Chapter 4 - THE GIRL ON CAMERA
The fire was small.
The message was not.
Backyard footage showed a hooded person climbing the wall and unlocking the kitchen door with a physical key.
One frame caught her face.
Natalie stepped backward.
“Oh my God.”
“Who is she?”
“My daughter.”
Brooke was twenty-two.
Natalie had not seen her in four years.
Ryan arrived and recognized her immediately.
“Brooke is back?”
Natalie turned on him.
“You knew where she was?”
Ryan hesitated.
That was enough.
He admitted Brooke had lived secretly with Vivian for nearly two years after Natalie thought she had moved away.
Natalie slapped him.
“You knew where my daughter was for two years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Brooke begged me not to tell you.”
Ryan looked toward the burned window.
“If she came back, she didn’t come for Claire.”
He looked across the street.
“She came for Mom.”
---
(To be continued)
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