Page 100 of The Hanging Dolls
She could dig into property records and figure out who owned this place but she was hoping this approach would be quicker. An isolated private greenhouse was also a perfect place to hide a child. Perhaps this is where Lily had encountered devil’s club and got an allergic reaction. Zoe approached a table and rifled through the few papers—seed catalogs, plant care guides—from decades ago.
Confusion flared. There was no information on the owner, and only old plant guides, and yet it appeared from the plants that someone was maintaining the greenhouse atsomecapacity.
Then something caught her eye near the back of the greenhouse. A small section of the floor looked different—less worn, the dirt not as compacted. She knelt down and ran her hand over the area, her fingers brushing against a metallic edgehidden beneath the dirt. She carefully cleared the soil away, revealing a hidden latch.
Zoe paused, her instincts on high alert. An energy cackled through her. She gripped the latch, her knuckles white with tension, and pulled. The floor gave way with a low groan, revealing a narrow staircase leading down into the darkness.
Using her phone’s flashlight, she went down the staircase. She hated the dark and had never got over that childish fear that something would reach out and yank her in. Her labored breathing echoed in her ears. She waved the flashlight around until it landed on a metallic door covered in rust in front of her.
She checked her Glock, safely tucked in her waistband. As she padded softly toward the door, she could hear muffled voices coming from the other side. Fear clawed up her skin, making her shiver. Her toes curled in her boots.
The door wasn’t entirely closed. She took a breath and pushed it open.
“FBI!” she shouted, her gun pointed ahead.
The room was bathed in warm, yellow light. Sparse furniture. Stone walls. A carton of bottled water and sandwiches piled on the side of the room. But it was the sight in front of her that made her stop.
There was a small cot. Lucy was sitting on it, eating an ice cream. Next to her, a young man was standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Their faces snapped in Zoe’s direction.
The man’s eyes flashed with fear. He licked his lips, eyes darting around for an escape route, but the only way was through Zoe who had a gun. He was wearing faded jeans and a black hoodie with a big bleach stain on the front.
Her scalp prickled.
The same hoodie she’d seen in the CCTV footage of the burglary at the bakery.
“Lucy, honey.” Zoe kept the gun aimed at the man. “Why don’t you come with me? Do you want to go home?”
Lucy nodded with her mouth full. She put down the ice cream and ran toward Zoe, wrapping her arms around her legs. The relief Zoe felt nearly knocked her off balance.
“Please try to understand!” the boy who couldn’t be a day over twenty begged. “This isn’t what?—”
“Save it!” she hissed and he cowered, crouching on the floor. “On your knees, hands behind your head.”
He did as she said. Zoe pulled out the handcuffs from her back pocket and secured his hands behind his back. He kept his head down, his shoulders drooping. She didn’t put her gun away yet—not until she had backup. But she ran her eyes all over Lucy, whose face looked thinner but there wasn’t a single blemish on her.
Relief flooded her. She had found Lucy alive. Lucy was fine. This was over.
“What’s your name, kid?” she asked.
“Ryan Hunter.”
FIFTY-FIVE
Ryan Hunter.
Zoe repeated his name over and over in her head. She was afraid to ask the question that was sitting on the tip of her tongue.
Are you related to Travis Hunter?
She didn’t need to. The resemblance was unmistakable.She knew Travis had a son but she didn’t know his name.
The ambulance and squad car lights cast colored beams all over their faces and on the greenhouse, their sirens piercing the still air. Lucy was being lifted into an ambulance with two patrol officers on guard. Two more squad cars were parked. One of the patrols was talking to Ryan who stood defiantly, his face crumpled somewhere between annoyance and pain. A group of officers were whispering among themselves. The locals must recognize him.
“How did you know to bring the cavalry?” Zoe asked, seeing Aiden round the corner. He was out of breath, his face twinged with confusion as he searched the space for someone. “What happened?”
“I looked up the address and it was in the middle of nowhere, and at this time of night I was worried.” His face fell when his eyes landed on a handcuffed Ryan.
“I need to talk to him.” Aiden shouldered past her, but she was right behind him.
