Chapter 1 - THE VOICE UNDER THE FLOOR

The first thing Shawn Miller heard after twelve Christmases away from home was his father begging from beneath the floor.

“Shawn... don’t let her lock the door again.”

He stood halfway down the cellar stairs, every muscle frozen.

Behind an old iron storage gate sat his parents.

Don Miller was seventy-four, thinner than Shawn had ever seen him, his gray sweater hanging from narrow shoulders. Maria sat beside him wrapped in a faded purple cardigan. A metal bowl, two bottles of water, and a folded blanket were all they had.

A rusted padlock held the gate shut.

Shawn gripped the bars. “Dad?”

Don reached through. “You came home.”

Maria began crying.

Behind Shawn, his sister Brenda whispered, “It’s not what you think.”

He turned slowly.

Ten minutes earlier she had told him their parents had gone away for Christmas.

Now they were locked beneath the house.

“Open it.”

Brenda swallowed. “Shawn, you need to listen to me.”

“Open. The. Gate.”

“I don’t have the key.”

Don gave a bitter laugh. “She has it around her neck.”

Shawn looked at the thin gold chain Brenda had been touching since he arrived.

A small brass key hung beneath her blouse.

Her face changed when she realized he had seen it.

Shawn climbed two steps toward her.

“Give me the key.”

Brenda backed away. “You don’t understand what they’ve been doing.”

“What they’ve been doing?”

“They’re confused. Dad gets angry. Mom wanders. I was protecting them.”

Maria lifted her head. “She locked us down here because we found the bank papers.”

Shawn stared at his mother.

“What bank papers?”

Don tightened his fingers around the bars.

“The money you send us every month.”

Shawn felt something cold move through his chest.

“What about it?”

“We haven’t received a dollar in almost three years.”

Before Shawn could answer, a car door slammed outside.

Brenda’s face went white.

Then headlights swept across the basement window.

She whispered one name.

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“Mark.”

And Shawn knew from the fear in her voice that his sister was not the only person he had come home to confront.