Her throat tightened, but she left a message.
“Ryan… she’s here. She’s alive. If you can hear this—if you’re anywhere near—just know she’s safe.”
She didn’t say I forgive you.
She didn’t say I’m scared.
When she stepped back into the hall, Deputy Harris was speaking with Brandon.
“No missing child report filed locally,” he was saying. “We’re expanding the radius.”
Lauren’s stomach dropped.
No report meant one of two things:
Either no one knew the child was missing.
Or the people who did know weren’t calling police.
Continue on the next page:
