Chapter 6: The Blue House
The address was buried in an old email.
I found it at 5:18 p.m., searching through my business correspondence.
Ethan had sent me a property listing six months earlier.
The subject line read:
*Potential Investment — Private Opportunity.*
The photographs showed a small two-story house with white shutters, a narrow driveway, and a bright blue front door.
I stared at the screen.
Danielle stood behind me.
“That's it?””
“I think so.””
“Where is it?””
“About forty minutes outside town.””
She grabbed her coat.
“Let's go.””
I looked at her.
“We should call Officer Brooks.””
“Then call her.””
I did.
She answered while speaking to another officer.
“Mr. Reed, what's happening?””
“We found the property Ethan mentioned. It's the blue house Lily drew.””
“Don't go inside.””
“We're not planning to.””
“I'm serious. We have investigators attempting to locate Mr. Miller. If this property is connected to him, it could contain evidence.””
“Can you meet us there?””
She hesitated.
“Send me the address. Stay in your vehicle if you arrive before we do.””
We sent the location.
Then we drove.
The road gradually narrowed as we left the city.
Bare trees lined both sides, their branches moving in the cold evening wind.
Danielle sat quietly, holding Lily's drawing.
Every few minutes, she looked down at it.
Finally, she spoke.
“Do you remember the day Lily drew this?””
I shook my head.
“She was sitting on the kitchen floor. She asked me whether you would ever have a house with a blue door.””
I glanced at her.
“What did you say?””
“I told her maybe someday.””
She swallowed.
“She asked whether you would let her have a bedroom there.””
My hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“What did you tell her?””
“I told her she already had a bedroom here.””
Danielle looked out the window.
“She said she knew. She just wanted to know whether you would still have a place for her if you left.””
I couldn't speak.
The blue house appeared at the end of a narrow gravel road.
It looked exactly like the photographs.
White shutters.
A small porch.
A bright blue door.
But there was something wrong.
The curtains were closed, and a black SUV was parked behind the house.
I stopped several yards from the entrance.
“That's Ethan's car,” I whispered.
Danielle stared at it.
“Are you sure?””
“I've driven that vehicle dozens of times.””
I called Officer Brooks.
She answered immediately.
“Are you at the property?””
“Yes.””
“Stay in the car.””
“Ethan's SUV is here.””
“Do not approach the house.””
“What if he's inside?””
“Mr. Reed, listen to me. We have units on the way.””
Danielle suddenly pointed toward the porch.
“Marcus.””
A light had turned on inside.
Someone was moving behind the curtains.
Then the blue front door opened.
A man stepped outside.
Ethan.
He looked directly at our car.
For one second, neither of us moved.
Then he raised his hand.
Not in greeting.
In warning.
“Get down!”” I shouted.
A loud crack split the air.
The rear window shattered.
Danielle screamed.
I ducked over the steering wheel as another sharp sound echoed through the trees.
“Get out!”” I shouted.
We scrambled toward the passenger side and ran behind a low stone wall.
My heart hammered.
Danielle was shaking so badly she could barely stand.
I pulled out my phone.
“Officer Brooks! Someone just fired at us!””
“Where are you?””
“Outside the blue house. Ethan is here!””
“Stay behind cover. Units are approaching.””
I looked toward the house.
The front door was open.
Ethan was gone.
A moment later, the back door slammed.
“He's leaving!””
“Do not follow him!”” Officer Brooks ordered.
But I could hear an engine starting.
The black SUV pulled out from behind the house and disappeared down a narrow lane.
I wanted to chase him.
I wanted to drag him back and demand answers.
Instead, I stayed beside Danielle.
A police vehicle arrived less than five minutes later.
Two officers secured the property while Officer Brooks approached us.
“Are you both hurt?””
“No,” Danielle whispered.
“Did you see who fired?””
“I saw Ethan,” I answered.
She looked at the broken window.
“Don't touch anything. We'll document the damage.””
I pointed toward the house.
“He left through the back.””
Officers moved inside.
Officer Brooks stayed with us.
“Why would you come here without waiting for us?””
“I didn't know he'd be here.””
“That doesn't change the risk.””
“I know.””
She studied my face.
“Did you see anyone else?””
“No.””
Then an officer appeared in the doorway.
“Brooks, you need to see this.””
She turned.
“What is it?””
“We found a child's room.””
Danielle stood immediately.
“What?””
The officer looked uncomfortable.
“It's upstairs.””
Officer Brooks glanced at us.
“Stay here.””
But Danielle was already walking toward the house.
I followed her.
Inside, the hallway smelled of fresh paint and cleaning chemicals.
The living room was almost empty.
