Chapter 2 - The Stranger in the Room
I did not think about the legal consequences of my actions.
I kicked the apartment door entirely off its hinges and charged inside.
I tackled the massive man to the filthy floor before he could even process what was happening.
I pinned him down and pressed my forearm violently against his throat.
I demanded to know who he was and why he was touching my daughter.
The man gasped for air and frantically pointed toward the kitchen counter.
He swore he was just the building manager collecting the weekly cash from the tenant.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Maya backed into a corner, completely terrified.
She did not recognize me at first because I had lost so much weight since her mother died.
I softly said her name, and her eyes widened in absolute shock.
She whispered the word "Dad" like it was a ghost story she no longer believed in.
I let the landlord go and ordered him to get out of the apartment immediately.
Once we were alone, I fell to my knees and tried to hug my daughter.
Maya violently shoved me away and pulled a small pocket knife from her jeans.
She screamed at me to stay back, accusing me of abandoning her to die.
I pulled out my phone and frantically showed her the banking app with all the monthly transfers.
I watched her read the massive numbers, and the knife slowly dropped from her shaking hand.
She collapsed into my arms, sobbing that Grandma had dropped her off here three years ago.
My mother had paid the landlord a hundred dollars a month to look the other way while keeping the rest.
I picked my daughter up and promised her we were leaving this hell immediately.
As we walked out the door, my phone started ringing loudly in my pocket.
I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my mother calling me.
May you like
I answered the phone, fully prepared to curse her to hell and back.
Instead, a deep male voice on the other end told me that Evelyn Vance had just been found dead in her driveway.
