Chapter 10 - THE DOORS OPEN
Silas saw Elena looking toward the back of the chapel.
He bent close.
“Say one more word.”
The doors opened.
Detective Torres entered with Detective Aaron Cole.
Samantha followed, carrying the sealed copy of Lily’s audio recording.
Torres held a tablet in one hand.
“Silas, step away from her.”
Silas slowly released Elena’s hair.
“What is this?”
“A lawful investigation.”
“Into my daughters’ deaths?”
“Into the attempt to kill your wife and conceal your daughters’ location.”
The chapel erupted in whispers.
Silas looked at Elena.
“You told them that fantasy again?”
Elena touched Lily’s photograph.
“I listened.”
For one second, Silas forgot to perform.
Fear moved across his face.
Margot turned toward the side aisle.
Detective Cole stepped into her path.
“Stay where you are.”
Torres played the traffic footage on the tablet.
The video came from a municipal camera positioned near an intersection two miles north of the bridge.
At 8:46 p.m., a black Mercer Global SUV crossed the intersection.
Silas was visible behind the wheel.
Margot sat beside him.
A man occupied the rear passenger seat.
Between the seats, two small figures could be seen.
One child wore Sophie’s yellow raincoat.
The other held Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
A second camera captured the vehicle turning onto North County Road.
The timestamp was fifteen minutes after Silas claimed the girls had been swept away.
Someone in the chapel began crying.
Silas looked around at the guests.
“The footage is unclear.”
Torres enlarged the image.
Lily’s face appeared briefly against the rear window.
Elena’s knees weakened.
Alive.
Her daughter had been alive.
Samantha caught Elena’s arm.
Silas’s attorney stepped forward.
“My client will not answer questions.”
Torres looked at Silas.
“Where are Lily and Sophie?”
He said nothing.
Margot suddenly shoved a floral stand into Detective Cole.
White roses crashed across the floor.
She ran toward the service corridor.
Cole followed.
Silas used the confusion to reach for Elena’s phone.
She pulled it against her chest.
He grabbed her wrist.
Detective Torres forced him away and placed him against the nearest pew.
“Do not touch her.”
Guests moved back.
Silas’s composure disappeared.
“You don’t understand what she has done to this family!”
Elena stared at him.
“What I have done?”
“You were going to destroy everything.”
“For asking for a divorce?”
“For refusing to help me!”
Torres secured his hands.
“Silas Mercer, you are being detained in connection with attempted murder and the abduction of two minors.”
As he was led toward the doors, Elena stepped in front of him.
“Where are they?”
He looked at the photographs above the coffins.
Then at Elena.
A cruel calm returned.
“You’ll never reach them in time.”
May you like
👉 Silas was finally in custody, but Margot had escaped through the chapel—and she knew exactly where the girls were hidden.
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