Page 107 of Keep This Promise
I shake my head. “No. I tried . . .”
A tear falls down her beautiful face. “I just want her home. I would do anything. I would give anything. I’d trade my life for hers, but they just took her without giving me a chance to give them what they wanted. They took our little girl, and she could die.” Her voice cracks.
“We’re going to find her. We have to find her.”
She nods but more tears fall. “I keep waiting to wake up and find her laying in her bed, sleeping peacefully.”
“I wish that were true,” I tell her as my own voice shakes. “I would sell everything I own if it would help.”
“All the years I spent thinking Theo was an amazing man have all disappeared. He knew we were in danger, and he gave me no way to protect myself. I . . . I hate him, and I never thought I would. I hate that he did this to Eden.”
I brush her hair back, wiping her tears with my thumbs. “The answers are here, Sophie. I don’t know where, but I think Theo did leave you the way to find them. We just need to make the pieces fit.”
“It’s been thirty-nine hours. We don’t have much more time before her pump runs out.”
“I know.” That is what scares me the most. “Come on, let’s go see if there are any updates.”
My phone has a voice mail from an unknown number. I look at Sophie as she’s climbing out of bed and tell her.
“Listen to it.”
I play it.
“Dr. James, this is Dr. Frasher. My office isn’t a safe location to talk. I am sending you an encrypted email that will help answer your questions. I want to say that I am incredibly sorry, and I hope this helps.”
“What is he talking about?” Sophie asks.
As I pull up my email, I explain how I’d called him earlier and that he basically said the file I had was wrong.
I scroll through, not seeing anything, so I flip to my work email, and it’s there and marked as urgent.
When I open the email, there’s a short note and an attachment.
Holden & Sophie,
I cared for Theo over the last two years. During that time, we grew very close, and we also became entangled in something we never should’ve. My wife and son were killed three days ago, and I’m afraid what happened to your daughter is my fault. I triggered the failsafe, and I am incredibly sorry for that. This is the last you’ll hear of me. Good luck, and I hope you find your daughter.
I open the attachment to find that it’s a scan of a handwritten note.
If you’re reading this, then the worst has happened and Sophie or Eden are in danger after my death. I warned them what would happen if they went after my family, but it’s clear that it didn’t matter. This was my insurance policy.
I am aware that you probably think I am worthless, and you would be correct at this point. I failed to protect my best friend and the little girl who called me Daddy. Therefore, I hope this will help you not only save them but also destroy those behind it.
The only way I could do this was to place clues, ones that would lead you here. I worked for the worst people known to man. They are delusional in their beliefs of building a greater world and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
When I started working for Havened, it was built up to be a program that would help others, give children a family life that otherwise would be lost to them. And in the beginning, it was just that. I found ways to help the company save more money and shelter funds to help more children.
In my ambition to help the company help more families, I took advantage of a loophole, finding out after the fact that what I had done wasn’t legal. When I attempted to correct my error, to own up to what I’d inadvertently done, the owner of Havened used it as leverage to force me to continue processing the finances the same way. My options were limited, and I couldn’t bring myself to let them destroy my family for a mistake I’d made.
I fucked up, and my wife and daughter were at risk. So, I did what I thought was right and gathered as much information as I could on each person who ran the organization, desperate to find out who the head of the snake was.
I am writing this letter in the ICU, dying, and I haven’t found that information. However, in a safety deposit box located at the main bank in Rose Canyon, you will find everything I have on them. The key is inside the pyramid trinket I sent to you. There is a second copy in Big Ben. If they have killed either Sophie or Eden, give them nothing. If they have been taken and this will help get them back, use it, but know they will never be satisfied if they’re let go. You will all need to run. I don’t know who he is, but he is ruthless. Read everything in a secure location and don’t share what you learn. Trust me.
I am sorry, but I tried my hardest to make it right.
Theo
Sophie’s lips tremble as she shakes her head. “We have to find that box.”
