Chapter 6: The Officer Who Knew Too Much
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Not me.
Not Emily.
Not Officer Miller.
The abandoned church felt frozen in time.
Then I noticed the watch in his hand.
Leo’s camera watch.
The same watch that had recorded the truth.
The same watch Emily said contained the video that could reveal who took her.
My first thought was simple.
He found it.
My second thought was worse.
How did he get it?
“Officer Miller,” I said slowly.
His expression didn’t change.
“Ava.””
Emily stepped backward.
I saw it immediately.
The fear on her face.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
She knew him.
Or at least she knew something about him.
I looked between them.
“You know each other?””
Nobody answered.
That was my answer.
Officer Miller walked inside and closed the door behind him.
The sound echoed through the empty church.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t get involved.””
I stared at him.
“Get involved?””
My voice rose.
“You mean find Emily?””
His jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand what’s happening.””
Emily laughed quietly.
A bitter sound.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling her.””
Officer Miller looked at Emily.
“You should have stayed hidden.””
The words made my stomach drop.
Not because of what he said.
Because of how he said it.
Like he wasn’t surprised she was alive.
Like he expected this.
I stepped in front of Emily.
“What are you doing here?””
He looked at the watch.
“I’m trying to stop something from getting worse.””
“By taking Leo’s watch?””
His eyes flickered.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Guilt.
“I didn’t take it from Leo.””
“Then where did you get it?””
Silence.
Emily answered for him.
“Margaret gave it to him.””
Officer Miller looked at her.
“Emily.””
“No.””
Her voice shook.
“But she did.””
I turned.
“What?””
Emily looked at me.
“The people you think are on different sides are not.””
The room became colder.
Officer Miller’s face hardened.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.””
Emily stepped forward.
“I know exactly what I’m saying.””
“You disappeared for eight months.””
“Because I was trying to survive.””
“You left your son.””
“Because staying would have put him in danger.””
Officer Miller looked away.
And that was when I realized something.
He wasn’t angry because she was lying.
He was angry because she was saying something he didn’t want heard.
“Tell me the truth.””
My voice cut through the room.
Both of them looked at me.
“I’m done being the person everyone gives half answers to.””
Nobody spoke.
“I was attacked.””
I looked at Officer Miller.
“I was accused.””
Then at Emily.
“I was trusted with secrets I never asked for.””
My voice became sharper.
“And now I’m standing in an abandoned church while two adults argue about my employer’s missing wife and my six-year-old’s camera watch.””
I pointed at the device in his hand.
“Someone needs to explain.””
Officer Miller looked exhausted.
He lowered the watch.
“Fine.””
Emily stared at him.
“Don’t.””
He ignored her.
“The night Emily disappeared, I was assigned to investigate.””
I frowned.
“You were assigned?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did nobody tell the family?””
He hesitated.
“Because the investigation was unofficial.””
I stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It does when the people involved have influence.””
The words hung there.
“Who?””
Officer Miller didn’t answer.
But Emily did.
“His department.””
My eyes moved between them.
“What?””
Emily crossed her arms.
“Officer Miller wasn’t investigating my disappearance.””
She looked at him.
“He was investigating the money.””
The officer’s expression changed.
“Emily.””
“No more lies.””
She looked at me.
“His department received evidence about financial fraud connected to the Grant foundation.””
I turned toward him.
“Is that true?””
Officer Miller didn’t deny it.
“Yes.””
My heart sank.
“But why hide it?””
“Because I needed proof.””
“For eight months?””
He looked down.
“Because every time I got close, someone knew.””
A silence followed.
Then I asked:
“Someone inside the police?””
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Officer Miller finally sat down.
For the first time, he looked less like a police officer.
More like a man who had been carrying something heavy.
“The night Emily disappeared, she contacted me.””
Emily looked surprised.
“You?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because you weren’t supposed to know.””
She stared.
“That makes no sense.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
Emily shook her head.
“No.””
Her voice was quiet.
“You were trying to protect the investigation.””
Officer Miller didn’t respond.
And again, I saw the truth hiding between their words.
Both of them had secrets.
Both of them believed they were protecting someone.
And Leo was caught in the middle.
“What happened that night?”” I asked.
Officer Miller looked at the watch.
“Emily discovered something.””
“About the trust fund?””
“Yes.””
“What?””
He took a breath.
“She found that money had been moved from Leo’s account.””
I felt sick.
“How much?””
“Enough to destroy his future.””
Emily looked down.
“I thought Daniel did it.””
“And now?””
She didn’t answer.
Officer Miller did.
“Now we know Daniel wasn’t the only person with access.””
“Margaret.””
He nodded.
“Margaret had access through family accounts.””
I remembered the way Mrs. Grant spoke.
The confidence.
The control.
She always acted like the house belonged to her.
Maybe it did.
“Then why attack me?””
Officer Miller looked at me.
“Because Emily trusted you.””
I frowned.
“That’s it?””
“No.””
He looked at the watch.
“She knew Leo’s watch contained something important.””
My heart started racing.
“What?””
“The watch wasn’t just recording.””
Emily stepped forward.
“It was uploading.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
She nodded.
“When I realized someone was watching us, I changed the settings.””
“You made it send files?””
“Yes.””
“To where?””
She looked at me.
“To the only person I trusted.””
I already knew the answer.
But I still asked.
“Who?””
Emily whispered:
“You.””
I felt the room spinning.
“Me?””
Emily nodded.
“I programmed it to recognize your phone.””
“But I never received anything.””
“Because you didn’t know where to look.””
Officer Miller lifted the watch.
“There’s a hidden folder.””
The same thing he had told me earlier.
The hidden storage.
But now it felt different.
More dangerous.
“What’s inside?””
Emily looked at the floor.
“The reason I disappeared.””
Nobody moved.
Officer Miller connected the watch to his device.
The screen lit up.
A folder appeared.
One file.
No name.
Just a date.
The night Emily vanished.
My heart pounded.
Officer Miller clicked it.
The video loaded.
At first, it showed darkness.
Then movement.
A room.
I recognized it.
The Grant house.
The camera angle was low.
Because it wasn’t from a security camera.
It was from Leo’s watch.
Someone was wearing it.
Someone was carrying it.
A voice appeared.
Daniel.
“Mom, this has gone too far.””
My breath stopped.
Daniel?
Emily closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
A woman answered.
Margaret.
“You’re finally understanding.””
Daniel sounded upset.
“You said she would leave quietly.””
“She should have.””
“What did you do?””
A pause.
Then Margaret said:
“What needed to be done.””
I felt a chill.
The video shook.
Someone moved closer.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Where is Emily?””
Margaret answered.
“You don’t need to know.””
The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Officer Miller looked at me.
“That’s why I needed the watch.””
I stared.
“Because it proves Margaret was involved.””
Emily shook her head.
“No.””
Everyone looked at her.
Her face was pale.
“That’s not the whole video.””
“What do you mean?””
She pointed.
“The file was cut.””
Officer Miller checked the screen.
Her expression changed.
“She’s right.””
Another folder appeared.
Hidden deeper.
Locked.
A password was required.
Emily looked at me.
“I never opened it.””
“Why not?””
“Because I didn’t create it.””
I stared at the screen.
“Then who did?””
Before anyone answered, the church lights suddenly turned off.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A second later, my phone buzzed.
One new message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
And my hands went cold.
A photo.
Taken moments ago.
The three of us standing inside the church.
The message underneath said:
*You were never supposed to find Emily.*
May you like
A second message appeared.
*But now that you have… I’ll have to find Leo.*
