Chapter 1 - All Three
My daughter called me on Easter Sunday and whispered, “Dad… he hit me again.”
I was already grabbing my truck keys before she finished the sentence.
“Lily, where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Is Richard there?”
A pause.
Then a man laughed somewhere behind her.
The line went dead.
I drove straight onto the lawn.
Richard’s mother, Evelyn, met me on the front steps in a pale blue dress and pearls.
“You’re not invited.”
“Move.”
She planted both hands on my chest.
“Go back to your lonely little house, Michael.”
I pushed past her.
The living room was empty except for Lily.
My daughter was on the floor beside the couch, one cheek swollen, one hand pressed to her ribs.
Outside, forty people kept eating barbecue.
I picked it up.
Richard’s face changed.
“Put that down.”
“No.”
“My family owns this town.”
Richard lifted his glass.
“Everyone here will say Lily was unstable. They’ll say she attacked me.”
I carried my daughter to my truck.
Then I opened the black case under the back seat.
I had not touched it in fifteen years.
Inside was an old federal credential, a hardened satellite phone, and one sealed envelope.
I powered up the phone.
A woman answered after one ring.
“Ward?”
I had not heard that name in fifteen years.
“Extraction, evidence protection, or federal notification?”
I looked back at Richard standing on the porch.
“All three.”
There was a pause.
May you like
Then the woman said, “Copy. Do not go to the local hospital.”
That was when I knew Bellhaven was worse than I remembered.
