Chapter 4: The Message From The Dead
I stared at the number on my phone.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Waiting for it to change.
Waiting for my eyes to have made a mistake.
But the digits stayed the same.
A number Vanessa claimed belonged to someone who had been dead for three years.
My fingers felt numb.
“What do you mean?”” I asked.
Vanessa looked like she couldn’t breathe.
“Daniel…”
“What do you mean someone dead sent that message?””
She shook her head slowly.
“I don’t know.””
That answer wasn’t enough.
Not anymore.
Nothing was enough.
Not after my daughter disappeared from her bedroom.
Not after I found out my brother had been hiding things.
Not after I learned my wife had been keeping secrets.
I held the phone up.
“Who owned this number?””
Vanessa looked at Ryan.
Ryan didn’t speak.
That scared me more than anything.
Because Ryan always had something to say.
A joke.
An excuse.
A clever explanation.
But now he looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Ryan,” I said.
His eyes moved toward me.
“Tell me.””
He swallowed.
“It belonged to someone named Mark.””
The name meant nothing to me.
I looked at Vanessa.
Her face told me it should.
“Who is Mark?””
Nobody answered.
My patience disappeared.
“Who is Mark?””
Vanessa sat down on the edge of Lily’s bed.
Her hands were shaking.
“Mark was…”
She stopped.
“Was what?””
Ryan spoke quietly.
“Someone we knew.””
I turned toward him.
“We?””
His eyes dropped.
That one word carried too much.
“You both knew him?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
I laughed once.
A cold, empty sound.
“Of course you did.””
“Daniel—”
“No.””
I stepped away.
“Every time I ask a question, I find another secret.””
Vanessa looked up at me.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
She didn’t answer.
“From the truth?””
Her silence was enough.
I looked at the empty bedroom.
My daughter’s drawings were still taped to the wall.
Her stuffed animals were lined up beside her pillow.
Everything looked normal.
That was the worst part.
The room looked like the room of a happy child.
But my daughter had been living in fear inside it.
“Find Lily,” I said.
Ryan looked at me.
“What?””
“You heard me.””
“Daniel—”
“I don’t care about your secrets right now.””
I stepped closer.
“My daughter is somewhere with someone who knows about that recorder.””
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“I’m trying.””
“No.””
I pointed at him.
“You’re going to help.””
He stared at me.
“And if you’re involved?””
I let the silence finish the sentence.
Ryan looked away.
For once, he had no comeback.
We searched the house first.
Every room.
Every closet.
Every place a frightened child might hide.
But Lily wasn’t there.
The back door was unlocked.
The garden lights were still on.
The grass was wet from the evening rain.
I walked outside and felt my chest tighten.
A small pink hair clip was lying near the fence.
Lily’s.
I picked it up.
My hands started shaking.
“She was here,” I whispered.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Ryan looked toward the woods behind our house.
“There’s a trail back there.””
I turned.
“What trail?””
“The old walking path.””
“You know about that?””
Ryan hesitated.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
He looked uncomfortable.
“Because I used to take Lily there.””
My anger returned instantly.
“You took my daughter somewhere alone?””
“Daniel—”
“How many times?””
Ryan didn’t answer.
“How many?””
“Three.””
I stepped toward him.
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
“Daniel.””
I pulled away.
“No.””
I looked at Ryan.
“You don’t get to act surprised that I don’t trust you.””
“I never hurt her.””
“Then why is she afraid of you?””
Ryan looked away.
That was the first time I saw something break in his expression.
Not guilt.
Pain.
But I couldn’t let that confuse me.
Pain didn’t erase what happened.
We followed the trail behind the house.
The woods were darker than I remembered.
Branches scratched against my jacket.
The flashlight on my phone barely reached ahead.
“Lily!”” I shouted.
My voice disappeared into the trees.
No answer.
Again.
“Lily!””
Nothing.
Vanessa walked beside me, crying silently.
Ryan followed a few steps behind.
I noticed that.
Always behind.
Always watching.
Always keeping distance.
“Ryan.””
He looked up.
“Why are you walking back there?””
He frowned.
“What?””
“You’re acting like you’re afraid of something.””
He didn’t respond.
Then his phone rang.
All three of us froze.
Ryan looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Who is it?”” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Ryan.””
Slowly, he showed me.
Unknown number.
The same one.
The same number that had texted me.
My stomach dropped.
“Answer it.””
Ryan stared at the phone.
“Daniel…”
“Answer it.””
He hesitated.
Then pressed the button.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then a voice came through.
A child’s voice.
“Uncle Ryan?””
Ryan’s face turned white.
“Lily?””
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
I moved closer.
“Where are you?”” Ryan asked.
Lily didn’t answer.
Only quiet crying came through the speaker.
“Lily, sweetheart, it’s Dad. Can you hear me?””
A pause.
Then her tiny voice.
“Dad…”
My entire body reacted.
“Lily! Where are you?””
“I’m sorry.””
The words crushed me.
“No, no, don’t apologize. Tell me where you are.””
She whispered.
“I didn’t want this to happen.””
My eyes burned.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. You did nothing wrong.””
A sound came from the phone.
A door closing.
Then Lily whispered:
“Dad… he said you would never believe me.””
My heart stopped.
“Who said that?””
Silence.
“Lily?””
Then another voice came through.
A man.
Not Ryan.
Not anyone I recognized.
“Daniel.””
The way he said my name made my skin crawl.
“Who is this?””
The man laughed softly.
“You really don’t remember me?””
I looked at Ryan.
His face had gone completely pale.
“Ryan?””
He didn’t answer.
The voice continued.
“You were always the one who thought you could save everyone.””
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Where is my daughter?””
“You’re asking the wrong question.””
“What question should I ask?””
The man paused.
Then said:
“Ask your wife why she never told you about the night Lily’s mother died.””
Everything stopped.
Vanessa gasped.
“What?””
I turned toward her.
“What did he say?””
She looked terrified.
“I don’t know.””
The voice laughed again.
But this time, I heard something underneath.
Anger.
“You don’t know?””
The man sounded amused.
“That’s the problem with Vanessa.””
A pause.
“She lies even when she’s telling the truth.””
The call suddenly became silent.
“Hello?””
No answer.
“Hello!””
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone.
Then at Vanessa.
“My daughter’s mother?””
Vanessa’s face collapsed.
“Daniel…”
“What did he mean?””
She looked away.
“Tell me.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.””
My heart pounded.
“Tell me what?””
She whispered:
“Lily’s biological mother didn’t die in an accident.””
The forest went completely silent.
I felt like the ground moved beneath me.
“What?””
Vanessa looked at Ryan.
Ryan closed his eyes.
Like he had been waiting for this moment.
“Daniel…”
I stepped back.
“No.””
My voice was barely audible.
“No, don’t.””
Vanessa cried.
“I should have told you years ago.””
“Years ago?””
I looked between them.
“Who was she?””
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
“Her name was Emily.””
The name hit me like a memory I couldn’t place.
Because I had heard it before.
Long ago.
Before Vanessa.
Before our marriage.
Before Lily.
And then Ryan whispered the sentence that made everything worse.
“Daniel…”
I looked at him.
“She wasn’t just someone we knew.””
He swallowed.
“She was your first love.””
I couldn’t move.
Couldn’t speak.
Because somewhere in the darkness, my missing daughter had just uncovered a secret from my past.
A secret my own wife and brother had buried for eight years.
And then my phone buzzed again.
Another message.
This time, it included a photo.
A photo of Lily.
Sitting in a dark room.
Holding the teddy bear.
May you like
And beneath the image were six words:
*Now ask who her real father is.*
