head.
When Janet died, San was the only one who kept saying something didn’t add up. He said the story kept changing. He said Rayan answered questions too easily. He said Linda cried without shedding real tears.
At that time I told him that the pain was making him distrustful. Now he knew that the pain had blinded me, he answered on the second ring. Evie. My voice came out weak.
Sam, that’s all I said. Her tone changed instantly. “What happened? I need you to come right now,” I whispered. “Please,” she didn’t ask why. She didn’t waste any time.
I’m on my way. After hanging up, I locked the front door. Then I unlocked it again because a locked door might look strange if Rayan came back. And then I hated myself for worrying about what looked strange when my daughter could be trapped underground somewhere.
I kept checking my phone while I waited. There were bank transfers to a man named Curtis Hal. There were reminders to pick up medication. There was a note saved in Rayan’s calendar for every Tuesday and Friday at 8:30 p.m.
She only said one word. My skin went cold below. Then I found a voicemail. I hesitated before pressing play. My thumb hovered over the screen.
Part of me already knew that once I heard what was there, I’d never be able to unhear it. Even so, I played it. Linda’s voice filled the kitchen. She’s asked for her mother again.
I told him Evely moved out and never came back. He cried for an hour. Ryan, you have to make sure she takes her pills tonight. I’m sick of these scenes. I turned it off so fast I almost dropped my phone.
Now my whole body was trembling. She had asked about me. My daughter had asked about me, and that woman, that cold, evil woman, had told her that I had moved away and never returned.
I stood up so abruptly that the chair fell backward. The impact made me jump, and for a wild second I thought Rayan was back, but it was just me, just my own fear.
I lifted my chair and leaned on the table, breathing heavily. There was another thread of messages. I opened it. This one was between Rayan and someone named Curtis. The basement door is stuck.
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