PART 9
The chapel fell silent.
No one moved.
The white rose rested in Ethan's hand.
Its petals were still damp.
Whoever had left it...
Hadn't been gone for long.
Arthur slowly scanned the room.
"We're not alone."
Daniel stepped toward one of the broken windows.
Outside...
The parking lot was empty.
The surrounding streets were quiet.
Only the wind stirred the fallen leaves.
Victoria looked at the note again.
"You're closer than she ever wanted you to be."
She frowned.
"Who is 'she'?"
"Sarah?"
"Emma?"
"No."
Arthur answered before anyone else could.
"I think it's Grace."
Ryan pointed toward the altar.
"Look."
There were fresh footprints in the dust.
Only one set.
Small.
They led behind the old wooden pulpit.
Ethan walked carefully.
Behind the pulpit stood a narrow door.
Half hidden by faded curtains.
He pushed it open.
The hinges groaned.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Cold air drifted upward.
Daniel switched on his flashlight.
"I'll go first."
Arthur shook his head.
"We go together."
The basement was smaller than expected.
Stone walls.
Old wooden shelves.
Dozens of dusty boxes.
Most were empty.
Some contained children's books.
Others held blankets and canned food.
Helen looked around slowly.
"I remember this place."
"We used to hide families here."
Victoria turned.
"Families?"
Helen nodded.
"Women escaping abusive homes."
"Children waiting for emergency foster placement."
"No one knew this basement existed."
Ryan picked up an old toy truck from the floor.
"It feels..."
He searched for the right word.
"Safe."
Ethan smiled sadly.
"It probably was."
At the far end of the basement...
Lily's voice echoed from the staircase.
"Daddy?"
Everyone froze.
Ethan hurried upstairs.
Lily stood at the entrance with Lupita.
Her backpack still hung over one shoulder.
"I told her to stay in the car," Lupita said apologetically.
"But she was worried."
Lily looked at Ethan.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay."
He knelt beside her.
"I am."
She noticed the white rose.
"Who's that for?"
Ethan looked at it for a moment.
"I'm not sure yet."
While everyone talked upstairs...
Ryan remained in the basement.
Something kept drawing his attention to one wall.
The bricks looked different.
Newer.
Cleaner.
He tapped them lightly.
One sounded hollow.
His heartbeat quickened.
"Arthur!"
The others hurried downstairs.
Ryan pointed.
"This wall."
Arthur examined it.
Then pressed against one loose brick.
It shifted.
A hidden compartment slowly opened.
Inside...
There was a small metal box.
Covered in dust.
Locked.
Ethan carefully removed it.
No one spoke.
The lock had rusted with age.
Arthur used a small tool from his pocket.
After a few seconds...
Click.
The lid opened.
Inside the box...
There were several cassette tapes.
A handful of photographs.
And one sealed envelope.
Across the front...
Sarah's handwriting.
For Grace.
Not for Ethan.
Not for Emma.
For Grace.
Victoria whispered,
"She expected Grace to find this."
Arthur nodded.
"But Grace never came."
Ethan carefully opened one photograph.
It showed a group of children planting flowers outside the chapel.
Sarah stood among them.
Emma stood beside her.
Grace smiled brightly in the front row.
On the back...
Every child had signed their name.
Except one.
One space remained blank.
Ryan frowned.
"Why?"
Helen suddenly gasped.
"There was another child."
"What child?"
"I can't remember his name."
"But he disappeared."
"No one ever found him."
The room became still.
Arthur looked toward Ethan.
"The Collector."
Back at the Grand Regent...
Victoria began restoring the old cassette tapes.
Most were damaged.
One still worked.
Late that evening...
Everyone gathered in Ethan's office.
The tape began with static.
Then...
Emma's voice.
Not Sarah's.
Older.
Calm.
"If this recording survives..."
"...then I failed."
A pause.
"I pray Grace is safe."
Another pause.
"If she isn't..."
"Don't look for revenge."
"Look for truth."
Arthur leaned closer.
Emma continued.
"There is a ledger."
"It contains every child we protected."
"And every child we couldn't."
"If the wrong person finds it..."
"They'll know exactly where to look."
Daniel frowned.
"A ledger?"
Emma's voice grew quieter.
"I trusted only three people."
"Michael."
"Sarah."
"And..."
The recording suddenly crackled.
Static filled the room.
The tape stopped.
Victoria sighed.
"It broke."
"No."
Arthur rewound it.
The damaged section remained silent.
The name was gone forever.
Hours later...
Lily wandered into Ethan's office wearing her pajamas.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"You're still working?"
Ethan smiled.
"A little."
She climbed onto his lap.
"Mommy worked late too."
He kissed the top of her head.
"She did."
Lily looked at the old photographs spread across the desk.
"So many kids."
"Yes."
"Were they lonely?"
Ethan answered honestly.
"I think some of them were."
She thought quietly.
Then asked,
"Did Mommy love all of them?"
His eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"I think she did."
Lily smiled.
"That sounds like Mommy."
The next morning...
A call came from one of Victoria's investigators.
"I found Grace Sullivan."
Everyone in the office stood.
"Where?"
The investigator hesitated.
"Maybe."
"What does that mean?"
"A woman using a different name has been living in northern Wisconsin for almost fifteen years."
"She's the right age."
"No criminal record."
"Elementary school teacher."
Arthur looked hopeful.
"Did she change her name legally?"
"Yes."
"To what?"
The investigator answered.
"Grace Bennett."
Ethan smiled for the first time all morning.
"We found her."
But the investigator wasn't finished.
"There's one problem."
"What?"
"She disappeared three days ago."
Silence.
The office became deathly still.
The investigator continued.
"Her neighbors thought she went on vacation."
"But her house..."
He paused.
"...was left with the front door wide open."
Arthur slowly stood.
"When?"
"Three days ago."
Exactly...
The same day the white rose had appeared in the chapel.
Ethan looked toward Sarah's notebook.
Then toward the photographs.
Someone else had found Grace.
And this time...
May you like
They had arrived first.
End of Part 9
