A Caged Songbird's Escape: Into the Arms of a Predator novel Chapter 143

The moment Elissa finished speaking, she saw a brutal edge flash across Frank’s face. His eyes narrowed, every line of his jaw taut with

suppressed violence.

He stared her down, voice low and hard. “You’re certain–you’re not mistaken?”

Elissa had never seen him look at her like that. Instinctively, she shrank back until her shoulders pressed against the car door.

“I’m sure. Absolutely.”

The hand Frank planted on the door tightened, knuckles whitening as the veins stood out.

He fought to keep his temper in check. “Then… do you and this friend of yours still keep in touch?”

He didn’t really expect much. After three years of marriage–and knowing Elissa even longer–he’d practically never seen her with any friends her own age besides Tanya Foster.

But Tanya was a Vistapeak City native.

Elissa couldn’t figure out what he was getting at, so she just said, “No, we’ve lost contact.”

She tugged on the car door. “I have things to do. Let me out, please.”

“…Fine.”

Frank slowly released his grip. He waited until her car disappeared down the street before his face darkened. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a number.

“Bernard, get me the records from Pine Hill Orphanage for that year.”

“All of them?” Bernard sounded surprised.

Frank’s gaze sharpened. “Just the children who were about a year older or

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younger than Marcia.”

“Sir, I’m already working on that,” Bernard replied. “I’ve combed through the orphanage records from back then; there weren’t many kids close to Ms. Carson’s age. Even fewer who fit the criteria you gave me. But there was one little girl who matches–local to Cresthaven, five years old. Before the police brought her to the orphanage, she lived near Moonlake Park…”

Frank cut him off. “Moonlake Park?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Bernard hesitated, then continued, “But her situation was unusual. I found out through some contacts that she was the orphaned child of narcotics officers–both parents killed in the line of duty. When she was brought to the orphanage, the police changed her name completely to protect her from possible retaliation by criminal gangs. There’s no trace of her original name anywhere.”

Frank felt a vein throb at his temple. “Where is she now?”

“No idea yet,” Bernard admitted. “She was adopted just two months after arriving. I tried to follow the trail based on the adoptive family’s info, but I’ve hit a dead end.”

Frank’s frustration boiled over. He slammed his fist into the side of the car, leaving a dent.

Bernard’s voice was still coming through the phone, but Frank’s mind had drifted far from the conversation.

Twenty years ago, he’d been ten, visiting his grandfather’s house in Cresthaven with his parents for New Year’s.

But snow had made the roads slick, and just outside Moonlake Park, a

truck skidded across the center line, crushing the driver’s side of their

car.

His father died instantly. His mother was left unconscious. Frank, banged up in the back seat, was terrified and helpless–until a little girl tugged a policeman by the hand and ran over.

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“Daddy, Daddy, please help this boy…”

The officer pulled Frank out first, then called for backup.

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