Chapter 1 - The Hallway
Daniel stepped into the foyer without waiting for permission.
Thomas moved to block him with a heavy shoulder.
The officer did not hesitate.
Daniel drove his forearm into the man’s chest and pinned him hard against the floral wallpaper.
A framed photograph of a smiling family crashed to the hardwood floor.
Glass shattered across the entry rug in jagged pieces.
Thomas grunted in pain but quickly raised his hands in a mock surrender.
María slipped past the struggle and sprinted up the carpeted stairs.
Emily was shaking violently at the top of the landing.
The little girl buried her face into her ragged stuffed rabbit as María scooped her into her arms.
Downstairs, Daniel slapped heavy steel handcuffs onto Thomas’s wrists.
The father smiled a cold and arrogant smile that did not match the situation.
María carried the trembling child past the broken glass and out into the cool night air.
She placed Emily safely into the back of the police cruiser and locked the heavy doors.
Daniel pulled his flashlight and walked upstairs to clear the rest of the dark house.
He found the pink blanket dragged across the hallway carpet.
He stepped into the child’s bedroom and scanned the perfectly normal pink walls and stuffed animals.
Something felt incredibly wrong about the dimensions of the room.
Daniel knocked his knuckles against the back wall of the bedroom closet.
The wood sounded hollow and shifted slightly under his weight.
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He kicked the panel hard with his heavy police boot.
The false wall splintered and swung open to reveal a hidden concrete staircase leading deep into the dark walls of the house.
