CHAPTER 4 — The Girl in the Red Coat
Daniel grabbed Emily’s hand.
“Run.”
They raced through Union Station as footsteps echoed behind them.
Not one person.
Several.
Emily clutched the notebook against her chest while Daniel pushed through the crowd, leading her toward the parking garage.
But before they reached the exit, a teenage girl in a red coat stepped into their path.
She couldn’t have been older than sixteen.
Her eyes locked on Daniel.
Then she said the words that destroyed him.
“Dad?”
Daniel froze.
Emily turned to him, horrified.
The girl lifted her sleeve and revealed the same bracelet mark on her wrist.
“My name is Lily,” she said. “Sophia was my mother.”
Daniel couldn’t breathe.
Emily couldn’t move.
For years, Daniel had mourned a woman he thought abandoned him.
Now her daughter was standing in front of him.
His daughter.
But Lily wasn’t crying.
She looked terrified.
“They killed my mother because of what she knew,” Lily whispered. “And now they’re coming for you too.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who?”
Lily looked past his shoulder.
Emily followed her gaze.
Across the station, Daniel’s own mother stood beside two men in black suits.
Smiling.
May you like
Then Daniel’s mother raised her phone and said one sentence:
“Bring me the girl.”
