Chapter 2 - The Empty House
I slammed on the brakes, nearly sending my car skidding off the side of the road.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I stared at the phone screen, unable to comprehend the absolute evil radiating from my best friend's voice.
"What have you done with my daughter, Greg?" I demanded, my voice shaking with rage.
Greg simply hung up the phone.
I knew I could not wait for the police to navigate a hostage situation involving high-profile lawyers.
I pressed the gas pedal to the floor and sped toward Emily's suburban neighborhood.
I grabbed my phone and dialed the only man I could trust, a retired detective named Stan who lived two streets over.
I told Stan to meet me at Emily's house immediately and to bring his registered weapon.
When I pulled into my daughter's driveway, the front door was already kicked wide open.
Wood splinters covered the welcome mat.
I told Leo to hide on the floorboard of the car and not make a single sound.
I grabbed a heavy tire iron from my trunk and cautiously stepped inside the house.
The living room was completely destroyed.
Furniture was overturned, family photos were shattered, and a trail of blood led toward the kitchen.
My breath caught in my throat as I followed the red drops.
The blood stopped near Emily's hidden floor safe, which had been brutally pried open and emptied.
Stan ran through the front door a moment later, his gun drawn and his eyes scanning for threats.
I told him to take Leo back to his fortified house and keep him safe no matter what happened.
Stan nodded, grabbing my grandson and disappearing into the neighborhood.
I looked back down at the empty safe and noticed a crumpled piece of paper left behind.
It was a printed receipt from a luxury medical recovery clinic across town.
It was the exact same clinic where I had just spent a month nursing my brother, Marcus, back to health.
May you like
I realized with a sickening jolt that Marcus had officially checked out of the clinic a week ago.
My own brother had lied to keep me out of town while Greg and Laura tortured my daughter.
