PART 18: “The Missing Six Months”
Detective Brooks projected a timeline onto the conference room screen.
Colored markers stretched across nearly twelve years.
Medical records.
School reports.
Financial documents.
Witness interviews.
Photographs.
Every major event had found its place.
Except one.
Brooks pointed to a blank section in the middle of the timeline.
“From February through July, six years ago, we have almost nothing.”
Melissa studied the screen.
“That’s strange.”
“My brother documented everything.”
“So did my father.”
Karen Douglas looked thoughtful.
“Emily would have been starting first grade around then.”
Brooks nodded.
“Exactly.”
“We have school attendance records.”
“But almost nothing about what was happening at home.”
Dr. Harper reviewed the dates.
“There are no emergency room visits during that period either.”
I stared at the timeline.
Then something stirred in my memory.
“I remember moving.”
Everyone looked at me.
“We didn’t change cities.”
“We changed houses.”
Brooks immediately wrote it down.
“You moved during those six months?”
“Yes.”
“It happened very quickly.”
Richard had insisted the move was necessary.
He said the old neighborhood had become unsafe.
At the time, I believed him.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
Brooks turned to Melissa.
“Do you remember the move?”
She nodded slowly.
“I helped pack a few boxes.”
Her expression suddenly changed.
“Wait…”
“What is it?” Brooks asked.
“My father rented a storage unit.”
“A storage unit?”
“Just for a few months.”
“He said there were family records he didn’t want misplaced during the move.”
Brooks stopped writing.
“Do you know where?”
“I might.”
She reached into her purse and removed her phone.
After scrolling through several old photographs, she stopped.
“I took a picture of Dad cleaning out his wallet after the move.”
She enlarged the image.
Tucked behind one of his credit cards was a small storage facility access card.
The company name was still visible.
Brooks smiled.
“Can you send that to me?”
“Of course.”
Within seconds, his phone chimed.
He studied the image carefully.
“The facility is still operating.”
Ms. Alvarez leaned forward.
“If the rental records still exist, they could tell us whether the unit was ever emptied.”
Brooks nodded.
“Or whether something was left behind.”
Emily quietly walked over carrying the yellow drawing Lily had made earlier.
She placed it on my lap.
“I think this is where we’re going.”
I smiled.
“Where?”
“Our new beginning.”
I hugged her gently.
“I hope so.”
Just then, Brooks’ phone rang again.
He answered.
“Brooks speaking.”
He listened for nearly a minute without interrupting.
When the call ended, he looked around the room.
“I have two updates.”
“The first is that the storage company confirmed a unit was rented in Thomas Collins’ name during the exact six-month gap.”
Melissa held her breath.
“And the second?”
Brooks closed his notebook.
“The records show the unit was never officially closed.”
The room fell completely silent.
“If that’s correct,” Dr. Harper said quietly, “whatever was placed there may still be waiting.”
Brooks nodded.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll find out.”
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