Chapter 6 - The Shadow of a Stranger
I stared down at the small silver drive resting in Lily’s palm. It felt heavier than it looked, cold against the warmth of her hand.
"Good girl," I said softly, kissing her forehead. "You did so well, Lily. But from now on, Daddy will handle everything."
I slipped the thumb drive into my interior jacket pocket, next to Claire's burner phone.
Just as I tucked Lily back under the blankets, the door clicked open. Detective Miller stepped inside, his brow furrowed with concern.
"Mr. Carter, can we step outside for a moment? CPS needs your signature on a temporary emergency protective custody order against Claire Carter."
I nodded, gently patting Lily’s hand. "I'll be right outside the glass, sweetheart. Try to sleep."
Out in the hallway, the fluorescent lights buzzed with an irritating hum. I signed the paperwork, granting me sole temporary custody and legally barring Claire from coming within five hundred feet of Lily or the hospital.
"Detective," I said, keeping my voice low. "This isn't just a domestic assault case."
Miller looked at me skeptically. "Mr. Carter, in ninety percent of these cases, emotional distress and marital breakdown cause explosive violence. We see it every day."
"She has an alias. Eleanor Vance. She has a forged Canadian passport and a one-way ticket to Switzerland scheduled for next week," I countered, pulling out my phone to show him the photos I had taken of the drawer’s contents before escaping the house.
Miller’s casual posture instantly vanished. He took my phone, zooming in on the Canadian passport and the Swiss relocation agreement.
"Where did you get these?" he muttered.
"Her locked vanity drawer. And there’s more." I showed him the text on the burner phone. *Did the girl give you the thumb drive before her father took her?*
Miller swore under his breath. "Stay right here. I’m calling the precinct. We need a squad car dispatched to your residence immediately to execute an emergency search warrant."
He stepped away to make the call.
I stood by the window, watching Lily breathe slowly under the white hospital sheets. A wave of exhaustion threatened to pull me down, but the adrenaline kept my veins burning.
Suddenly, the burner phone in my pocket vibrated once again.
I pulled it out with trembling fingers.
*New message:*
*“Eleanor. The tracker on your husband's sedan says he is at Saint Jude’s. The extraction team is already in the parking garage. Get the girl and the drive, or we leave you both behind.”*
My heart plummeted.
They weren't waiting for Thursday. They were here right now.
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I looked out the third-floor window down toward the hospital parking lot. At the entrance of the garage, a dark black van with tinted windows was idling quietly, its headlights turned off.
***
