Chapter 2 - DAD, OPEN IT BEFORE SHE COMES BACKI pulled at the second latch.
It did not move.
The hard-shell suitcase was built for international travel.
Reinforced frame.
Metal locks.
Designed to remain closed after falling from a luggage cart.
I had never imagined those features surrounding my daughter.
“Lily, move your hands away from the edge.”
“Okay.”
I searched the entrance table.
No key.
The small travel bag beside the suitcase had been left partly open.
Inside were Lily’s pajamas, a stuffed rabbit, two shirts, and a pair of shoes.
Someone had packed for her.
A small ring of keys rested beneath the clothes.
I tried the first.
Wrong.
The second.
Wrong.
The third entered the lock.
My hand slipped twice before I turned it.
The latch opened.
I lifted the lid.
Lily lay curled inside wearing a pale lavender hoodie.
Her knees were pressed against her chest.
Her long hair clung to her tear-streaked face.
Both arms wrapped around a framed family photograph.
The moment she saw me, she tried to sit.
I lifted her before she could struggle.
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Dad.”
“I’ve got you.”
Her body shook.
I held one hand against the back of her head.
She smelled of fabric, dust, and the strawberry shampoo she insisted was only for big girls.
“You’re safe.”
Lily buried her face against my coat.
I checked her arms.
Her legs.
Her breathing.
No visible injury.
No bleeding.
Only fear.
“How long were you inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you lock it?”
She shook her head.
“Who did?”
Her grip tightened.
“Mom.”
Lily’s biological mother, Amelia, had been dead for two years.
Vivian became my wife eleven months earlier.
She encouraged Lily to call her Mom.
At first, Lily refused.
Then she used the name occasionally because Vivian became upset when she did not.
“Do you mean Vivian?”
Lily nodded.
“Why?”
“She said we were playing airport.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“She told me to hide. Then she closed it.”
“Did she say where you were going?”
Lily looked at the photograph.
“Far away.”
I pulled out my phone.
No signal.
The mansion’s wireless network had been disabled.
I tried emergency service.
One bar appeared, then vanished.
Before I could move toward the front doors, footsteps sounded above us.
Slow.
Controlled.
Lily looked up.
May you like
Her face changed.
“She came back.”
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