A small sofa.
A television.
Two cardboard boxes.
And a photograph of Lily sitting on a swing.
Danielle stopped.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Why does he have that?””
Officer Brooks approached the photograph.
“Do you recognize where it was taken?””
“Our backyard,” Danielle whispered.
We climbed the stairs.
At the end of the hallway was a small bedroom.
The walls were pale pink.
A white bed stood against one wall.
There was a little desk beneath the window, a shelf filled with children's books, and a wardrobe containing several dresses.
Danielle stepped inside.
“That's Lily's size.””
I looked at the bed.
A stuffed rabbit was sitting on the pillow.
Not her original rabbit.
A second one.
Identical.
On the desk lay a framed photograph of Lily and Ethan.
She was smiling, holding a box of crayons.
Ethan had his arm around her shoulders.
Danielle picked it up.
Her fingers trembled.
“When was this taken?””
I examined the photograph.
It was dated three weeks earlier.
My stomach turned.
On the desk was a notebook.
I opened it.
The first page contained a handwritten schedule.
*Monday — Call Lily.*
*Wednesday — Check whether Marcus has spoken to Danielle.*
*Friday — Bring Lily to blue house.*
I flipped to the next page.
There were several notes in Ethan's handwriting.
She wants to know when her father will move in.
Vanessa is getting nervous.
Need to keep Marcus distracted.
Then another entry.
Lily found the paperwork.
I stopped.
“What paperwork?”” Danielle asked.
I kept reading.
She asked why her name was on the account.
My chest tightened.
There was a final sentence beneath it.
If she tells Marcus, everything falls apart.
Officer Brooks took the notebook.
“Don't touch anything else.””
I nodded.
Then Danielle noticed a drawer slightly open.
Inside was a small pink folder.
She pulled it out.
“Officer?””
Brooks turned.
“What is it?””
Danielle opened the folder.
The first document was a school registration form.
Lily's name.
Her date of birth.
Our home address.
But the second document was something else.
A legal agreement.
At the top were the words:
*TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP AND RESIDENTIAL AUTHORIZATION.*
I felt dizzy.
“What is this?””
Officer Brooks took the document.
Her expression changed as she read.
“Mr. Reed, did you sign this?””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Danielle looked at the signature line.
It carried my name.
My signature.
And Danielle's.
But neither of us had signed it.
The document stated that Lily could temporarily reside at the blue house under the supervision of Ethan Miller.
I looked at the date.
It had been prepared six weeks earlier.
“Why would he need guardianship?”” I whispered.
Officer Brooks examined the remaining pages.
“There's a section authorizing emergency medical decisions.””
Danielle began shaking her head.
“No. No, this isn't real.””
Officer Brooks carefully placed the document in an evidence sleeve.
“We'll verify its origin.””
Then another officer called from downstairs.
“Brooks! We found a phone.””
She hurried toward the staircase.
We followed.
The device was hidden inside a kitchen cabinet.
It was an older smartphone.
Officer Brooks examined the screen.
“Can anyone identify this?””
I looked at it.
It was my old phone.
The one I'd lost several months earlier.
The one Ethan had told me must have fallen out of my car.
My throat went dry.
“That's mine.””
Officer Brooks looked up.
“Are you certain?””
“Yes.””
She carefully turned it over.
A crack ran across the back.
I remembered that crack.
I had dropped it in the office parking lot.
I thought I'd lost it forever.
Officer Brooks called a technician over.
The screen lit up.
There was one notification.
A saved voicemail.
The sender's name was displayed as Lily.
I stared at it.
“Play it,” I whispered.
Officer Brooks hesitated.
Then she handed the phone to the technician.
He pressed the recording.
A small voice filled the kitchen.
“Daddy, it's Lily. I know you said not to call, but I found something.””
A pause.
Then she whispered:
“Uncle Ethan has papers with your name on them. He said if you find out, he might go to jail.””
I covered my mouth.
The recording continued.
“I don't know what he did. But he told me not to tell Mommy.””
A faint sound came through.
A door opening.
Then Lily spoke again, even more quietly.
“Daddy, I think Uncle Ethan is trying to take me away.””
The recording ended.
Danielle collapsed against the kitchen counter.
I reached for her, but she was already crying too hard to stand.
Officer Brooks took the old phone.
“We'll need to examine this immediately.””
Then the technician noticed another notification.
A message received that morning.
It had been sent from Ethan's number.
If anyone finds the blue house, the next person who gets hurt won't be Lily.
I looked at Danielle.
She looked back at me.
And for the first time, I understood that whatever Ethan had been planning wasn't finished.
May you like
He was still out there.
And he knew we'd found the house.
