Chapter 2
Rachel’s first instinct was to demand the truth.
Her second was to protect her daughter.
The second instinct won.
She lifted Mia into her arms and carried her away from the pit.
Mia buried her dusty face against Rachel’s neck.
Her small body trembled.
“I tried to climb,” she whispered. “The dirt kept falling.”
Rachel’s heart squeezed painfully.
“You’re safe now.”
Claire followed them across the yard.
“Rachel, wait.”
Rachel did not turn around.
“Stay away from us.”
“You need to hear what happened.”
“I heard enough.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Claire hurried closer and reached toward Rachel’s arm.
Rachel spun so quickly that Claire stumbled backward.
“Do not touch me.”
Claire froze.
Rachel had known Claire for eight years.
She had seen her angry, sarcastic, jealous, and cruel.
She had never seen her frightened.
Not like this.
Claire’s face had lost all color.
Her eyes kept moving from the bracelet in Rachel’s hand to the road beyond the house.
It was as if she expected someone to arrive.
“Who are you waiting for?” Rachel asked.
“No one.”
“You keep looking at the road.”
“I’m trying to make sure Mia is okay.”
“You put her in a pit.”
“I didn’t put her there.”
Mia lifted her head.
“Yes, you did.”
Claire’s lips tightened.
“Mia, sweetheart, you’re confused.”
“I’m not confused.”
Rachel felt a flash of pride through her rage.
Mia’s voice was small, but she did not look away.
Claire had always talked over her.
This time, Mia refused to disappear beneath the adult lie.
“She carried me,” Mia said. “She said we were playing hide-and-seek. Then she took the red thing from her pocket. I picked it up when she dropped it.”
Claire took another step back.
Rachel stared at the bracelet.
Daniel Mercer.
Her husband.
The printed admission date was fourteen days earlier.
The same Monday Daniel claimed he had flown to Denver.
Rachel remembered driving him to the airport.
She had watched him enter the terminal.
He had called that night from what sounded like a hotel room.
He had complained about the mountain weather.
He had sent her a photograph of snow outside his window.
Had all of it been staged?
“Which hospital?” Rachel asked.
Claire shook her head.
“I can’t tell you.”
Rachel almost laughed.
“You put my child in danger, and you think you still control this conversation?”
“You don’t understand what will happen.”
“To whom?”
Claire said nothing.
“To Daniel?”
Silence.
“To Mia?”
Claire’s eyes flickered.
Rachel caught it.
She tightened her hold on her daughter.
“What danger is Mia in?”
“I never wanted her hurt.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“I was supposed to keep her away from the shed.”
“Why?”
Claire looked toward the weathered wooden structure behind them.
The shed had belonged to Daniel and Claire’s father.
After he died, Daniel inherited the family property.
Claire had been living in the farmhouse temporarily while her apartment was renovated.
At least, that was the story she had told them.
Rachel had brought Mia over that afternoon because Claire offered to watch her for two hours.
Rachel had trusted her.
That trust now felt like poison.
“What is inside the shed?” Rachel asked.
“Nothing.”
“Then why did you need to keep Mia away?”
“She saw me come out.”
“With the bracelet?”
Claire pressed her lips together.
Rachel carried Mia toward the house.
Claire moved into her path.
“You can’t go inside.”
Rachel stopped.
“Move.”
“Please listen to me.”
“Move, Claire.”
“If Daniel finds out you know, everything gets worse.”
That sentence hit Rachel harder than a confession.
Not if Daniel heard about it.
If Daniel found out she knew.
Her husband was part of this.
Perhaps he was at the center of it.
Rachel pulled out her phone.
Claire lunged.
Rachel turned her body, shielding Mia, and shoved Claire away with one arm.
Claire fell against the porch railing.
“Are you insane?” Rachel shouted.
“Don’t call him!”
“I’m calling the police.”
Claire’s expression broke.
“No!”
She reached again, but Rachel stepped beyond her.
“I will tell you everything,” Claire cried. “Just don’t call them.”
Rachel’s finger hovered over the screen.
“Start talking.”
Claire looked toward Mia.
“Not in front of her.”
“You gave up the right to decide what happens around my daughter.”
“Rachel, this isn’t only about Daniel.”
“What hospital?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“St. Catherine’s.”
Rachel knew the name.
It was a private medical center nearly two hours away.
Daniel had once joked that ordinary people needed a second mortgage just to enter its lobby.
“Room 614?” Rachel asked, reading the number on the bracelet.
Claire nodded.
“Why was Daniel there?”
“He collapsed.”
Rachel’s anger paused beneath a rush of fear.
“What?”
“Two weeks ago. At work.”
“Daniel doesn’t work with you.”
“He wasn’t at work.”
“Then where was he?”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“At Dad’s old warehouse.”
Rachel stared at her.
The warehouse had been abandoned for years.
Daniel claimed it was empty and waiting to be sold.
He had forbidden Rachel from going there because the building was unsafe.
“Why was he at the warehouse?”
“I can’t explain it out here.”
Rachel glanced at the pit.
She saw marks in the loose earth.
Small fingerprints.
Mia’s fingerprints.
“No,” Rachel said. “You don’t get to invite us inside and pretend this is a civilized conversation.”
A vehicle turned onto the gravel road.
Claire’s head snapped toward it.
A black SUV approached the house.
Rachel had never seen it before.
Claire whispered a curse.
“Who is that?”
Claire did not answer.
The SUV stopped behind Rachel’s car.
A tall man in a dark jacket got out.
He looked to be in his late fifties.
Silver hair.
Hard eyes.
He did not seem surprised to see Rachel.
He seemed disappointed.
“Mrs. Mercer,” he said.
Rachel backed toward her car.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Dr. Thomas Vale.”
Claire wrapped her arms around herself.
“You shouldn’t have come.”
Dr. Vale ignored her.
His gaze settled on the hospital bracelet.
“I believe you have something that belongs to your husband.”
“It was in Claire’s possession.”
The doctor’s expression changed slightly.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
“Daniel is my patient,” he said.
“Why?”
“I’m not permitted to disclose private medical information.”
“Then leave.”
“I can’t do that.”
Rachel opened the rear door and placed Mia inside.
She fastened the child’s seat belt while keeping one eye on Claire and the doctor.
Mia clutched Rachel’s sleeve.
“Come with me, Mommy.”
“I’m right here.”
Rachel closed the door and stood between Mia and the strangers.
Dr. Vale lowered his voice.
“Your husband suffered a serious neurological event.”
“What kind?”
“I should discuss that with Daniel present.”
“Where is he?”
The doctor hesitated.
Rachel felt the world shift beneath her.
Daniel was supposed to be at work.
He had kissed her that morning.
He had packed Mia’s lunch.
He had promised to be home by six.
“Where is my husband?”
Dr. Vale looked at Claire.
Claire began to cry.
“He isn’t at work,” she said.
Rachel’s fingers went cold.
“Then where is he?”
Claire pointed toward the farmhouse.
“He’s inside.”
The front door opened.
Daniel stepped onto the porch.
But he did not look like the man who had left home that morning.
His face was pale.
A dark bruise marked his temple.
May you like
And in his right hand—
He held a pistol.
