Chapter 1 - The Chain on the Porch
“Go ahead and cry. No one’s coming to save you.”
Walter kicked the piece of bread across the frozen porch.
Sixteen-month-old Lily reached after it instinctively.
The chain around her little winter coat snapped tight against the porch post.
She whimpered.
Walter didn’t move.
He simply stood over her, hands buried in the pockets of his charcoal jacket, watching his granddaughter tremble in the freezing afternoon air.
Then the backyard gate crashed open.
“LILY!”
Claire ran so fast she nearly slipped on the icy walkway.
She saw the chain.
The padlock.
Her daughter’s red cheeks.
And Walter.
For half a second, Claire couldn’t breathe.
Then she dropped beside Lily.
“Oh my God. Baby, Mommy’s here.”
Lily clung to her.
Walter scoffed.
“She’s fine.”
Claire turned slowly.
“You chained my daughter to a post.”
“She needed discipline.”
“She’s sixteen months old!”
Walter stepped closer.
“Dogs need to be chained up.”
Claire stood.
Her palm cracked across his face.
Walter staggered backward and fell hard onto the deck.
A keyring slipped from his pocket.
Claire grabbed it.
Within seconds, the lock opened.
The chain fell.
Claire wrapped Lily inside her pink coat and held her tightly.
“You will never lay a hand on her again.”
Walter climbed to his feet.
But suddenly Lily stopped crying.
She stared past Claire.
At the old wooden storage door at the opposite end of the porch.
Her tiny body stiffened.
She pointed.
Walter followed her finger.
His face changed.
“Lily?”
Claire whispered.
Lily’s lips trembled.
“Mommy…”
Claire turned toward the door.
Then Lily whispered words Claire would remember for the rest of her life.
“He didn’t do it alone.”
Walter went completely pale.
A floorboard creaked behind the wooden door.
May you like
Claire froze.
Someone was inside.
