Chapter 14 - The Pickup Code
Daniel called the preschool before the notification finished loading.
“This is Daniel Reed. Do not release Lily to anyone.”
The director sounded confused.
“Mr. Reed, Lily isn’t here today.”
He froze.
Of course she wasn’t. She was with Margaret.
“Who tried to sign her out?”
“A woman in a baseball cap. She gave your pickup code.”
“Did she leave?”
“Yes. When we said Lily was absent, she walked out.”
“Call police.”
Detective Vega was already moving.
Security video showed the woman clearly enough.
Vanessa.
She wore sunglasses and a cap, but there was no question.
The protective order prohibited her from coming within five hundred feet of the school.
Now police had direct evidence she violated it.
Vega issued an alert for Vanessa’s car.
Daniel called Margaret.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
His heart began pounding.
Rachel dialed too.
Still nothing.
Daniel drove toward Margaret’s house with Vega behind him.
He called a third time.
Margaret finally answered.
“Daniel?”
He almost shouted from relief.
“Where are you?”
“At the grocery store.”
“Where is Lily?”
“With Rachel—”
Daniel looked at the empty passenger seat.
Rachel’s face drained.
“Mom, I’m with Daniel.”
Silence.
Margaret’s voice changed.
“I left her with Susan next door. I was gone ten minutes.”
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
They reached Margaret’s street in three minutes.
Susan stood in her driveway, crying.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “A woman came to the door. She said Daniel sent her.”
“Vanessa?”
“No. Younger. Dark hair.”
Daniel’s knees weakened.
“Where is Lily?”
“She took her.”
Vega immediately called in an abduction alert.
Daniel could barely hear.
“What kind of car?”
“Blue sedan.”
“License plate?”
Susan shook her head.
Then Rachel ran inside Margaret’s house.
Thirty seconds later she shouted.
“Daniel!”
He followed.
Lily’s stuffed rabbit was lying on the kitchen floor.
The seam under its arm had been ripped open.
The brass key was gone.
Daniel stared at it.
“This is about unit 214.”
Vega’s phone rang.
She listened, then turned to him.
“Police found Vanessa’s SUV abandoned near the storage facility.”
Daniel’s face went white.
They raced there.
Unit 214 was open.
The letters were scattered across the floor.
The evidence box was gone.
No Lily.
No Vanessa.
No dark-haired woman.
But one security camera had captured a blue sedan leaving the rear gate.
Vega froze the frame.
The driver was Vanessa.
In the passenger seat sat the dark-haired woman from Susan’s description.
And in the back seat was Lily.
Daniel gripped the desk.
“Who is the other woman?”
Vega enhanced the image.
Rachel stared at the screen.
Then she whispered, “I know her.”
Daniel turned.
“Who?”
Rachel’s voice shook.
May you like
“Claire’s hospice nurse.”
