Amelia looked down at her doll, then carefully turned it over. With small fingers, she pulled at a loose seam in Mea’s back, revealing a tiny pocket. From inside, she withdrew a small, ornate key.
“Mommy’s special box,” she explained, holding it out to Tom. “Under the big bed, for the good person who would help me.”
Tom stared at the key, understanding washing over him. Leanne had prepared for the worst, leaving clues that only Amelia could reveal to someone who cared enough to find Mea. As Tom left the room, his phone rang. It was Gloria.
“Shepard, I found something. Sarah Winters’s original name was Sarah Mills. She changed it legally five years ago after a reported domestic incident. She’s Leanne Mills’s younger sister.”
As he reached his car, Tom noticed a folded piece of paper tucked under the windshield wiper. Meet me at Riverside Park. South entrance, 9:00 PM. Come alone. I need to explain about Amelia. – Sarah.
The park grew quieter as Sarah’s story unfolded, street lamps casting long shadows across their bench. Tom listened intently, the lockbox he’d retrieved from under the living room sofa bed heavy on his lap.
“Robert Garrett isn’t just some controlling ex-boyfriend,” Sarah explained, her voice barely above a whisper. “Amelia is heir to our grandmother’s trust fund. Nearly two million dollars when she turns eighteen. Money Robert can’t touch unless he has legal custody.”
“That’s why the falsified records,” Tom realized.
“Leanne contacted me once, about three years ago,” Sarah continued. “Said she had evidence of what Robert had done. The next day, my apartment was broken into. My computer stolen. That’s when I changed my name, moved here. I’ve been searching for Leanne ever since, working at every hospital in a hundred-mile radius, hoping she’d eventually seek medical help.”
Tom opened the lockbox, showing her the USB drive. “This might be the evidence she mentioned.”
Before she could respond, his phone rang. “Shepard,” Captain Reynolds said, “I’ve got a judge on the line. He’s willing to grant temporary emergency custody, but you need to get to the hospital now. Garrett’s people are already en route.”
The days at the cabin settled into a peaceful rhythm. Each morning brought subtle changes in Amelia. Her voice grew stronger, her smiles more frequent, her nightmares less intense. One rainy day, confined indoors, they decided to give Mea a bath.
“Wait,” Amelia said, her small fingers working at the loose seam in Mea’s back. “There’s something else inside.” With careful movements, she extracted a tightly folded piece of paper from the doll’s stuffing. “Mommy said the good person would know what to do with this, too.”
Tom unfolded the paper to reveal a handwritten list of names, dates, and case file numbers. At the top, in Leanne’s neat handwriting: Children like Amelia, removed from parents without cause.
“This is what Leanne was protecting,” Tom said quietly to Sarah. “Not just Amelia, but evidence.”
“Is it important?” Amelia asked. “Will it help other kids?”
