Early Monday morning, heavy machinery drove onto the Daniels’ property. Evan Gallagher and several other police officers were ordered to supervise the process. By eleven o’clock the extension at the back of the garden had been demolished, and the excess construction debris removed. Molly was upset that the large machines had ruined her vegetable beds.

  Gallagher promised compensation for the damage. The police were now working in an open pit, which made it easier to search for details, although much had been completely destroyed. For example, the staircase under which Angela had lived.

  Divers were still working in the lake to rule out any further surprises. Shane feared that the O’Flahertys were not the only ones who had drowned. Tim had still not been found. Dillan had, for reasons unknown, turned into a vegetable. Was there anyone else who might have posed a threat to that family? The police had no answer yet.

  Angela did not hear the machines entering the garden. She was fast asleep in her little room under the stairs, which had no windows. It was quiet and muffled there, and not a single sound reached the girl.

  Molly was somewhat anxious about Angela’s reaction and kept checking whether she had come out of her room. But Angela did not appear until lunchtime. Then Molly’s son, Joshua Daniel, arrived, and Angela ran back to her room. She remembered how he had called her “kitty, kitty” when he had first looked into the basement. Angela had learned to hiss from the stray cats. She often played with them, and many of her habits came from those animals. And yet she was not a cat but a human being. This man who was speaking with Molly was evil.

  For some time Angela watched them through the crack of the half open door, and when they went out onto the veranda, she closed the door, sighed, and looked at the bedside table.

  For two days now a notebook and a black marker had been lying there. Angela had not touched them.

  She ignored them again.

  She was waiting for Shane O’Halloran. That police officer was not like the others. He was gentle, human. Why did he not come?

  Soon Molly stopped by her room.

  “Sweetheart, I’ll be gone for an hour or two. I need to visit Sophie, she’s not feeling well. Don’t go anywhere. If you want something to eat, you’ll find sandwiches on the table. Don’t let anyone into the house. Don’t be bored, I’ll be back soon.”

  Kissing Angela on the forehead, Molly left.

  The silence in the house did not frighten the girl. On the contrary, it calmed her. She had lived in that silence for almost ten years. Humming Toby’s lullaby, Angela placed him on the pillow and left her room to eat a sandwich.

  What she had not considered was that Joshua might be home. In fact, he had driven away with Molly, taken his mother to his house, and then, under the pretext of going to work, returned to Coleraine. He very much wanted to be alone with the wild girl.

  He sat in an armchair, hidden, and waited. Not for long. Angela came out of her little room and went to the kitchen. Joshua followed her every movement with his eyes. As soon as she picked up a sandwich, he coughed, then stood up and approached the frightened creature.

  “Wow.” There was admiration in his voice. Joshua had never seen her clean before. He rarely visited Coleraine, and when he did, the wild thing hid. “You’re a cutie.”

  Angela stood motionless by the table, crushing the sandwich in her hand.

  “Do you know what ‘cutie’ means? Very beautiful. You’re even better than I imagined. And that figure.” His gaze wandered over her slender waist and legs. “Anyone would start drooling.”

  Angela continued pretending to be a statue. She glanced at the door to her room under the stairs and wondered how to reach it.

  “Come on, say something, baby. I don’t believe you can’t talk. How does that work? You could, you could, and then suddenly you forgot. I’m sure you’re pretending. Am I right?” Joshua’s smile unsettled Angela. She looked at the stairs again. And Joshua went on. “Stop batting your eyes like a child. Understand, you’ve grown up. You’ve become, like me, an adult. Of course I’m older than you, but you’re not little anymore. And you must become a woman. Don’t rush.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  He blocked her path when Angela tried to move past him.

  “Let’s have a chat. You’ve never even seen men, have you? Of course not. What men are there in a basement? You’re untouched. Yes, Sophie often chats with my mother. She told me the doctors found out you’re a virgin. Beautiful and innocent.”

  Those words alarmed Angela. The meaning of some of them did not reach her at all, but she knew they were spoken by a filthy mouth. Another attempt to leave failed. Moreover, Joshua pressed her against the refrigerator.

