“No…” she whispered weakly. “That’s impossible.”
The child wiped her tears with trembling fingers.
“My mommy died three days ago.”
A shocked gasp spread through the crowd.
Victoria’s face lost all color.
The little girl carefully reached into her coat pocket again.
This time, she pulled out a silver necklace.
Victoria stopped breathing.
It was the necklace she had given her sister twenty years earlier.
The same necklace she thought had been buried with her.
“You know this?” the girl asked quietly.
Victoria’s lips trembled.
“That belonged to my sister…”
“She told me to find you before she died.”
The security guard slowly lowered his radio.
Even the guests recording began lowering their phones.
The little girl stepped closer.
“She said you were scared.”
Victoria’s eyes filled instantly.
“No…” she whispered.
“She said you didn’t abandon us because you were evil.”
The girl’s voice cracked.
“She said somebody made you disappear.”
Victoria suddenly looked toward the hotel entrance.
Fear flooded her face.
Because standing outside the glass doors—
watching from the rain—
was a tall man in a black coat.
The moment Victoria saw him, she panicked.
“Get down!” she screamed.
The hotel doors BURST open.
The man pulled out a gun.
Guests started screaming.
Phones crashed onto the marble floor.
Security rushed forward.
Victoria grabbed the little girl and threw both of them behind the concierge desk as gunshots exploded through the lobby.
Glass shattered everywhere.
The little girl cried in terror.
Victoria held her tightly for the first time in her life.
Then Victoria looked directly into the child’s eyes and whispered:
“He found us.”
The gunman slowly walked through the smoke and broken glass.
Then he smiled.
“Family reunion’s over.”
