Chapter 4 - THE LITTLE GIRL WITH GRAY EYES
The photograph was taken six weeks earlier.
Roman showed Sadie the metadata and the investigator's report.
Elena and her daughter, Sophie, had been living in a protected residence outside Philadelphia.
Their identities were concealed.
Their movements were restricted.
They had been preparing to testify against Vittorio.
Sadie stared at Sophie's face.
Four years old.
Brown curls.
Gray eyes.
The same eyes their mother had possessed.
Sadie touched the photograph.
“She looks like Elena.”
Roman nodded.
“Yes.”
Then Sadie noticed something.
A small silver necklace around Sophie's neck.
A star-shaped pendant.
Her breath caught.
“I gave Elena that necklace.”
Roman looked at her.
“When?”
“When we were children.”
Sadie swallowed.
“She promised she'd give it to her daughter someday.”
Roman looked away.
The moment was too intimate.
Too painful.
Sadie sat down.
“Where was Sophie born?”
Roman hesitated.
“Boston.”
“Who is her father?”
Roman looked at her.
“I don't know.”
She frowned.
“Elena never told you?”
“No.”
Sadie stared at the photograph.
Then whispered:
“She was pregnant when she disappeared.”
Roman nodded.
“Yes.”
The truth struck her.
Elena had not only survived.
She had built a life.
A family.
A daughter.
All while Sadie believed she was dead.
Roman received another call.
Tommy.
“We found the vehicle.”
Roman stood.
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the interstate.”
“Any sign of them?”
“No.”
Roman looked at Sadie.
His expression was grim.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The car was registered to a woman named Claire Bennett.”
Sadie froze.
That name.
She knew it.
Claire Bennett had been Elena's closest friend.
She had disappeared the same night Elena did.
Sadie looked up.
“Claire was helping her?”
Roman nodded.
“Apparently.”
Then Tommy added something through the phone.
Roman went still.
“What?”
He looked at Sadie.
“The vehicle contained a child's drawing.”
Sadie's heart pounded.
“What kind of drawing?”
Roman swallowed.
“A house. Three stick figures. And a black car.”
Sadie frowned.
“And?”
Roman's voice dropped.
“One of the figures was labeled Daddy.”
He paused.
“Underneath, Sophie wrote a name.”
May you like
Sadie stared.
“Roman.”
