The officers reached the abandoned property just after sunset.<\/p>\n
Rain had turned the dirt road into a strip of mud, and the police vehicles had to stop near the gate. Beyond it stood a small, neglected house surrounded by weeds and black trees.<\/p>\n
Detective Alvarez arrived with the state police team.<\/p>\n
I remained at the hospital with Renata.<\/p>\n
She watched the rain sliding down the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's where she is,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I didn't ask how she knew.<\/p>\n
The detective had already promised to call.<\/p>\n
Within twenty minutes, my phone rang.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found the entrance,\u201d Alvarez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the underground room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Daniela there?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven't reached the room yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's a steel door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocked?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I heard metal striking metal in the background.<\/p>\n
Renata looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them to hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have to hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed the phone closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata whispered, \u201cThe water.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat water?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me the room floods when it rains.\u201d<\/p>\n
I repeated that to Alvarez.<\/p>\n
There was silence.<\/p>\n
Then the detective said, \u201cTell her to explain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a pipe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it rains too much, water comes through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alvarez immediately relayed the warning to the officers.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, she called again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe door is open.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they find?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA narrow concrete stairway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFootprints.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFresh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cChild-sized?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officers descended.<\/p>\n
Their body cameras recorded everything.<\/p>\n
The stairway was barely wide enough for one person. Water ran along the edges, carrying dirt toward a drain.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was a corridor.<\/p>\n
On one wall, someone had scratched dates into the concrete.<\/p>\n
1998.<\/p>\n
1999.<\/p>\n
2000.<\/p>\n
2001.<\/p>\n
2002.<\/p>\n
2003.<\/p>\n
The newest date was from three days earlier.<\/p>\n
Beside it were two initials.<\/p>\n
D.M.<\/p>\n
Detective Alvarez sent me a photograph.<\/p>\n
Renata saw it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few seconds later, Alvarez called.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe've reached the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn't speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cDetective?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's a mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs anyone on it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFood wrappers. Water bottles. A blanket.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniela?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata covered her face.<\/p>\n
I felt the disappointment move through the room like cold air.<\/p>\n
Then Alvarez said, \u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the officers found something beneath the mattress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlastic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniela's.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective examined it.<\/p>\n
Her voice changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has a name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniela.\u201d<\/p>\n
I began crying.<\/p>\n
Not because we had found her.<\/p>\n
Because we had found another piece proving she had been there.<\/p>\n
The search continued.<\/p>\n
The officers photographed every wall.<\/p>\n
One contained children's drawings.<\/p>\n
Another held a row of pencil marks.<\/p>\n
There were thirty-one.<\/p>\n
Most had dates beside them.<\/p>\n
Two did not.<\/p>\n
Alvarez called again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're doing it carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first contained old photographs.<\/p>\n
The second contained notebooks.<\/p>\n
The third contained attendance records.<\/p>\n
The fourth contained medical forms.<\/p>\n
The fifth contained photographs of children.<\/p>\n
The sixth was empty.<\/p>\n
The seventh had only one item.<\/p>\n
A red scarf.<\/p>\n
Renata stared at the photograph Alvarez sent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't Daniela's.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective opened the notebook from the second box.<\/p>\n
Its pages contained names.<\/p>\n
Some had been crossed out.<\/p>\n
Others had notes beside them.<\/p>\n
\u201cTransferred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFamily notified.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some names had only one word.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissing.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were eleven.<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are from decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective's voice became quieter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wasn't created recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the people we're dealing with may have been doing this for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Renata.<\/p>\n
She had gone very still.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniela told me not to trust the list.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said some children weren't missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said some of them came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were their names crossed out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective heard everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cRenata, did Daniela ever mention where those children went?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said some went home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said some stayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed toward the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective went silent.<\/p>\n
Then an officer shouted something in the background.<\/p>\n
Alvarez moved away from the phone.<\/p>\n
I heard footsteps.<\/p>\n
Then her voice returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found another passage.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart sank.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere does it lead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUp.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
A minute later she said, \u201cIt opens beneath the retreat house.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same property.<\/p>\n
The same building where the camp had continued operating.<\/p>\n
A hidden network beneath it.<\/p>\n
I asked the question I was afraid to ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Daniela have been moved through it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould she still be there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata suddenly stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore they took her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata's voice trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said if she ever disappeared, she'd leave a trail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Alvarez heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of trail?\u201d<\/p>\n
Renata looked toward the rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cRed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officers reached the abandoned property just after sunset. Rain had turned the dirt road into a strip of mud, and the police vehicles had to stop near the gate. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15289,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15262\/revisions\/15289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}