CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN WHO NEVER EXISTED
CHAPTER 2: THE WOMAN WHO NEVER EXISTED
The station became a whirlwind of activity.
Paramedics checked the baby.
Detectives were called in.
Child services arrived.
But Deputy Evan stayed with the little girl.
Her name was Lily.
And every answer she gave only deepened the mystery.
She described a small cabin hidden deep in the woods outside town.
She said her mother rarely left.
She said they were always hiding from "the men."
"What men?" Evan asked.
Lily shook her head.
"Mom said they wore smiles when other people were watching."
By sunrise, a search team headed into the forest.
What they found shocked everyone.
The cabin existed.
So did evidence that someone had lived there for years.
Children's drawings.
Medicine bottles.
Blankets.
Photographs.
Hundreds of photographs.
Many showed Sarah Monroe holding baby Lily.
Others showed a second child—the infant now sleeping safely at the hospital.
But the most disturbing discovery was hidden beneath a loose floorboard.
A metal box.
Inside were newspaper clippings.
Missing persons reports.
Court documents.
And photographs of powerful local officials.
Judges.
Business owners.
Even former police officers.
Every photo had dates and notes written beside it.
Sarah had been documenting something.
Building a case.
Collecting evidence.
Then investigators found the final page.
At the top was a single sentence.
If anything happens to me, start with Mayor Richard Hale.
The room fell silent.
May you like
Because Mayor Hale was not only the most respected man in Briar Glen.
He was currently running for state governor.
