Instead, he said, "I'm not going to stop looking."
Emily looked at him.
"Why do you care so much?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Because I know what it's like to lose someone without getting the chance to say goodbye."
She studied his face.
"Your father?"
Daniel nodded.
"He died when I was fourteen. We had argued that morning. I told him I hated him because he wouldn't let me go on a school trip."
He gave a small, sad smile.
"He promised we'd talk when he got home."
"But he never came home?"
"No."
Emily lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Daniel nodded.
"That's why I don't want you to lose another chance with your mother."
At the hospital, Arthur was waiting beside the window.
He had insisted on remaining awake despite the doctor's warnings.
When Daniel and Emily entered, he immediately noticed their expressions.
"What's happened?"
Emily approached him.
"Mom's been taken."
Arthur gripped the edge of the bed.
"What?"
"Someone has her."
The old man's face became pale.
"Who?"
"Richard Vale."
Arthur closed his eyes.
For a moment, he looked as though he might collapse.
Then he reached toward the bedside drawer.
"There's something I should have told you."
Daniel stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Arthur removed a small envelope.
"I found this in my car before I left the care facility."
The envelope was old and slightly damaged. On the front, Margaret had written three words:
FOR MY FAMILY.
Arthur opened it carefully.
Inside was a letter.
My dearest Arthur,
If you are reading this, it means someone has finally discovered what happened to me. I am sorry that I could not return sooner. I am sorry that I allowed you and Emily to believe I was gone.
But there is one more truth you must know.
The blue notebook is not the original evidence. It is only a map.
The real evidence is hidden in the place where our family kept its happiest memories.
Arthur, please remember our first house. The old car you refused to sell. The glove compartment that never closed properly.
Everything began there.
And everything can end there.
I love you. I have always loved you.
Margaret.
Arthur began crying.
Daniel read the letter again.
"The old car?"
Arthur nodded slowly.
"My first car. The one I drove before the accident."
"Where is it now?"
"At the old family house. I kept it in the garage for years."
Emily stared at him.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I thought it was worthless. After the accident, I couldn't bear to look at it. Eventually, I covered it and left it there."
Daniel looked toward the door.
"Then that's where we need to go."
Arthur tried to stand.
"I'm coming."
"No," Daniel replied firmly. "You need medical supervision."
"That car contains the truth about my wife. I am not staying here."
Emily placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Dad, please. Let us go."
Arthur looked at her.
It was the first time in eleven years she had called him Dad without anger.
He nodded.
"All right."
Daniel contacted the investigative division. Two officers would escort Emily and him to the Bennett family house.
Before leaving, he looked at Arthur.
"We'll bring her home."
Arthur held his hand.
"Please do."
The old Bennett house stood at the end of a quiet street.
It had been empty for years.
The garden was overgrown, the windows were dusty, and the front gate creaked when Emily pushed it open.
She stopped at the entrance.
"I remember this place."
Daniel glanced at her.
"Do you want to wait outside?"
She shook her head.
"No. I want to see it."
They entered.
The hallway still contained the old family photographs. Emily recognized herself as a child, sitting on her father's shoulders. There was another picture of Margaret holding a birthday cake.
She stopped in front of it.
"She looks so happy."
Daniel said nothing.
Emily gently touched the frame.
"I thought I'd forgotten her smile."
Then she walked toward the garage.
The old car was still there.
A faded blue sedan covered in dust.
Arthur had kept it exactly where it had been left eleven years earlier.
Daniel pulled away the protective cover.
Emily stared at the vehicle.
"That's the car?"
Daniel nodded.
He opened the driver's door.
The interior smelled of dust and old leather.
The glove compartment was slightly crooked.
Arthur's letter had mentioned that it never closed properly.
Daniel pressed the release.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
A small metal piece dropped onto the passenger-side floor.
Emily picked it up.
It was a tiny key.
She examined it.
There was an inscription on the side.
MARGARET β 10/14.
Her birthday.
Daniel searched the glove compartment and found a hidden slot beneath the damaged lining.
The key fit perfectly.
A small metal box slid out.
Inside were several documents, an old recording device, and a photograph.
The photograph showed Margaret standing beside Thomas Reed and Richard Vale.
But it had been taken before the accident.
On the back was a handwritten sentence:
THE MAN WHO PROMISED TO PROTECT US WAS THE FIRST TO BETRAY US.
Daniel stared at Thomas's face.
Then he noticed something else.
The recording device had a label.
FINAL CONFESSION β THOMAS REED.
Before he could press play, his phone rang.
It was the officer monitoring Richard Vale.
"Brooks, we've got a problem."
"What?"
"Vale has been arrested, but he's refusing to talk. And his lawyer says the photograph you received was part of an automated message."
"Where was it taken?"
The officer hesitated.
"An abandoned motel outside town."
Daniel looked at Emily.
"Send me the address."
The officer continued.
"There's something else. The motel was rented under a name connected to Thomas Reed."
Daniel looked at the recording device.
The truth was closer than ever.
But Margaret was still missing.