Chapter 8: The Call Grace Scheduled Before She Died
Richard grabbed the house phone. “Grace?”
A recorded voice answered.
“Richard, if this message is playing, someone opened the blue box without entering my safety code.”
Richard closed his eyes. “Grace…”
The recording continued.
“Do not trust Monica. Do not trust Carter. And if Andrew is alive, do not meet him alone.”
Richard shouted, “He has Lily!”
Grace’s recording kept going.
“If Lily is taken, check the lining of her burgundy dress. I sewed a tracker there after she told me about the man in the garage.”
Richard turned to Rosa. “The dress she’s wearing today…”
Rosa nodded weakly. “Burgundy.”
An officer stepped forward. “We can trace the tracker if we know the frequency.”
Grace’s voice said, “The tracker connects to the old tablet in Lily’s room. Password: sunflower.”
Richard ran upstairs.
Monica tried to follow.
An officer blocked her. “Stay here.”
Richard found the tablet under Lily’s pillow. His hands trembled as he typed SUNFLOWER.
A map appeared.
A red dot moved toward the industrial district.
Richard shouted, “She’s not at the glass factory yet. He’s taking the river road.”
Detective Mason, the lead officer, said, “We can intercept.”
Richard shook his head. “Andrew will see police.”
“We’ll stay back.”
Monica called from downstairs, “Richard! There’s something else!”
He stormed down. “What?”
She looked broken. “Andrew doesn’t want only the evidence.”
“What else?”
“He wants control of Hale Industries. Grace’s files prove he stole from the company. If he gets Lily to unlock the account, he’ll delete everything.”
Rosa whispered, “Then why take Lily alive?”
Monica answered, “Because Grace made the system require Lily to say one sentence.”
Richard held the blue box. “Then we give him a fake.”
Detective Mason frowned. “Can you fake the box?”
Richard opened it. “No. But Grace left copies.”
At the bottom of the box was a small drive marked: FOR LILY WHEN SHE IS BRAVE.
Richard plugged it into the tablet.
A new video opened.
Grace appeared on screen, holding baby Lily.
“If you are watching this, Richard, our daughter is in danger. The phrase is not a sentence.”
Richard leaned closer.
Grace said, “It is a question only Lily knows.”
The screen froze.
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Then a message appeared.
ERROR: FILE CORRUPTED.
