Chapter 5 - THREE YEARS OF LIES The photograph destroyed me.
For three years I had mourned a woman who might have been alive.
For three years Perrin had grown up believing his mother was gone.
And all that time, someone had known.
Detective Ellis reopened the crash investigation.
Within forty-eight hours, inconsistencies appeared.
The emergency call had been placed from a phone that belonged to Rhea.
The vehicle had been moved before investigators arrived.
And the body recovered from the ravine had never been conclusively identified.
The case had been closed quickly.
Too quickly.
Meanwhile, Rhea disappeared.
Her lawyer claimed she had been released pending investigation.
But when Ellis arrived at the address Rhea had provided, the house was empty.
Only one thing remained.
A letter.
For me.
Kiernan, if you want Serena alive, stop looking for the truth.
I crumpled the paper.
Ellis stopped me.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because someone wants you angry.”
She was right.
The danger wasn't just that Serena might be alive.
The danger was that whoever had hidden her had enough power to manipulate the investigation.
That night, Perrin woke screaming.
I ran into his room.
He clung to me.
“I saw the white house.”
“In your dream?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“What do you remember?”
He pointed toward the window.
“Mom was there.”
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Then he whispered:
“She told me to wait for Daddy.”
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