Chapter 6
The lake house looked peaceful.
That made me hate it.
White siding.
Blue shutters.
A porch swing moving in the wind.
Places that hide stolen children should look ugly.
They should warn you from the road.
But evil loves clean curtains.
Rachel kept me behind the second line of agents.
My hands shook around Sofia’s key.
I could hear Leo’s voice in my head.
Take her with you.
At 3:40 p.m., agents breached the front door.
“Federal agents!”
A shout.
A crash.
Then a child screamed.
I moved before Rachel could stop me.
Two agents grabbed me.
“Dante, no!”
“That is my daughter!”
The scream came again.
Small.
Terrified.
Alive.
I fought them like a madman until Rachel stepped in front of me.
“If you rush in, you risk her. Let them clear it.”
I hated her.
For ten seconds, I hated her more than anyone.
Then an agent shouted from inside.
“Child located!”
My knees nearly gave out.
A man was dragged onto the porch in cuffs.
Dr. Marchetti.
Older.
Thinner.
Still wearing the same gold watch he had worn when he told me Sofia was gone.
I lunged at him.
Rachel blocked me again.
“Don’t give him that.”
Marchetti saw me and smiled weakly.
“She was never yours in the records.”
I stopped.
Rachel turned.
“What did you say?”
He laughed once.
“The records are all that matter.”
A sound came from the doorway.
A little girl stood there wrapped in an agent’s jacket.
Dark curls.
Bare feet.
Huge eyes.
Mila.
Amelia.
My daughter.
The world narrowed to her face.
She clutched a yellow toy boat in both hands.
An agent knelt beside her.
“This is Dante,” the agent said gently. “He is here to help.”
Mila stared at me.
Not running.
Not smiling.
Not knowing me.
That was the cruelest part.
I had dreamed of her rushing into my arms in the space of one heartbeat.
Reality was quieter.
More painful.
She hid behind the agent’s leg.
“Where is Mrs. Grant?” she whispered.
Rachel looked at me.
The Grants had vanished.
Maybe they were afraid.
Maybe they were part of it.
Either way, they were the only parents Mila remembered.
I forced myself down to one knee.
I raised both hands.
Empty.
Just like I should have done with Leo more often when my anger filled rooms.
“Hi, Mila,” I said.
She flinched at the name.
“My name is Amelia.”
My throat closed.
“Okay. Amelia.”
Her grip tightened on the boat.
“Are you the bad man?”
“No.”
“Father Bellini said a bad man would come.”
I breathed through the pain.
“Father Bellini lied.”
Her eyes searched mine.
“Everyone says that when they want you to go with them.”
I almost broke.
Rachel crouched beside me.
“Amelia, you do not have to go anywhere with him right now. You are safe. We will explain slowly.”
Mila looked at Rachel.
Then at me.
“Why are you crying?”
I touched my face.
I had not known I was.
“Because I knew your mother.”
Her expression changed.
“My real mother?”
“Yes.”
“Is she coming?”
The question opened me from throat to stomach.
I shook my head.
“No, sweetheart.”
Mila looked down at the boat.
“Did she leave me?”
“No.”
The word came out hard.
I softened it.
“No. She loved you. She tried to keep you safe.”
Mila whispered, “Then where is she?”
I held up the silver key.
“She left us a way to find you.”
Mila stared at it.
Then she lifted the boat.
“There’s a key hole.”
Rachel leaned in.
“What?”
Mila turned the toy boat over.
A tiny metal slot was hidden underneath.
My hands trembled as I slid Sofia’s key inside.
The bottom opened.
Inside was a folded strip of fabric.
Sofia’s scarf.
And a memory card.
Mila touched the scarf.
“I sleep with that.”
I could not speak.
My wife had hidden proof with our daughter too.
Even when they took her baby, Sofia had found a way to leave a trail.
Mila looked at me again.
“Did my brother come?”
I froze.
“You know Leo?”
May you like
She nodded.
“The lady in my dreams said he would.”
