Chapter 4: The House on Bellweather Road
The message had only one instruction.
*COME ALONE, OR SHE DOESN'T COME HOME.*
Naomi read it again.
Then again.
Each time, the words looked different.
Not because they changed.
Because she did.
Five minutes ago, she had been a daughter waiting for a phone call from a hospital.
Now she was standing in a school office, staring at a photograph of the place where her father disappeared.
A place she had spent fifteen years trying not to remember.
Principal Harris closed the laptop.
“No.””
Naomi looked at her.
“What?””
“You are not going there.””
“My mother is there.””
“We don't know that.””
“She is.””
“Naomi—”
“He knows about my father. He knows about my mother. He knows where I am.””
Principal Harris stepped closer.
“And that's exactly why you cannot go alone.””
Naomi shook her head.
“If I don't go, he might hurt her.””
“If you go, he might hurt you.””
Naomi looked toward the locked office door.
“I don't care.””
Principal Harris's expression softened.
“I know you mean that.””
“I do.””
“But your mother wouldn't want you walking into a trap.””
Naomi swallowed.
That was the problem.
Her mother would tell her to run.
Her mother would tell her to stay safe.
Her mother had spent her entire life protecting Naomi.
And Naomi had spent the last fifteen years believing she was the only person her mother needed protecting from.
Now she wasn't sure of anything.
Callie stood near the window, silent.
Naomi noticed.
“You knew about Bellweather Road.””
Callie looked down.
“Yes.””
“How long?””
“Since last week.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Callie laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she hated herself.
“Would you have believed me?””
Naomi didn't answer.
Callie looked at her.
“You hated me.””
“I didn't hate you.””
“You looked at me like I was nothing.””
Naomi's face hardened.
“You stole my phone.””
“I know.””
“You humiliated me.””
“I know.””
“You talked about my mother.””
Callie's eyes filled.
“I know.””
“Then don't stand there like you're the victim.””
Callie nodded slowly.
“I deserve that.””
The room went quiet.
Then Callie reached into her backpack.
Principal Harris immediately stepped forward.
“Slowly.””
Callie pulled out a small envelope.
“I kept one.””
Naomi frowned.
“One what?””
“A photograph.””
Everyone froze.
Callie walked to the desk and placed the envelope down.
“I deleted the others.””
“Why keep this one?”” Principal Harris asked.
Callie looked at Naomi.
“Because I knew one day someone would need proof.””
Naomi opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Old.
Slightly faded.
A man stood beside a black truck.
Naomi's fingers trembled.
She knew him.
Even after fifteen years.
Even after every birthday without him.
Every holiday where one chair stayed empty.
Every night she wondered if he remembered her.
It was him.
Her father.
Daniel Storm.
Standing in front of the Bellweather Road house.
But he wasn't alone.
There was another person in the photograph.
A man standing behind him.
The face was blurry.
But Naomi recognized the coat.
The same dark coat from the hospital reflection.
Her blood ran cold.
“That’s him.””
Principal Harris looked up.
“Who?””
“The man.””
Callie whispered.
“You've seen him before?””
Naomi nodded.
“At the hospital.””
Mr. Bennett stepped closer.
“Are you sure?””
“Yes.””
She pointed.
“The coat.””
Callie stared at the picture.
“That’s the same one.””
Principal Harris picked up the photograph carefully.
“Where did you get this?””
Callie hesitated.
“He sent it.””
“Who?””
“I told you.””
Callie looked afraid.
“I don't know.””
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it's true.””
Principal Harris's voice became sharper.
“Callie, a woman has been taken. This is not the time to protect someone.””
Callie's eyes moved toward the door.
Then she whispered,
“He never showed me his face.””
“Why?””
“Because he said I didn't need to know who he was.””
“That makes no sense.””
“It does if he knows everyone already.””
Naomi looked at her.
“What does that mean?””
Callie swallowed.
“He knew things about me before he approached me.””
“What things?””
“My parents' divorce.””
“My grades.””
“My friends.””
“My passwords.””
The room went silent.
“He was watching me.””
Naomi felt a chill.
“For how long?””
“I don't know.””
Callie looked at the photograph.
“But I think he was watching you longer.””
Principal Harris turned.
“What makes you say that?””
Callie pointed at Daniel Storm.
“He chose me because I was close to you.””
Naomi stared.
“But why?””
Callie shook her head.
“I don't know.””
A loud knock interrupted them.
Everyone turned.
A police officer stood outside the office.
Principal Harris opened the door.
