CHAPTER 5 – THE HUNT FOR ANNIE
CHAPTER 5 – THE HUNT FOR ANNIE
Richard Whitmore had spent forty years building one of the largest business empires in Georgia.
By noon...
He was using every dollar of it to find one little girl.
His security chief burst into the conference room carrying a tablet.
"We've reviewed the estate cameras."
Richard snatched it from his hands.
The footage showed Annie leaving through the side garden at 9:12 that morning.
She still wore the oversized sweater Margaret had given her.
The black trash bag hung over one shoulder.
She stopped beside the horse pasture.
Grace, the old mare, walked to the fence.
Annie hugged the horse's neck one last time.
Then she disappeared through the east gate.
Richard closed his eyes.
"She thought she was protecting us."
The security chief nodded.
"Looks that way."
Richard looked around the room.
"Every vehicle we own is on the road."
"Yes, sir."
"I don't care about fuel costs."
"Already done."
"Private investigators."
"They've been called."
"The sheriff."
"They're coordinating."
"News stations?"
The room fell silent.
Daniel carefully said, "If we make this public... the press will also learn about Riverside Court."
Richard didn't hesitate.
"Then they learn."
Within thirty minutes, every television station in Atlanta interrupted regular programming.
A photograph of Annie appeared on the screen.
Not as a runaway.
As a missing child.
Richard himself stood before the cameras.
The billionaire almost never gave live interviews.
Today his voice shook.
"If Annie Williams is watching this..."
He paused.
"You are not in trouble."
"You did nothing wrong."
"You don't have to protect anyone."
"You already saved more people than you know."
Every newsroom in Georgia replayed those words.
Meanwhile...
Annie sat on a bench outside a downtown bus station.
She had twenty-three dollars.
Most of it was loose change collected from the pockets of her grandmother's old coats.
She stared at a route map.
She wasn't trying to leave Atlanta.
She simply wanted to find somewhere cheap enough to sleep.
Nearby, two women watched the television mounted above the waiting area.
"...Authorities continue searching for eleven-year-old Annie Williams..."
One woman gasped.
"Oh, that poor thing."
The other pointed toward the screen.
"The old man looks heartbroken."
Annie slowly turned around.
Richard's face filled the television.
"If you're scared..."
"...come back."
"No one will ever force you onto the street again."
Tears filled Annie's eyes.
"He doesn't know," she whispered.
She believed Victoria would destroy Richard if she returned.
So she quietly stood...
...and walked away.
At that same moment...
Victoria Whitmore sat inside the back seat of a black Mercedes.
Across from her sat Thomas Callaway.
The building manager looked nervous.
"The police are searching everywhere."
Victoria remained calm.
"They're searching for a child."
"They'll find her."
"No."
Victoria shook her head.
"They'll find a witness."
Callaway swallowed.
"What do you want me to do?"
She handed him a photograph of Annie.
"Find her first."
"What if she refuses to come?"
Victoria looked directly into his eyes.
"She won't refuse."
"And if she tells Richard everything?"
Victoria's expression turned icy.
"Then make sure she never gets the chance."
Callaway stared at her.
"You don't mean—"
"I mean exactly what you think I mean."
For the first time...
Thomas Callaway realized the woman paying him was far more dangerous than he had imagined.
Late that afternoon...
Richard visited Riverside Court himself.
The apartment complex looked nothing like the reports he had been receiving.
Broken elevators.
Peeling paint.
Boarded windows.
Children playing beside overflowing dumpsters.
Residents gathered the moment they recognized him.
At first...
They shouted.
"You abandoned us!"
"My mother died waiting for repairs!"
"They doubled our rent!"
"You promised affordable housing!"
Richard didn't defend himself.
He simply listened.
An elderly man stepped forward.
"My wife froze last winter because management shut off the heat."
A young mother held up eviction notices.
"We paid every month."
Another resident spoke.
"They kept saying, 'Mrs. Whitmore approved it.'"
Richard felt each sentence like another stone tied around his neck.
He had built Whitmore Community Housing to honor his late mother.
Instead...
It had become a machine that preyed on the very people it was meant to protect.
Then an elderly woman pushed through the crowd.
Her name was Helen.
Richard immediately recognized it.
"Mrs. Helen?"
She nodded.
"I'm the one who helped Annie pack."
Richard stepped closer.
"Do you know where she might go?"
Helen hesitated.
Then she remembered something.
"Her grandma always told her..."
"If you're ever scared..."
"...go where your mother used to sing."
Richard frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"The old church."
"Which church?"
"St. Matthew's."
Richard turned immediately.
"Let's go."
Across town...
The abandoned St. Matthew's Church had been closed for years.
Dust floated through broken stained-glass windows.
Annie sat alone in the front pew.
She clutched her grandmother's Bible.
"I'm sorry, Grandma..."
She whispered.
"I couldn't save our apartment."
Footsteps echoed behind her.
She froze.
Slowly...
She turned around.
Thomas Callaway stood in the doorway.
Smiling.
"There you are."
Annie's face drained of color.
"You shouldn't have run."
She backed away.
"I don't want to go with you."
"You don't have a choice."
He stepped closer.
"Mrs. Whitmore wants to help."
"I don't believe you."
His smile disappeared.
"Believe me anyway."
May you like
He reached for her arm.
Annie screamed.
