part 6
PART 6
Richard called Natalie.
The line rang once.
Then connected.
No video.
Only breath.
Small.
Shaking.
Alive.
“Dad?”
Richard sat down on the concrete floor of the storage unit because his legs could not hold him.
“Starling.”
A sob came through the speaker.
He broke with it.
For two years, he had spoken to marble, photographs, and air.
Now his daughter was crying into a phone.
Mara motioned for silence.
The call was being recorded.
“Natalie, where are you?” Richard asked.
“I don’t know if I can tell you.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
Her voice tightened.
“They said Linda would know if I called.”
Richard looked at Linda.
Linda looked away.
Natalie continued.
“They told me you signed papers.”
“They said you said I needed treatment.”
“They said I was dangerous.”
Richard whispered, “I never signed anything.”
Linda closed her eyes.
Mara stepped closer.
“What papers, Natalie?”
Natalie hesitated.
“A guardianship transfer.”
“A clinic.”
“They kept me there for months.”
“I ran.”
Richard’s vision blurred.
A clinic.
His daughter had been alive while he held a memorial.
Alive while he blamed himself for not taking her keys.
Alive while Linda slept beside him.
“Natalie, listen to me.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
“I thought you were dead.”
Silence.
Then a sound Richard would remember forever.
His daughter trying to believe him.
“I graduate tomorrow,” she whispered.
“I kept going under another name.”
“I wanted you to know once.”
Richard wiped his face.
“I am coming to you.”
“No.”
“There are people watching.”
Mara leaned in.
“Natalie, this is Mara Quinn.”
“I was a detective.”
“I know your father.”
“Send us anything near you.”
“Street sound, landmark, school color, anything.”
Natalie breathed fast.
Then whispered, “Blue banners.”
“St. Agnes Academy.”
“Portland.”
Mara began typing immediately.
Richard looked at Linda.
“How did she end up in Oregon?”
Linda said nothing.
Mark finally spoke.
“She was supposed to stay gone.”
The storage unit went silent.
Mara turned slowly.
“Thank you, Mark.”
Richard stood.
May you like
The grief in him had become something else entirely.
Read the full story 👉 Natalie revealed she had been placed in a clinic under false papers, and Mark admitted she was supposed to stay gone.
