Chapter 7 - The Lake House My father's lake house sat beneath a gray winter sky.
The water looked almost black.
The place had been empty since his funeral.
Or so I thought.
Ruiz found the hidden room behind the boiler.
There was a mattress.
Medical tubing.
Empty saline bags.
An oxygen tank.
And dark stains on the floorboards.
I stood in the doorway, unable to breathe.
Claire had been here.
Alive.
Maybe frightened.
Maybe calling my name.
On the wall, someone had scratched four words.
NOAH. DANIEL. TRUST THE BOY.
Below them were thirteen vertical marks.
Noah.
Thirteen.
The message was for him.
Ruiz examined the room.
“She knew she might not survive.”
My phone rang.
Lily.
I answered.
“Daddy?”
She was whispering.
“Where's Noah?”
“Right here.”
“The police lady went outside.”
My blood turned cold.
“What happened?”
Glass shattered through the phone.
Lily screamed.
“There is a man in Aunt Rachel's house!”
Ruiz was already moving.
We raced back.
The house had been attacked.
The officer guarding it had been lured outside by a fake emergency call.
But Noah had protected Lily.
He shoved her into a closet and locked the door.
The intruder had asked one question.
“Where is the card?”
Noah told us he never saw his face.
He remembered the gray jacket.
The same description he had given before.
Then he noticed something missing.
Claire's compass.
And something left behind.
A business card.
Elliot Price.
On the back:
STOP BEFORE YOUR KIDS PAY FOR IT.
Ruiz stared at the message.
“This isn't a threat.”
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“What is it?”
“It's panic.”
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