Chapter 1
“Show me where my daughter begged. Now.”
Celia stepped in front of the closed door.
That was her answer.
Behind me, two guards held Brent upright between them. Frosting covered his face and waistcoat, but he was no longer angry.
He was frightened.
Audrey stood near the counter with Nora pressed against her chest. My granddaughter’s mouth had been cleaned, but she still watched Brent as if she expected him to reach for her again.
I looked at Celia.
“Move.”
“There’s nothing in there.”
I almost smiled.
“You looked at the door before I asked about it.”
Her face changed.
Small mistake.
Enough.
I stepped closer.
“My daughter has been missing for four months.”
Silence.
“Your son just told her that her mother begged here.”
More silence.
“And now you’re standing between me and a room you claim means nothing.”
Celia slowly moved aside.
I opened the door.
Not a storage room.
A narrow office.
One chair.
One table.
A small sink.
No windows.
The bakery noise disappeared the moment the door shut behind me.
On the wall were scratches where something had repeatedly struck the paint.
On the floor beneath the table lay a broken earring.
Silver.
Tiny blue stone.
I knew it.
I bought the pair for my daughter Elise when Nora was born.
Audrey made a sound behind me.
“Dad…”
I picked it up.
Brent said immediately:
“She left it.”
I turned.
“You told me she never came here.”
His mouth closed.
Good.
Nora whispered from Audrey’s arms:
“Mommy earring?”
I hid it in my palm.
Not from her forever.
For now.
Then I noticed something beneath the table.
Three dried frosting marks across the wooden leg.
Not important by themselves.
Except Elise hated frosting.
Always scraped it off cake.
Childhood habit.
I looked at Brent.
“What did she beg for?”
He said nothing.
Celia started crying.
Then whispered:
“Her daughter.”
The room went cold.
May you like
Elise had not begged to be released.
She had begged them not to take Nora.
