Chapter 6 - St. AgnesThe road to St. Agnes cut through pine woods and abandoned farmland, two hours north of the Carter estate.
Daniel was not supposed to be in the convoy.
Detective Ortiz had told him three times.
Michael Reed had told him twice.
Laura Bennett had told him once, then stopped because she understood the look on his face.
Daniel did not ride in the front.
He sat in the second police SUV with Michael beside him, hands clenched, eyes fixed on the darkening road.
Lily was not with him.
That had nearly broken him.
But Erin Cole had convinced him gently and firmly that Lily needed safety, not sirens. She was now at the estate under police protection with Daniel’s sister-in-law Rebecca, the only family member Marlene had never been able to control because Rebecca lived three states away and hated polite lies.
Lily cried when Daniel left.
“Bring Mommy home,” she whispered.
Daniel promised he would try.
He did not promise more.
He had learned what promises cost when adults made them too easily.
Ahead of them, Detective Ortiz’s vehicle took a sharp turn onto a gravel road. Old stone walls appeared between the trees. Then iron gates, rusted and half open.
St. Agnes.
The building rose out of the dusk like something ashamed of itself.
Three stories of gray stone. Broken statues. Windows glowing faintly behind old curtains. A bell tower stood at one end, its cross bent by weather.
Flowers painted on the lower windows.
Just like Lily said.
Daniel’s chest tightened.
Ortiz’s team moved fast.
No sirens now.
No shouting until they reached the doors.
Warrants had come through at the last minute after Ortiz found the facility linked to Marlene’s shell company through Blue Harbor’s financial records. Officially, St. Agnes was empty. Unofficially, utility bills had been paid every month for three years.
Ortiz turned to Daniel before getting out.
“You stay behind me. You do not touch anyone. You do not run ahead. If we find her, medical clears her first.”
Daniel nodded.
He had no idea whether he could obey.
They entered through the side chapel.
Inside, the air smelled of bleach, dust, and old flowers.
Police spread through the hallway.
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
A nurse in pale blue scrubs appeared near a stairwell and dropped a clipboard.
Ortiz moved toward her.
“Police. Where is Grace Carter?”
The nurse shook her head wildly. “I don’t know that name.”
Daniel stepped forward.
Michael grabbed his sleeve.
Ortiz held up Grace’s photo.
The nurse’s face drained.
“Where is she?” Ortiz asked again.
The nurse began to cry.
“They told us she was dangerous.”
Daniel’s vision went red around the edges.
Ortiz’s voice sharpened. “Room number.”
“Third floor,” she whispered. “East wing. Room 309.”
Daniel was moving before anyone could stop him.
“Daniel!” Michael shouted.
Ortiz cursed and ran after him.
Daniel took the stairs two at a time. His lungs burned. His knees almost buckled on the second landing, but he kept going.
Third floor.
East wing.
The hallway was narrow, lit by yellow bulbs. Doors lined both sides. Some open. Some locked. A television murmured behind one. Somewhere, a woman was humming.
Room 309 was at the end.
Daniel stopped outside it.
For three years, he had imagined impossible things.
Grace walking through the front door.
Grace calling his name in a crowd.
Grace waiting in the kitchen with coffee, asking why he looked so surprised.
Every fantasy had hurt too much to keep.
Now his hand shook so badly he could barely touch the door.
Ortiz reached him. “Wait.”
Daniel couldn’t.
He opened it.
The room was small and white.
A bed.
A chair.
A vase of plastic flowers.
A window barred from the outside.
And a woman standing beside it in a gray cardigan, thinner than memory, hair cut just below her chin.
She turned at the sound.
Daniel forgot how to breathe.
Grace.
Her eyes found him.
For one second, there was nothing in them.
No recognition.
No joy.
No fear.
Just distance.
Then she saw his face fully.
Her hand went to her throat, where the locket should have been.
Daniel whispered, “Grace.”
She stared at him as if the name had opened a door in a house she thought was empty.
Her lips trembled.
“Daniel?”
He broke.
Ortiz caught his arm before he could rush forward.
Grace stepped back, frightened by the sudden movement.
Daniel froze instantly.
“It’s okay,” he said, voice cracking. “I won’t touch you. I won’t—I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Grace looked past him at the officers.
Then at Michael.
Then back to Daniel.
“Where is Lily?”
Daniel pressed a fist to his mouth.
She remembered Lily.
“She’s safe,” he said. “She sent me.”
Grace’s knees gave out.
Daniel reached her before she hit the floor.
This time Ortiz did not stop him.
Grace clutched Daniel’s shirt with both hands and began to sob without sound.
And from the doorway behind them, a voice said, “She was never supposed to wake up enough to remember.”
Daniel turned.
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Dr. Victor Lang stood in the hall with a medical bag in his hand.
And a security guard behind him had a gun.
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