Chapter 10
The children's wing of the Vance estate was bathed in a pale, amber glow from the hallway nightlights. The heavy oak door to Lily’s bedroom stood slightly ajar, casting a narrow strip of warm light across the Persian runner in the corridor.
Derek walked silently, his leather-soled shoes making no sound against the thick carpeting. He stopped outside the door, peering through the gap.
Lily sat on the edge of her white canopy bed, her back turned toward the entrance. She was holding the worn cloth doll in her lap, whispering softly to it as tears finally traced slow, silent paths down her flushed cheeks. The room was immaculate, decorated with pastel pastels and expensive antique toys that felt more like museum artifacts than playthings for a seven-year-old child.
Derek pushed the door open wider, the hinges emitting a faint, high-pitched squeak.
Lily stiffened instantly. She pulled the doll tightly against her chest, turning her head just enough to catch his reflection in the mirrored wardrobe door. She didn't scream or cry out; her small body simply locked into a posture of absolute, defensive terror.
"Lily," Derek said softly, stepping into the room. He forced his facial expression to soften, adopting the practiced, gentle cadence of a loving father addressing a frightened child. "Put the doll down, sweetheart. It's getting late, and we need to talk."
Lily scrambled backward across the mattress until her back hit the headboard, clutching the doll like a shield. "No! You can't have it! Mommy gave it to me!"
Derek stopped a few feet from the bed. He raised his hands slowly, palms open and empty, showing he posed no immediate physical threat. "I don't want to hurt you, Lily. But that doll... it has something inside it that doesn't belong to you. It's a secret that's causing a lot of trouble for our family."
"It's not a secret!" Lily sobbed, her voice cracking with raw emotion. "Mommy said it's our protection! She said if anything happened to her, I had to keep it safe until the police came!"
Derek’s mask of calm paternal patience slipped for a fraction of a second. A dark flash of anger crossed his features, but he reeled it in with supreme effort. He took another slow step forward, closing the distance between them.
"The police aren't going to help you, Lily," Derek said, his voice dropping into a cold, hypnotic whisper. "They can't protect you from the reality of what happened. Give me the doll, and everything goes back to normal. We can take a trip, just you and me, like we used to."
Before Lily could react, a sharp, metallic sound echoed from the far end of the hallway—the heavy front doors of the estate downstairs swinging open, followed by the unmistakable, authoritative voices of police officers announcing their presence.
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"San Francisco Police Department! Open up with a judicial warrant!"
Derek froze, his head snapping toward the door. Time had run out.
