Chapter 3: Buried Memories
Chapter 3: Buried Memories
The storm finally passed just before dawn.
But inside the Bennett mansion, the darkness remained.
No one had slept.
Police officers continued moving from room to room, photographing evidence, collecting fingerprints, and sealing off areas of the estate. Every piece of furniture suddenly looked suspicious. Every locked drawer hinted at secrets waiting to be uncovered.
Ethan stood alone in his study, staring at the forensic report Captain Brooks had left on his desk.
The photograph was authentic.
His fingerprints.
Anna Carter's fingerprints.
And dried blood that had survived for eight years.
None of it made sense.
He pressed both hands against the edge of the desk, trying to force himself to remember.
Nothing.
Only fragments.
A church bell.
A woman laughing.
A baby's cry.
Then pain.
Always pain.
A gentle knock broke the silence.
"Sir?"
Mrs. Harper stepped inside.
"You should eat something."
"I'm not hungry."
"You haven't eaten since yesterday."
"I'm fine."
She sighed.
"No, Mr. Bennett... you're not."
She placed a tray of coffee and toast on the desk before lowering her voice.
"Lily had another nightmare."
Ethan immediately looked up.
"Is she alright?"
"She keeps asking whether Sabrina can come back."
He closed his eyes.
"I promised she couldn't."
Mrs. Harper hesitated.
"Children who've lived with fear don't stop being afraid just because the danger is gone."
Her words struck him harder than she realized.
Because they described him as well.
Upstairs, Lily sat by the bedroom window, clutching the silver bracelet around her wrist.
She watched the police cars outside with anxious eyes.
When Ethan entered, she quickly wiped away her tears.
He knelt beside her.
"Bad dream?"
She nodded.
"What happened?"
"I heard her."
"Sabrina?"
Another nod.
"What did she say?"
Lily's tiny fingers tightened around the bracelet.
"She said secrets always find you."
Ethan forced a reassuring smile.
"Dreams can feel very real."
"It wasn't a dream."
He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Lily slowly pointed toward the hallway.
"She whispered outside my door."
A chill ran through Ethan's body.
He immediately stepped into the hallway.
Two officers stood guard at both ends.
Neither had seen anyone.
Captain Brooks, who had just arrived, listened carefully.
"No one entered this floor."
"Are you sure?"
"The security log shows only officers and medical staff."
Ethan looked back toward Lily.
She wasn't lying.
He could see it in her frightened eyes.
So how had she heard Sabrina?
Or... had someone else been outside her door?
At police headquarters, Sabrina sat in an interrogation room.
The clock on the wall ticked steadily.
Nine hours had passed since her arrest.
She had refused food.
Refused water.
Refused a lawyer.
She simply sat there, staring at the one-way mirror.
As though she expected someone to appear behind it.
Captain Brooks entered carrying another folder.
"Good morning."
No response.
He sat down.
"I have new evidence."
Silence.
"The photograph is authentic."
Still nothing.
"We also found a missing persons report."
Sabrina's expression remained blank.
Until he said the name.
"Anna Carter."
Her fingers twitched.
"There it is," Brooks said quietly.
"You still react every time you hear her name."
Sabrina finally spoke.
"Some ghosts refuse to stay buried."
Brooks leaned forward.
"What happened to Anna?"
"I don't know."
"What happened to her baby?"
"I don't know."
"What happened eight years ago?"
Sabrina smiled faintly.
"You'll never prove anything."
"I don't need you to confess."
"No?"
"I just need one witness."
For the first time that morning...
Sabrina laughed.
Not nervously.
Not bitterly.
Confidently.
"Then you're already too late."
At that exact moment...
Across town...
An elderly man unlocked the front door of his small apartment.
His name was Father Michael Donovan.
For thirty-five years, he had served as the priest at Saint Gabriel Chapel.
He was also the last known person to see Anna Carter alive.
Captain Brooks had arranged to interview him that afternoon.
Father Michael placed a kettle on the stove.
He never noticed the black sedan parked across the street.
A man stepped out.
Wearing a dark coat despite the warm weather.
His face hidden beneath a cap.
He crossed the empty sidewalk.
Stopped outside the apartment.
Knocked once.
Father Michael smiled.
"Coming."
He opened the door.
"Can I help—"
The old priest froze.
His smile disappeared.
"You..."
The visitor spoke so softly that no neighbor heard.
"It's been a long time, Father."
The priest stepped backward.
"I told you I would never speak."
"I know."
"You have my word."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
A long silence followed.
