Chapter 8 - Evan's SecretRyan questioned Evan gently the next morning.
“When did you first hear Lily?”
Evan twisted his fingers.
“Last week.”
“What happened?”
“I heard crying.”
“Did you tell Caroline?”
Evan nodded.
“She said it was mice.”
“Then?”
“I looked.”
Evan explained that he had removed the vent one afternoon.
He saw Lily.
Caroline caught him.
She threatened to send Evan away if he told Ryan.
So Evan stayed silent.
But every night, he brought Lily food.
Ryan pulled his son into his arms.
“You saved her.”
Evan began crying.
“I couldn't get her out.”
“You kept her alive.”
Then Evan said something Ryan hadn't expected.
“She gave me something.”
From beneath his bed, Evan retrieved a folded piece of paper.
Lily had pushed it through the vent.
It was a map.
Drawn in crayon.
A house.
Trees.
A lake.
And underneath, three letters:
MOM
Ryan recognized the location immediately.
Blackwood Lake.
But police had already searched the cabin.
Then Ryan noticed something.
Lily hadn't drawn one building.
She had drawn two.
The cabin.
And another smaller structure deeper in the woods.
Ryan stood.
May you like
His father had once built an underground storm shelter there.
Nobody had searched it.
