Chapter 1 - The Five Words
I stood up.
"What does it say?" I demanded, my voice shaking so badly I could hardly breathe.
The detective turned the plastic evidence sleeve toward me.
The torn strip of paper was stained with coffee grounds, but the ink was undeniably clear.
I recognized my husband's sharp, slanted handwriting immediately.
It read: "The insurance covers the child."
My blood ran completely cold in my veins.
The dropped glass in the kitchen hadn't been a sudden trigger for his rage.
It had been a calculated excuse.
My husband and his mother had planned to murder my seven-year-old daughter for a payout.
"We are issuing an immediate arrest warrant for both of them," the detective said gently.
She placed a comforting hand on my trembling shoulder.
"They won't get anywhere near your little girl ever again," she promised.
I wanted to believe her, but a heavy knot of dread sat in my stomach.
My husband, Mark, was a man who never left things to chance.
He was a financial planner who obsessed over contingencies and backup plans.
If he knew the police were onto him, he wouldn't just sit in the back of a patrol car quietly.
Suddenly, the detective's radio crackled to life with a frantic burst of static.
"We have a situation in the pediatric intensive care unit," a voice shouted over the radio.
The detective's face went completely pale.
"Repeat, suspect is not in custody," the voice continued.
I grabbed the detective's arm.
"Where is my husband?" I screamed.
"He managed to slip his cuffs during the transport," she replied, drawing her weapon.
We sprinted down the sterile white hospital hallway together.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
We burst through the double doors of the pediatric ICU.
May you like
The heart monitor next to Lily's bed was flatlining with a piercing, continuous beep.
And her hospital bed was completely empty.
