Chapter 1 - BASEMENTThe electric motor stopped humming.
For one terrible second, Leo could hear nothing except the rain striking the roof of the sedan.
Then the pain returned.
It was no longer sharp. Sharp would have been easier. This was a crushing pressure that seemed to travel from his fingers into his wrist, up his arm, and straight into his chest.
Marcus kept his hand on the window switch.
“Smile.”
Leo tried.
His lips trembled.
Outside, Sarah had stopped moving.
The county caseworker stood beside the passenger-side window, rain sliding from the hood of her yellow coat. She looked at Leo through the fogged glass.
At first, Leo thought she had not seen it.
The word he had traced was backward.
B-A-S-E-M-E-N-T.
His little finger had slipped while he wrote the final T.
Please see it.
Please understand.
Please save Mia.
Sarah's expression changed.
Not dramatically.
That was what made Leo certain she understood.
Her eyes moved across the letters once.
Then again.
She looked at Leo's hand.
His knuckles were swollen and purple.
Then she looked at Marcus.
Marcus smiled.
“Long visit,” he said through the closed glass.
Sarah raised her clipboard.
“Leo,” she called, loud enough to be heard through the rain. “Are you okay?”
Marcus squeezed the back of Leo's neck.
Leo nodded.
“Yes.”
The word came out tiny.
Sarah stepped closer.
“Did you have a good time?”
Marcus's fingers tightened.
Leo felt the pressure of them against his skin.
“Tell her.”
Leo swallowed.
“I had a good time.”
Sarah stared at him.
For a moment, the entire world seemed suspended between them.
Then she smiled.
A small, professional smile.
“Okay,” she said. “I'll see you next Tuesday.”
Leo's heart dropped.
No.
No, please.
Sarah turned away.
Marcus released his neck.
The moment her back was turned, Marcus leaned close.
“You did well.”
Leo stared at the fog.
The word was still visible.
But Sarah was leaving.
Then she stopped.
Her boots splashed through the puddles.
She turned halfway around.
“Marcus?”
“Yes?”
“Can you lower the window for a second? I need to confirm the visitation log.”
Marcus smiled.
“Absolutely.”
Leo's heart jumped.
But instead of lowering the window, Marcus reached for the driver's door handle.
“One second.”
He opened the door and stepped out.
The cold rushed into the car.
Leo pulled his trapped hand toward himself instinctively.
Marcus immediately shoved it back against the glass.
“Don't.”
Leo froze.
Marcus leaned inside.
His face was calm.
His voice was almost gentle.
“If you say anything, Mia disappears.”
Leo stared at him.
Marcus's smile vanished.
“Do you understand?”
Leo nodded.
Marcus slammed the door.
He walked toward Sarah.
Leo could not hear what they said.
The rain swallowed their voices.
Then Sarah laughed.
Marcus laughed too.
They talked for another thirty seconds.
Finally, Sarah handed him a folded sheet of paper.
Marcus got back inside.
He closed the door.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
Leo saw it.
Just a flicker.
But it was there.
“What happened?” Leo whispered.
Marcus stared through the windshield.
“Nothing.”
He started the engine.
The sedan rolled forward.
Leo looked back.
Sarah was still standing in the parking lot.
But she was not watching the car.
She was looking down at something in her hand.
Something small.
Something dark.
Leo's breath caught.
His left hand had been wet from tracing the message.
He realized he had left a piece of himself behind.
The bloody skin from his broken knuckles had scraped against the glass.
A tiny red smear remained underneath the word.
Sarah had seen it.
Marcus drove faster.
Leo looked at the road ahead.
Then at the rear window.
A black SUV had just turned into the parking lot.
Its headlights cut through the rain.
Marcus saw it too.
His face changed.
“Who is that?”
The SUV accelerated.
Marcus pressed harder on the gas.
Leo whispered the only name he knew.
“Mia.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“What about her?”
“She’s at home.”
“No.”
Marcus's voice cracked.
“She isn't.”
Leo turned toward him.
“What?”
Marcus looked straight ahead.
“The basement door was open when we left.”
Leo's blood went cold.
May you like
They had left Mia alone.
And someone had been inside their house.
