PART 2 — The Truth Behind the Missing Posters
Ethan's instincts screamed at him to call the number on the missing-child bulletin immediately.
Instead, he looked into Lily's frightened eyes.
"Why are you afraid of Detective Hannah Carter?" he asked quietly.
Lucy wrapped both arms around her sister before answering.
"Because she isn't our mommy anymore."
The words hung in the freezing air.
Ethan led the girls into his truck and turned the heater on full blast. He handed them a blanket he kept for winter emergencies and drove home instead of the police station.
Eight-year-old Noah opened the front door wearing reindeer pajamas.
"Dad?"
Then he saw the twins.
Without asking a single question, Noah disappeared into his bedroom and returned carrying his favorite blanket and two stuffed bears.
"They can borrow these," he said shyly.
The twins smiled for the first time in days.
While the children drank hot chocolate, Ethan carefully searched the missing bulletin online.
Something felt wrong.
Every news report described Detective Hannah Carter as a devoted police officer whose daughters had disappeared from their own home eleven days earlier.
But one article caught his attention.
The girls' father, Daniel Carter, had died eighteen months earlier in what was ruled a boating accident.
Ethan continued reading.
Life insurance.
Multi-million-dollar estate.
Custody battle.
Suddenly, the story looked very different.
Just then, Lily quietly spoke from the couch.
"Our daddy didn't fall off the boat."
Ethan slowly looked up.
"He told us if anything happened to him... never trust Mommy."
A loud knock echoed through the front door.
May you like
Three sharp knocks.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
