Chapter 10 - Dawn Over the EstateThe sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, painting the coastline in brilliant shades of gold and amber.
The police sirens wailed softly in the distance as federal agents swarmed the property, hauling away Vanguard operatives and securing the subterranean cistern once and for all.
Inside the nursery, the air was clean and warm.
Theo, Miles, and Nora were finally fast asleep in their cribs, their tiny chests rising and falling in peaceful, undisturbed rhythm. The terrifying screams of the night before felt like a distant, vanishing nightmare.
I stood by the window, holding a warm bottle, watching the sunrise.
Footsteps approached softly behind me. I turned to see Elena being led away toward the courtyard transport by federal agents, her head bowed in defeat. But walking right beside her, clutching her ugly button-eyed doll, was Sophie.
As the agents paused near the doorway, little Sophie broke away for a second. She trotted across the nursery floor, stopped right in front of me, and looked up with her big, solemn eyes.
“Mr. Moretti?” she whispered.
I knelt down to her eye level, offering a soft, tired smile. “Yes, Sophie?”
She reached out and patted my hand reassuringly.
“The bad men are gone now,” she said simply. “Your babies aren't scared anymore.”
I looked back down at the sleeping triplets, then back at the little girl who had saved us all.
“No, Sophie,” I said softly, resting a hand on her small shoulder. “They aren't scared at all.”
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And for the first time in thirty-four years, neither was I.
What secret is Sophie hiding about the doll, and why did she know about the cistern before anyone else?
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