Chapter 7 - The Desperate Search
Panic seized the mansion. Daniel rushed to Grace’s side as security guards fanned out across the estate, shouting into radios and searching every room, closet, and garden corner.
Grace was on her knees near the open side door, crying hysterically as she held the small wooden bunny that Lucy had dropped during the chaotic struggle.
"It's my fault! I lost her hand!" Grace sobbed, her heart breaking into a thousand pieces. "Daniel, I'm so sorry!"
Daniel helped her up, his own heart pounding with terrifying speed, but he gripped her shoulders firmly. "Look at me, Grace. This wasn't an accident. Someone planned this smoke. We are going to find her. Together."
Daniel immediately ordered a full lockdown of the grounds. His elite private security team sealed all gates and pulled CCTV footage. Within fifteen minutes, they spotted the truth: a masked figure in a service uniform had snatched the frightened child during the panic and carried her toward the dense woods bordering the back of the estate.
Grace examined the footage closely, her keen eyes catching a critical detail that everyone else missed.
"Look at his shoes!" Grace pointed at the monitor. "He's wearing mud-caked construction boots with a specific red logo. That isn't a estate employee—that's from the maintenance crew working on the old boathouse near the lake!"
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Without waiting for the security detail, Daniel and Grace dashed out into the pouring rain, sprinting down the overgrown trail leading toward the estate's private lake.
The storm raged around them, lightning illuminating the dark woods. Grace ignored the thorny bushes tearing at her clothes and the cold mud slipping beneath her feet. Her only thought was the terrified little girl who had finally learned to smile again.
