Chapter 3: Three Knocks
The man's voice disappeared.
But the silence he left behind felt worse.
Marcus stared at the pantry door.
Elena's fingers were still wrapped around his arm.
“Who is that?”” he whispered.
She didn't answer.
“Who is that, Elena?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus looked at her.
“You just told me someone was watching this house.””
“I said I didn't know who.””
The handle moved.
Once.
Slowly.
Nia immediately crawled deeper beneath the blanket.
Marcus stepped between the pantry and the hidden wall.
“Stay back,” he told Elena.
She shook her head.
“Marcus, please.””
“Stay back.””
The handle stopped moving.
A man's voice came through the door.
“Elena, open the door.””
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“Do you know him?””
Elena whispered, “I don't know.””
“That's the same answer you gave me before.””
“I swear.””
The voice outside became colder.
“You can't hide her forever.””
Nia began crying silently.
Marcus turned.
“It's okay.””
The little girl shook her head.
“He found us.””
Marcus crouched beside the opening.
“Who?””
“The man from the hospital.””
Marcus felt the words hit him like a physical blow.
“The hospital?””
Nia nodded.
“He wore blue.””
Elena whispered, “Nia, don't talk about him.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because she remembers too much.””
“What does she remember?””
Elena stared at the floor.
Marcus's voice hardened.
“Elena.””
She finally looked up.
“He wasn't a stranger.””
Marcus waited.
“He knew your name.””
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“How?””
“I don't know.””
“You said you found her two years ago.””
“I did.””
“And you knew nothing about the man?””
“No.””
“Then how did you know she belonged to me?””
Elena's eyes closed.
Nia whispered from behind the wall.
“She had the picture.””
Marcus looked at her.
“What picture?””
Nia pointed at the photograph in his hand.
“That one.””
Marcus turned it over again.
The faded handwriting on the back suddenly seemed more important than the photograph itself.
He held it closer to the light.
There was a date.
Then a sentence.
His breathing changed.
“What does this say?””
Elena didn't answer.
Marcus read it aloud.
“For Marcus. If they tell you she died, don't believe them.”
His eyes snapped toward Elena.
“You knew about this?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Then who wrote it?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus looked back at the door.
The man outside knocked again.
Three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nia whimpered.
“He always knocks three times.””
Marcus stared at the child.
“How long has he been doing that?””
“Since before I came here.””
Marcus's expression changed.
“Before Elena found you?””
Nia nodded.
“He told me Daddy forgot me.””
Marcus's eyes filled.
“I didn't forget you.””
Nia looked at him.
“You didn't?””
“No.””
He pressed one hand against the edge of the opening.
“I was told you died.””
The little girl's lip trembled.
“I waited.””
Marcus swallowed hard.
“I know.””
“No, you don't.””
She clutched the blanket.
“I waited every night.””
Elena began crying again.
Marcus looked at her.
“You've been listening to her say that for two years?””
“I tried to protect her.””
“You lied to me.””
“I was trying to keep her alive.””
“You stole two years from me.””
“I know.””
The pantry handle suddenly jerked downward.
Marcus stood.
The door opened one inch.
He moved toward it.
Elena grabbed his shirt.
“Don't.””
Marcus looked at her hand.
Then at her face.
“Move.””
“Marcus—”
“Move.””
She let go.
Marcus reached for the pantry door.
The gap widened.
But there was nobody there.
Only the narrow hallway beyond.
Marcus stepped forward.
The house was silent.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A small envelope.
He bent down and picked it up.
His name was written across the front.
*MARCUS REED.*
His fingers stiffened.
Elena saw it.
“Don't open that.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Why?””
“I've never seen it before.””
He tore it open.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Marcus unfolded it.
His eyes moved across the first line.
Then stopped.
His face went completely still.
Elena whispered, “What does it say?””
Marcus slowly raised his eyes.
The paper trembled in his hand.
“It says…”
He couldn't finish.
“What?””
Marcus looked toward the hidden wall.
Then at Nia.
Then back at Elena.
“It says Nia wasn't the only child they took.””
A second piece of paper slid from the envelope and landed on the floor.
On it was a photograph.
And Marcus recognized the person standing beside Nia.
May you like
He whispered one name—
“Mom?””
