“In your bedroom.”
I stood so quickly my chair scraped the floor.
“Claire, listen to me.
Get Sophie.
Leave through the back door.”
“Mom, he’s looking for something.”
“What?”
“He’s tearing apart your closet.”
I heard a distant male voice.
“Claire?”
My daughter’s breathing changed.
“Mom—”
“Put the phone in your pocket.
Don’t hang up.”
Miles called again.
“Claire, sweetheart, where’s your mother?”
She tried to sound calm.
“She’s visiting a friend.”
“Funny.
That’s what she told me.”
Footsteps approached.
“Where’s Sophie?”
“At school.”
“School ended two hours ago.”
Silence.
Then Miles said:
“Claire, I’m going to ask you one more time.”
Rebecca was already signaling the investigators.
I heard my daughter’s voice tremble.
“What do you want with Sophie?”
And Miles replied:
“I want what she found inside that bear.”
My knees nearly gave way.
He knew.
Somehow, Miles knew everything.