Finally, the stranger answered.
"To make sure your promise lasts forever."
The apartment door slowly closed.
No one on the street noticed.
Back at the mansion, forensic investigators continued searching every room.
Officer Ramirez called Captain Brooks.
"Sir."
"What did you find?"
"A hidden compartment."
"Where?"
"Master bedroom."
Brooks immediately drove back.
The compartment had been concealed behind a decorative wooden panel inside Sabrina's walk-in closet.
It was expertly crafted.
Almost impossible to notice.
Inside...
There was only one item.
A small music box.
Covered in dust.
Mrs. Harper gasped when she saw it.
"I've never seen that before."
Captain Brooks carefully opened the lid.
A delicate lullaby began to play.
Ethan stopped breathing.
It was the same melody Lily had hummed.
The Bennett family lullaby.
Inside the music box lay a folded piece of paper.
Captain Brooks unfolded it.
Only one sentence had been written in faded blue ink.
If anything happens to me, protect Lily from Sabrina.
No signature.
But beneath the message...
A single fingerprint stained with dried blood.
Ethan stared at the note.
His voice barely escaped.
"Anna..."
Captain Brooks immediately ordered the fingerprint rushed to the lab.
Then he looked toward Ethan.
"Did you know this was hidden in your wife's closet?"
"No."
"You never searched it?"
"I never had a reason."
Brooks nodded slowly.
"Maybe you should have."
The comment wasn't meant to accuse.
But Ethan took it personally.
He looked around the bedroom he had shared with Sabrina for six years.
Every memory suddenly felt false.
Every smile.
Every anniversary.
Every promise.
How much of his marriage had been a lie?
By evening, Captain Brooks finally received the phone call he had been waiting for.
But the voice on the other end sounded shaken.
"Captain..."
"What happened?"
"It's Father Michael."
Brooks straightened.
"What about him?"
"We arrived at his apartment."
"And?"
"The place was empty."
"What do you mean empty?"
"Furniture's still there."
"Wallet."
"Phone."
"Keys."
"Everything."
"But Father Michael..."
The officer hesitated.
"...is gone."
Brooks grabbed his jacket.
"Were there signs of a struggle?"
"No."
"Blood?"
"No."
"Witnesses?"
"One neighbor."
"What did they see?"
"A black sedan parked outside around noon."
"License plate?"
"They couldn't remember."
Brooks closed his eyes.
"Damn."
He drove to the apartment immediately.
The scene disturbed him.
Nothing had been stolen.
The kettle still sat on the stove.
Cold tea remained in a cup.
An open Bible rested on the table.
It looked as though the priest had simply vanished into thin air.
Then Officer Ramirez called from the bedroom.
"Captain."
Brooks entered.
"What is it?"
Ramirez pointed toward the wall.
Hidden behind a framed painting...
Someone had carved three words into the plaster.
Fresh.
Deep.
Violent.
SHE IS ALIVE.
Brooks stared at the message.
His heartbeat quickened.
"Who?"
Ramirez whispered.
"Anna?"
Before Brooks could answer, his phone rang.
It was the forensic lab.
"Captain Brooks speaking."
The technician sounded breathless.
"You need to hear this."
"I'm listening."
"The blood found on the old photograph..."
"What about it?"
"It belongs to a woman."
Brooks waited.
"The DNA partially matches Lily."
His heart skipped a beat.
"So it's her mother?"
"Yes."
"But that's not the strange part."
Brooks frowned.
"What is?"
"We compared the sample against national records."
"And?"
"There was another partial match."
Silence.
Then the technician spoke the name.
"Ethan Bennett."
Brooks looked at the carved words on the wall.
SHE IS ALIVE.
His mind raced.
If the DNA was correct...
If the photograph was real...
If Anna Carter was Lily's biological mother...
Then there was only one possible explanation.
He slowly lowered the phone.
Ethan wasn't just connected to the case.
He was connected to Lily.
In the strongest way possible.
Captain Brooks whispered to himself,
"Ethan Bennett..."
"...you may be her father."
Just then, another officer rushed into the apartment, pale with shock.
"Captain!"
"What now?"
"We found Father Michael's car."
"Where?"
"Abandoned five miles outside the city."
Brooks grabbed his coat.
"Any sign of him?"
The officer swallowed hard.
"Only one."
"What?"
He held up a small silver cross.
The chain was broken.
Fresh blood stained the metal.
And tucked beneath it was a handwritten note.
May you like
Stop digging... or the child dies next.
End of Chapter 3
