Chapter 2 - The Child Behind the Nursery Door
Gideon drove his shoulder against the door.
The wood shook, but the external lock held.
“Stop,” Isla said.
He ignored her.
“Gideon, you do not understand what is happening.”
He struck the door again.
The frame splintered.
Toby began crying against Maya’s chest.
On the third impact, the latch tore free and the door flew inward.
The nursery was almost completely dark.
A night light glowed near an empty crib. Heavy curtains covered the windows. The air smelled of disinfectant, damp fabric, and something sour.
A child sat behind the crib.
She looked about ten years old.
Her dark blonde hair had been cut unevenly near her jaw. She wore an oversized gray sweatshirt and thin leggings. One ankle was wrapped in a dirty bandage.
When Gideon entered, she crawled backward until her shoulders struck the wall.
“Please,” she whispered. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
Gideon stopped immediately.
He lowered himself slowly.
“My name is Gideon. This is my home.”
The girl stared at him.
“No, it isn’t.”
Behind him, Isla moved toward the staircase.
Maya pointed.
“She’s leaving.”
Gideon turned.
“Isla, stay where you are.”
She continued walking.
He removed his phone.
“I am calling the police.”
Isla stopped.
The girl behind the crib began shaking harder.
“No police.”
Gideon looked back.
“Why?”
“They send me back.”
“Back where?”
She covered her mouth.
Isla’s voice became soft.
“She is a troubled child. Her family asked me to care for her privately.”
“Then why is she locked in a nursery?”
“She runs away.”
“Who is she?”
The girl answered before Isla could.
“Emma Cole.”
Gideon searched his memory.
The name felt familiar.
Then he remembered a news story from six months earlier.
A ten year old girl had vanished from a private school in Bellevue. Police believed she had been taken by a noncustodial relative.
Her photograph had appeared on local television.
“Emma Cole is missing.”
“I told you,” Isla said. “Her family asked me to hide her.”
“Which family member?”
“Her father.”
“Then why did he report her missing?”
Isla said nothing.
Gideon called emergency services.
While he spoke, Maya moved carefully into the room.
Emma watched her.
“You came back.”
Maya nodded.
“I said I would.”
Gideon looked between them.
“You knew she was here?”
Maya’s face collapsed.
“I gave her food.”
“For how long?”
“Since before Christmas.”
It was now March.
Three months.
His daughter had been secretly feeding a missing child inside his own home while he traveled between Seattle, Frankfurt, London, and New York.
Gideon felt sick.
“What did Isla tell you?”
“That Emma was dangerous.”
Emma whispered, “I’m not.”
“I know,” Maya said quickly.
Toby reached toward Emma from Maya’s arms.
The girl stared at him with sudden tenderness.
“I kept him quiet when she left us all in here.”
Gideon turned toward Isla.
“All three children?”
Isla’s eyes hardened.
“They needed structure.”
“They needed safety.”
“Your children were uncontrollable before I came.”
“My son is two.”
“And your daughter lies.”
Maya lowered her face again.
Gideon saw it happen.
A single sentence from Isla could still shrink her.
He stepped between them.
“You will never speak to her that way again.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Isla looked toward the window.
Then she reached into the pocket of her dress and removed a small remote control.
Emma screamed.
“Don’t let her press it.”
Isla’s thumb moved.
Gideon lunged.
The remote fell and slid beneath the crib.
A mechanical click sounded inside the wall.
Cold air began pouring through the nursery vents.
The thermostat display dropped from fifty six to fifty two.
Emma crawled toward the crib.
“There’s a camera.”
Gideon looked up.
A tiny lens hid inside the smoke detector.
“Who was watching?”
Emma’s face went pale.
“Her brother.”
Gideon turned toward Isla.
“You told me your brother died twelve years ago.”
Isla looked toward the flashing police lights beyond the curtains.
“He did.”
Emma shook her head.
May you like
“No. I saw him yesterday.”
Continue to the next part: Police search the house and discover a hidden surveillance system connected to Gideon’s office, proving someone has been watching both the children and his business for years.
