The photograph stayed on my mind all night.
I couldn’t stop looking at Emily’s face.
Twenty years had passed, but somehow I recognized her instantly.
Not because of her eyes.
Not because of the shape of her mouth.
Because of the way she smiled.
It was the same crooked smile she had when she was nine years old and had stolen the frosting from my birthday cake.
I remembered everything now.
The red balloon.
The moon-shaped night-light.
The peas hidden beneath mashed potatoes.
The promise beneath the blankets.
Charlotte, promise you’ll never leave me.
And then I remembered the last time I saw her.
Rain.
A car.
My mother screaming.
My father holding someone’s arm.
And Emily crying.
I woke before dawn with tears on my face.
Evelyn was already sitting in the corner of my hospital room.
“You’re awake.”
“How long have you been here?”
“About twenty minutes.”
“You should sleep.”
“So should you.”
I looked at her.
“Did Daniel find her?”
Evelyn hesitated.
My heart sank.
“Not yet.”
“But?”
“We found the grocery store.”
I sat up carefully.
“And?”
“The photograph was taken three days ago.”
My breath caught.
“Three days?”
“Yes.”
“So she’s nearby.”
“Possibly.”
“What else?”
Evelyn placed a folder on my bed.
“We traced the number that sent the photograph.”
I stared at her.
“Garrett?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
She opened the folder.
“The number was routed through six different services. But the final device appears to have been located near an old apartment complex.”
“Where?”
She gave me the address.
I knew it.
I had driven past it dozens of times.
It was on the poorer side of the city, near an old railway line.
“Why would Emily live there?”
“We don’t know if she does.”
I looked at the photograph.
“She does.”
Evelyn studied me.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because whoever sent this wanted me to know she was alive.”
I touched the photograph.
“They’re watching her.”
Evelyn nodded.
“That’s what we think.”
I swallowed.
“Then we need to get there.”
“You’re still in intensive care.”
“I know.”
“You can barely walk.”
“I don’t care.”
“Charlotte—”
“If Emily is there, I’m going.”
Evelyn sighed.
“Then we’ll do it safely.”
Two days later, I was discharged under strict instructions.
No heavy movement.
No driving.
No being alone.
No contact with Garrett.
I agreed to all of it.
Then I went to the address.
Daniel and two investigators waited nearby.
Evelyn stayed with me.
We approached the apartment building slowly.
The hallway smelled like old paint and rain.
Apartment 3B.
I stood outside the door.
My hands were shaking.
I knocked.
Nothing.
I knocked again.
A woman’s voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
I couldn’t speak.
