Chapter 9
The clinic outside Asheville had been closed for three years.
At least, officially.
Reed raided it at dawn.
I watched updates from my hospital bed while Grace slept in Claire’s arms.
Every minute felt like broken glass under my skin.
They found locked medical rooms.
Old restraints.
Files hidden in ceiling panels.
Women’s names.
Children’s names.
Property deeds.
Trust documents.
But no Mara.
No Sophie.
Then Claire’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered on speaker.
A little girl whispered, “Is this Olivia?”
My heart stopped.
“Yes,” I said quickly. “Who is this?”
“My name is Sophie.”
Claire covered her mouth.
The girl’s voice trembled.
“My mommy said if I ever got out, call the lady in the basement.”
I started crying.
“Sophie, where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you with your mommy?”
A pause.
“She told me to run.”
Reed grabbed the phone trace.
I kept my voice soft.
“How old are you, sweetheart?”
“Seven.”
“Are you safe?”
“No.”
A door slammed in the background.
Sophie gasped.
A woman shouted, “Hide!”
Mara.
Alive.
I knew it in my bones.
Then a man’s voice snarled, “Where is the phone?”
The line went dead.
Reed shouted orders.
The trace came back.
A private estate in the mountains.
Owned by the Vale Foundation.
I looked at Sarah.
May you like
She already knew.
I was going.
