Chapter 2: What Was Hidden in the Roof
My fingers found the edge of the panel and pulled.
Inside the roof cavity, wrapped in a plastic bag, was a phone.
Not Ethan's.
Not mine.
A phone I had never seen before.
It was still on.
The screen showed a message thread — dozens of them — between Melissa and a contact saved only as "R."
I scrolled up with shaking hands.
The last message from "R" read:
*"Is the boy still cooperating?
We can't wait much longer."*
Melissa had replied four hours ago.
*"He's fine.
She doesn't suspect anything.
Thursday is still on."*
Thursday.
Today was Thursday.
I heard the back gate slam open behind me.
"Put it down."
I spun around.
Melissa was standing at the edge of the yard, breathing hard.
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"That's not what you think it is," she said.
"Then tell me what it is," I said.
My voice didn't shake.
I don't know how.
She took one slow step toward me.
"You should have stayed inside, Sarah."
She knew my name.
Of course she knew my name.
But the way she said it right then made every part of me go cold.
Behind her, I could hear Ethan calling from the back door.
"Mom?"
I didn't answer him.
I couldn't take my eyes off Melissa.
Because her hand had just moved toward her jacket pocket.
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What Sarah found on that phone — and who "R" really is — will leave you speechless.
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