Chapter 5 - THE MESSAGE SEWN INTO THE RIBBON
I wanted to run straight to our apartment.
Lucas stopped me before I reached the elevator.
“Elena, listen.”
“My sister is missing!”
“I know.”
His voice softened.
“But running into a possible trap won't help her.”
I hated that he was right.
Police arrived at the apartment before we did.
They found overturned furniture, broken dishes, and signs that someone had searched Sophie's desk.
But there was no blood.
No evidence of a struggle.
And the building's security footage showed something unexpected.
Sophie had left willingly.
At least, it appeared that way.
She'd walked out beside a woman wearing a gray coat.
The woman kept her face turned away from the camera.
Sophie carried her nursing school backpack.
I watched the recording three times.
“That isn't normal.”
Lucas looked at me.
“Why?”
“Sophie never leaves without her phone.”
The officers found her phone beneath the couch.
Its screen was cracked.
There was also a purple silk ribbon tied to the bedframe.
I recognized the fabric.
It matched the damaged gown I'd repaired.
The ribbon contained a tiny embroidered gold leaf.
Lucas examined it.
“Your mother's stitch.”
I nodded.
But something was different.
The thread beneath the leaf had been tied in reverse.
My mother had taught me that trick.
She called it the emergency knot.
A way to hide small pieces of paper inside a seam without anyone noticing.
I borrowed a seam ripper.
Carefully, I opened the stitching.
Inside was a narrow strip of paper.
Three words.
North Pier Warehouse.
And beneath them:
Don't trust Whitmore.
My hands trembled.
“Sophie left this.”
Lucas nodded.
“She remembered your mother's technique.”
I almost cried.
My little sister had been frightened.
But she'd still found a way to send me a message.
Lucas called Rebecca Shaw.
She contacted investigators handling the missing-person case.
Within an hour, police were examining properties connected to Daniel Whitmore.
One warehouse stood near the North Branch of the Chicago River.
It had been leased through a company linked to Margaret Voss.
I stared at the address.
“That's where Sophie is.”
“We don't know yet,” Lucas said.
But his face was grim.
Then his phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
“Lucas Cole.”
Lucas went still.
“Whitmore.”
I felt cold.
Daniel laughed softly.
“I see you've found my little note.”
Lucas's jaw tightened.
“Where's Sophie Carter?”
“Safe. For now.”
I grabbed Lucas's sleeve.
“Let me talk to her.”
Daniel heard me.
“Elena. My most promising student.”
My stomach turned.
“Where is my sister?”
He sighed.
“Always so emotional.”
Then he said:
“Bring me the original purple design journal.”
Lucas looked toward the leather book on his desk.
Daniel continued.
“And come alone.”
A pause.
May you like
Then the sentence that made my blood freeze.
“Because Sophie isn't the only Carter woman who knows what happened to Rose.”