  “Want me to caress you? I’ll teach you the art of love and bliss. Someone has to do it.”

  Joshua’s hand settled on Angela’s chest, and whether it was instinct for self preservation or disgust for this man, Angela reacted unexpectedly. The sandwich in her hand smeared across Joshua’s face. Mayonnaise got into his nostrils and eyes, and he howled. Angela rushed to the door and found herself outside.

  Hide.

  She ran into the garden. Her home, her shelter. That disgusting man was not there. There he would not dare touch her.

  But when she reached the place, she stopped abruptly, nearly falling into the pit. Nothing was there anymore. Her shelter had been destroyed.

  A piercing scream sent birds scattering from the branches.

  Molly paced the living room from corner to corner, rubbing her wrinkled hands anxiously. As soon as she heard the screech of brakes, she ran onto the porch. Shane O’Halloran had arrived alone.

  “Has she been found?”

  Molly shook her head. She could not speak because of the tears that had gathered.

  “I was gone for only an hour and a half. She usually obeys and does not go anywhere. The worst part is I cannot remember whether I locked the door. When I came back, it was unlocked.”

  “Is it possible Angela went to the extension and did not find it there?”

  They were already walking through the garden, skirting the cherry bushes.

  “Since she settled with us, I do not remember her running to the extension. But you know what is strange?”

  “What?”

  “Her Toby…”

  O’Halloran stopped by the pit over which large flies buzzed. Apart from the insects there was nothing significant. Inside it was empty.

  “You said Toby.”

  “He was left in her room, on the pillow. She never goes anywhere without him, Inspector.” This time Molly burst into tears. Shane placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “She will be found.” The sound of an engine was heard, and both turned their heads, listening. “That’s your husband, Molly. Go into the house, explain everything to him, and stay there in case Angela returns. I’ll search the grounds.”

  Molly went inside. For some time Clive’s voice and his wife’s sobbing could be heard, then Shane no longer heard them and focused on the search. The pit was empty, and there was nowhere to hide. From above he would have noticed a living person anyway. Angela was not there, and he considered where she might have run, assuming she was still on the property.

  “Angela!” he called loudly, but in response only the wind stirred the branches of the trees, and in the distance the lake water splashed, tiny waves breaking against small stones.

  Instinct led the officer to the shore.

  He reached the lake, but there was no one to ask whether a girl in a knitted dress and striped socks had run by. There was not a soul around. A deserted silence reigned, and only seagulls circled above the smooth surface of the freshwater.

  “Angela!” Shane’s voice echoed across the area.

  He stood still, peering into the distance.

  How had this happened?

  No, he was certain she had not left Coleraine. She could not be taken from here by force. Or could she?

  A strange foreboding crept into the inspector’s soul. Could Angela have been abducted? The journalists did not yet know about this story. Angela’s tormentor, whoever he was, could not have learned about her… unless… Dillan? Dillan’s wife? The realtor? The staff at the nursing home? Damn it, anyone could have let it slip. No matter how hard they tried to conceal it, the story was too loud to keep secret for long.

  Having decided it was time to begin a serious search, O’Halloran took out his phone and was about to call Gallagher. But a splash of water distracted him. He turned his head toward the place where the branches of a weeping willow drooped over the water and could not believe his eyes. She was standing there knee deep in the water. And it seemed he heard her voice, as usual, a low hum.

  Shane waited because she was hesitantly moving toward the shore without taking her eyes off him.

  And suddenly she ran. He thought she would simply run up to him. But it was not so. As soon as she reached him, she wrapped both arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest.

  “I was so frightened, Angela,” he whispered, embracing her in return. He felt that she was crying. “There now. What scared you?”

  Her head moved energetically. The girl nodded that yes, she was frightened.

  “It’s all over. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  And in response he heard an indistinct sound that resembled “eign.” He decided he had imagined it and did not react. But Angela repeated it when she lifted her head and looked into his face. Her cheeks were wet with tears, she was trembling.

  “Sh… Sh… Shane,” she said. And once more, “Shane.”

  It was too unexpected. And now tears welled up in his eyes.