Chapter 7 - The Missing Rabbit.
David reached the study in less than two minutes.
Lucy was sitting on the couch wrapped in her blue blanket while Maria knelt beside her.
The little girl's eyes were red from crying.
"Bunny," she said when David entered.
"I know, sweetheart."
David lifted her into his arms.
"We'll find Bunny."
Maria pointed to the side table.
"It was right there."
The study door showed no damage.
The lock had not been forced.
Owen checked the electronic access log.
Only David, Maria, and Owen had active credentials for the room.
The log showed no entry after Maria locked the door.
"Then how did someone get in?" David asked.
Owen frowned at the screen.
"Either the system missed an entry or the rabbit left another way."
The study had one window.
It was sealed.
There was no balcony.
Maria looked horrified.
"I never left Lucy alone."
"I believe you," David said.
He examined the room.
The rug was undisturbed.
The curtains hung normally.
Nothing else appeared missing.
Evelyn entered behind Rachel.
Lucy looked at her.
Then something unexpected happened.
The child stopped crying.
"Nana Eve," Lucy whispered.
David turned so quickly that he nearly lost his balance.
Evelyn's face crumpled.
"Hello, little bird."
Lucy reached one small hand toward her.
David did not move.
"She knows you."
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
"You told me you had stayed away."
"I said I had not come here to see you."
"How does my daughter know you?"
Evelyn wiped beneath one eye.
"Maria brought her to me twice."
David looked at Maria.
The house manager's face showed guilt.
"Mrs. Walker asked me to," Maria said.
"Emily has been gone eighteen months."
"She left instructions before the accident."
David felt anger rise, but Lucy was in his arms, and he forced his voice to remain quiet.
"Everyone seems to have instructions from my wife except me."
Evelyn flinched.
"That was not what she wanted."
"Then what did she want?"
"She wanted time to prove who was betraying you."
David looked at Lucy.
The child had put her thumb in her mouth and was staring at Evelyn with recognition that could not be invented.
"Why did you keep this from me?"
Maria answered.
"Because Mrs. Walker told me that if anything happened to her, I was to follow only the written instructions she left with Mrs. Mercer."
"And one of those instructions was to secretly introduce Lucy to her grandmother?"
"Yes, sir."
David looked at Evelyn.
"Show me the instructions."
"I will."
"Now."
Evelyn reached inside her coat and removed a small envelope.
The handwriting on the front belonged to Emily.
David knew it instantly.
For David, if I run out of time.
His throat tightened.
"Why didn't you give this to me?"
Evelyn looked ashamed.
"Because the second instruction said not to give it to you until the rabbit was safe."
David stared at her.
"What is inside the rabbit?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Emily never told me."
Rachel stepped closer.
"Did she say why it mattered?"
"Only that people would eventually come looking for it."
David thought of Natalie's eyes following the stuffed bunny in the hallway.
The memory became suddenly clear.
Natalie had not been watching Lucy.
She had been watching what Lucy was holding.
"Owen," David said.
"Lock down the property."
"Already done."
"No one leaves."
Owen hesitated.
"There are nearly two hundred guests."
"Then nearly two hundred guests are staying until we find that toy."
Rachel shook her head.
"You cannot legally detain a ballroom full of people."
"Then search the staff corridors and the exits, and ask guests to remain because of a security concern."
Owen nodded and left.
David handed Lucy back to Maria.
"Stay with her."
He turned toward Evelyn.
"You and Rachel are coming with me."
"Where?"
"To find Natalie."
They found her in the ballroom speaking to Grant Keller.
The moment Grant saw David, he stepped away from Natalie.
David walked directly toward them.
"Where is the rabbit?"
Natalie blinked.
"What rabbit?"
"Lucy's pink rabbit."
Grant looked between them.
"David, what is going on?"
David ignored him.
"You wanted it in the hallway."
Natalie's expression hardened.
"You are becoming irrational."
"Where is it?"
"I don't know."
David looked at Grant.
"Do you?"
Grant raised both hands.
"I barely know what you're talking about."
Evelyn stepped into view behind David.
Natalie saw her.
All color left her face.
Grant's reaction was even worse.
"Evelyn," he whispered.
David heard him.
"So you know her too."
Grant recovered quickly.
"I've met her."
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Before or after you broke into Emily's office with Hale?"
Grant stopped speaking.
Around them, the charity dinner continued, but the nearest guests were beginning to notice the tension.
Natalie stepped closer to David.
"Not here."
"You lost the right to choose the room."
She lowered her voice.
"If you embarrass the wrong people tonight, you will lose more than a toy."
David stared at her.
"Is that another threat?"
"It's your last warning."
A security guard hurried toward Owen at the ballroom entrance.
Owen listened, then looked directly at David.
"Sir," he called.
David walked to him.
"We found the rabbit."
Relief hit David for half a second.
Then he saw Owen's expression.
"Where?"
"In your car."
David frowned.
"My car?"
"Under the driver's seat."
Owen held up a clear evidence bag.
Inside was Lucy's pink stuffed bunny.
Its back seam had been cut open.
May you like
Whatever Emily had hidden inside was gone.
Page
