Chapter 10 - The Woman Everyone Believed Was Dead or MissingThe first thing I learned that morning was that Lily Parker might still be alive.
The second thing was that nobody knew who had her.
And the third thing changed everything.
Emily Parker had been seen on a security camera three days earlier.
Alive.
Walking.
And apparently unharmed.
I stared at Dad's face on my computer screen.
“What?”
He nodded.
“Investigators located footage from a pharmacy outside Savannah, Georgia.”
“Was it definitely Emily?”
“They're working to verify the identification. The woman strongly resembles her.”
“Was Lily with her?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“Then where is she?”
“We don't know.”
I felt a wave of frustration.
Everything seemed to lead to another question.
“Dad, if Emily's alive, why hasn't she contacted her family?”
“There could be several explanations.”
“Like what?”
“She may be frightened. She may be trying to protect someone. Or the woman in the footage might not be Emily.”
I looked down.
For a moment, I wished I could go home.
Not because I wanted to abandon the engineering program.
Because being thousands of miles away made me feel helpless.
Dad seemed to understand.
“Kendall, your job isn't to solve this.”
“I know.”
“Your job is to be safe, keep learning, and tell us when you receive information.”
I nodded.
Then he added, “You've already helped by sharing the messages and remembering Grandpa's notebook.”
I looked toward my desk.
The miniature bridge I'd built with Emma sat beside my computer.
Its tiny supports looked fragile.
But together, they held the weight of the structure.
I wondered whether that was what Dad was trying to tell me.
Nobody could carry this alone.
Back in Georgia, Detective Alvarez was interviewing Margaret Ellison again.
This time, the conversation took place in a formal interview room.
Margaret had arrived with an attorney.
Her silver butterfly brooch was missing.
Maria noticed immediately.
“Mrs. Ellison, do you know why we're speaking with you again?”
Margaret folded her hands.
“I assume this concerns the absurd suggestion that I kidnapped a child.”
“We're investigating Lily Parker's disappearance.”
“I've told you everything I know.”
Maria placed a photograph on the table.
It showed the dark blue sedan outside the North Annex.
“Your foundation owns this vehicle.”
“Yes.”
“It was used to place Lily's backpack near the building.”
Margaret glanced at her attorney.
“I don't know anything about that.”
“Your assistant signed out the vehicle.”
“Then speak with her.”
“We'd like to.”
Maria paused.
“But Elaine Brooks hasn't returned home since yesterday.”
For the first time, Margaret's expression changed.
“That's not my responsibility.”
Maria placed another photograph on the table.
It showed a silver butterfly charm recovered from Locker 417.
Margaret stared at it.
“Do you recognize this?”
“No.”
“Your jewelry has a similar design.”
“Thousands of people wear butterfly jewelry.”
“That's true.”
Maria leaned forward.
“Mrs. Ellison, where were you on April 12, 2019?”
Margaret blinked.
“Seven years ago? I have no idea.”
“You attended a meeting concerning the Harborview Employee Retirement Protection Fund.”
“I attended hundreds of meetings.”
“Robert Ramsey refused to approve a proposed investment restructuring that day.”
Margaret's lips tightened.
“Robert was becoming increasingly ill.”
“Did you disagree with him?”
“On business matters, occasionally.”
Maria watched her.
“Did you ask him for the original trust documents?”
Margaret's attorney shifted.
“My client doesn't need to answer speculative questions about a deceased colleague.”
Maria nodded.
“Understood.”
Then she placed a final document on the table.
It was a copy of the original trust agreement.
Margaret stared at it.
Her face lost color.
Maria spoke quietly.
“We found this in a secure archival locker.”
Margaret said nothing.
“Emily Parker was named as an employee trustee.”
Still nothing.
“Someone later removed her from that role using an amendment bearing what investigators suspect may be a forged signature.”
Margaret's hands tightened.
Maria leaned closer.
“Mrs. Ellison, who authorized that amendment?”
Margaret looked toward her attorney.
“I want to leave.”
Her attorney nodded.
Unless investigators had grounds to detain her, she was free to go.
Maria understood that.
She also understood something else.
Margaret had recognized the original document immediately.
And she'd been frightened by it.
That evening, investigators traced the blue sedan to a rural property outside Macon.
The property belonged to a small charitable organization that had received substantial funding from Harborview's foundation.
Its director was a woman named Elaine Brooks.
Margaret's missing assistant.
Officers arrived shortly after sunset.
The house stood at the end of a narrow gravel driveway.
Its windows were dark.
No vehicles were parked outside.
The front door was locked.
A search warrant authorized entry.
Inside, the house was strangely clean.
The kitchen counters were empty.
There were no photographs.
No personal belongings.
No obvious signs anyone had recently lived there.
But in a small upstairs bedroom, investigators found something heartbreaking.
A child's red sweater.
A box of crayons.
A half-finished drawing of a woman standing beside a hospital bed.
On the wall, written in blue crayon, were four words.
MOMMY WILL FIND ME.
Maria stared at the message.
She imagined Lily standing there, trying to be brave.
Then Walker called from downstairs.
“Detective! You need to see this.”
Maria hurried toward the kitchen.
Walker was standing beside a concealed door behind a shelving unit.
Beyond it was a narrow staircase leading into a basement.
The basement contained several folding chairs, a table, and an old laptop.
On the table was a photograph.
Maria picked it up.
It showed Lily sitting beside a woman with shoulder-length brown hair.
The woman was smiling.
But something about her expression was wrong.
Maria studied the photograph.
Then she understood.
The woman wasn't Emily Parker.
She was someone who had been made to resemble her.
Walker leaned closer.
“Who is that?”
Maria's eyes narrowed.
May you like
She recognized the face from an earlier interview.
“THAT'S ELAINE BROOKS,” SHE WHISPERED. “AND SOMEONE HAS BEEN USING HER TO CONVINCE LILY THAT HER MOTHER IS ALIVE.”
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