Brennan shook his head. “This place is a fortress compared to most. I’ve got two officers at your gate and another patrol car circling the perimeter. Just stay inside. Keep the security system armed and call immediately if you notice anything suspicious.”
After Brennan left, Edward joined Martha in helping Lily get ready for bed. The girl seemed to intuitively understand the gravity of the situation despite their careful phrasing, and she was subdued as Martha helped her into pajamas that had been stored in the dresser for two years.
“Will you play the piano?” Lily suddenly asked Edward as he was about to leave the room. “I remembered something today. You used to play a special song when I couldn’t sleep.”
Edward stopped in the doorway, emotion tightening his throat. “You remember that?”
Lily nodded, climbing into the bed that had waited so long for her return. “It was quiet and slow. And you made it up just for me. You called it ‘Emma’s Starlight.’”
Martha watched from the bedside as Edward struggled to compose himself. “I haven’t played in two years,” he admitted. “Not since…”
“Please,” Lily asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.
Unable to refuse, Edward led them into the living room where the grand piano sat against the wall of windows overlooking the lake. Moonlight streamed through the glass, illuminating the instrument that had been silent since the night Emma disappeared. Hesitantly, he lifted the lid and sat on the bench, his fingers hovering over the keys. For a moment, he feared he’d forgotten how to play, that that part of himself had been lost along with his daughter.
Then, slowly, his hands found the familiar pattern, and the gentle melody of the lullaby he’d composed for Emma’s fifth birthday filled the room. Lily closed her eyes, a peaceful expression settling over her features as the music washed over her. Martha watched them both, tears silently tracking down her lined cheeks.
As the final notes faded, Lily opened her eyes. “I remember now,” she said softly. “You played that every night before bed. And then you’d say, ‘Sweet dreams, my little stargazer.’”
Edward nodded, unable to speak. It had been their nightly ritual, one he’d never shared with anyone outside the family.
Later, after Lily had fallen asleep in her childhood bed, Edward and Martha sat in the kitchen—both too wired to sleep despite the emotional exhaustion of the day.
“She’s remembering more and more,” Martha observed, holding a cup of tea. “Soon, she’ll have all of Emma’s memories back.”
“Does that bother you?” Edward asked gently.
Martha considered the question. “Less than I thought it would,” she admitted. “Seeing her face light up with recognition—it’s like watching her become more whole. I can’t begrudge her that. Even if it means she’s remembering a life that didn’t include me.”
“She’ll always include you now,” Edward assured her. “You’re as much a part of her story as I am.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the sharp chime of the security alarm. Edward was on his feet in an instant, checking his phone to see which zone had been breached. The perimeter sensor by the lake was flashing red.
“Stay here,” he instructed Martha, already moving toward the alarm panel. “I’m going to check the cameras.”
Before he could reach the security hub, the power cut out, plunging the house into darkness. The emergency lights kicked in a few moments later, casting an eerie glow in the hallways.
“He cut the power,” Edward realized aloud. “The backup generator should kick in soon, but the security system will only be on emergency mode.”
Martha stood up, her expression determined rather than frightened. “I’ll get Lily. We should stay together.”
As she hurried to Emma’s bedroom, Edward reached for his phone to call Brennan, only to find he had no signal. The landline was also dead.
“Cell jammer,” he muttered, a cold certainty settling over him. Robert had planned this carefully, using his technical knowledge of Harrison Tech’s security systems against his former partner.
Martha returned with a sleepy Lily, who was clutching Cosmo the bear tightly. “The guards at the gate?” Martha asked.
Edward shook his head. “I can’t reach them. We have to assume they’ve been neutralized somehow. We need to…”
The sound of breaking glass from the sunroom interrupted him. Someone was in the house.
Without hesitation, Edward ushered Martha and Lily toward his home office—the only room with reinforced walls and a door that could be locked with a manual deadbolt rather than an electronic one.
“In here,” he whispered, pushing them inside. “Lock the door behind me. Don’t open it for anyone but me or the police.”
“Where are you going?” Martha demanded, clutching Lily protectively.
“To stop Robert before he gets to this part of the house,” Edward said grimly. “Lock the door, Martha. Keep her safe.”
As the heavy door clicked shut, Edward moved silently through the darkened corridors of his home. He had no weapon, but he had the advantage of knowing every inch of the layout. Robert, despite having visited many times, was less familiar with the floor plan, especially in the dark. A sound of movement came from the great room—a scrape of furniture, a creak of a floorboard. Edward took a position in the shadows of the dining room, waiting for the footsteps to approach.
“I know you’re here, Ed,” Robert’s voice called out, unnervingly calm. “You’ve made quite a mess of things, you know. The Global Tech sale was almost finalized. We’d all have been rich beyond imagining.”
“We were already rich, Robert,” Edward replied, intentionally projecting his voice to draw his former partner away from the office where Lily and Martha were hiding. “What happened to you? We built Harrison Tech to change the world, not to sell it to the highest bidder.”
Robert’s laugh echoed through the dark house. “Always the idealist. That’s why you could never see the big picture. Some of us want more than just ‘enough.’”
The footsteps changed direction, moving toward Edward’s voice. He slipped quietly around the massive dining table, keeping it between himself and the approaching threat.
“So you tried to have me killed?”
