The second basement door opened.

Two officers entered the storage room, followed by paramedics.

Rachel sat on a narrow mattress beneath a small window.

She was pale, weak, and visibly exhausted.

But she was alive.

"Rachel?" Michael whispered.

She looked toward him.

For a moment, neither could speak.

Then tears filled her eyes.

"You came."

Michael knelt beside her.

"I thought I'd lost you."

Rachel touched his hand.

"Evelyn told me you'd stopped looking."

Michael shook his head.

"Never."

Rachel explained that she'd confronted Evelyn about suspicious transfers from her family's savings before the disappearance.

Evelyn had arranged to meet her near the river, then held her captive and used the abandoned car to make everyone believe an accident had occurred.

Michael covered his face.

"I should have known."

Rachel shook her head.

"She lied to both of us."

Upstairs, Harper waited beside a police officer.

She clutched her little butterfly and watched every movement near the basement stairs.

Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Where's my little butterfly?"

Harper turned.

Chapter cliffhanger: Her mother was being carried upstairs.