“What happened?””
The officer looked at Naomi.
“We need to move everyone to a secure area.””
“Why?””
“We received another message.””
Naomi's heart dropped.
“From who?””
The officer didn't answer immediately.
That was enough.
“Show me.””
He handed Principal Harris a printed page.
She read it.
Then closed her eyes.
“What?””
Naomi reached for it.
Principal Harris hesitated.
Then handed it over.
The message was short.
*SHE LOOKS LIKE YOU.*
Naomi frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Below the words was another photograph.
A photograph of her mother.
Not in the hospital.
Somewhere else.
She was sitting in a car.
Alive.
Awake.
Looking directly at the camera.
And beside her was a handwritten note.
*ASK HER WHY SHE LIED ABOUT YOUR FATHER.*
Naomi couldn't move.
Her mother was alive.
That should have been the only thing that mattered.
But the message dug into something deeper.
Something painful.
A question she had carried for years.
Why had her mother always refused to talk about Daniel Storm?
Why had every conversation ended with silence?
Why had she once destroyed every photograph of him except one?
Why did she always say:
“Some memories are safer buried.””
Naomi looked at Principal Harris.
“I need to talk to her.””
“We don't know where she is.””
“But he wants me to ask her.””
“That doesn't mean you should.””
Naomi looked at the photograph again.
Her mother was scared.
She could see it.
Even from the picture.
A daughter knew her mother's face.
She knew every small expression.
Every hidden fear.
And Naomi knew this one.
Her mother wasn't just afraid of the person holding the camera.
She was afraid of what Naomi would discover.
A police officer spoke quietly.
“We traced the email.””
Everyone looked at him.
“To where?””
He took a breath.
“It came from an old property account.””
Naomi already knew the answer.
She whispered,
“Bellweather Road.””
The officer nodded.
“Yes.””
The room became silent.
Principal Harris looked at Naomi.
“This is exactly what he wants.””
“I know.””
“He's controlling the situation.””
“I know.””
“He wants you emotional.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you still thinking about going?””
Naomi looked at the photograph.
Because there was something else.
Something nobody had noticed.
She zoomed in.
The picture of her mother in the car.
Behind the window.
In the reflection.
There was a sign.
Small.
Almost impossible to read.
But Naomi saw it.
Her father had taken her there once.
When she was six.
Before he disappeared.
She remembered the smell of pine trees.
The sound of an old wooden gate.
The little red mailbox.
And a sign hanging near the driveway.
She whispered the words.
“Ravenwood Farm.””
Principal Harris frowned.
“What?””
“The picture wasn't taken at Bellweather.””
Everyone looked at her.
“It was taken somewhere else.””
“How do you know?””
Naomi pointed.
“Because Bellweather Road doesn't have that sign.””
She looked at the police officer.
“Ravenwood Farm is outside town.””
The officer immediately pulled out his radio.
“I'll notify units.””
Naomi stared at the photograph.
The person behind this had expected her to believe one thing.
He wanted her running to Bellweather Road.
He wanted her walking into the wrong place.
Which meant one thing.
He had something waiting there.
A trap.
Principal Harris grabbed Naomi's arm.
“You are not going anywhere.””
Naomi looked at her.
For the first time all day, her voice was calm.
“I’m not going to Bellweather Road.””
“Good.””
“I’m going to Ravenwood Farm.””
“No.””
“He has my mother.””
“We will handle this.””
Naomi shook her head.
“You don't understand.””
“What?””
“He has been planning this for weeks.””
She looked at Callie.
“He used her.””
Then at the photograph.
“He used my mother.””
Then she touched the picture of her father.
“And somehow, he knows something about my family that I don't.””
Naomi took a slow breath.
“I need answers.””
The police officer's radio suddenly crackled.
Everyone turned.
A voice came through.
“Unit three, we have movement.””
The officer grabbed the radio.
“Location?””
A pause.
Then:
“Ravenwood Farm.””
Naomi froze.
The officer looked at her.
“Someone just entered the property.””
The office lights hummed above them.
Nobody spoke.
Then Callie whispered,
“He knew we would figure it out.””
Naomi looked at her.
“What?””
Callie stared at the photograph.
“He wasn't trying to hide your mother.””
She pointed at the image.
“He wanted us to find her.””
A cold feeling spread through Naomi's chest.
“Why?””
Callie's voice shook.
“Because the person at Ravenwood isn't waiting for you.””
May you like
She looked toward the door.
“He's waiting for your father.””
