Chapter 1 - THE BRICK
Ryan Cole gripped the brick with both hands and swung.
It struck five-year-old Lily Bennett near the side of her head.
She dropped beside the front door before anyone had time to scream.
"LILY!"
Claire Bennett hit the floor on her knees and pulled her daughter into her lap. A thin line of blood slid from Lily's hairline toward her eyebrow.
Daniel saw it.
Something inside him snapped.
He crossed the room in three strides, caught the ten-year-old boy by the shoulder, spun him around, and slapped him once.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Ryan stumbled into the wall. The brick fell from his hands.
He didn't cry.
He stared at Daniel with a look so shocked that Daniel's anger faltered.
Then the boy whispered, "Dad?"
Claire looked up from Lily.
"What did he just call you?"
Daniel's face drained. "I don't know this kid."
Ryan's lower lip trembled. "Mom said you might say that."
"Who is your mother?" Claire demanded.
Ryan reached inside his dirty sweatshirt and pulled out a bent photograph. His fingers shook as he held it toward Daniel.
The picture was old. In it, a twenty-two-year-old Daniel stood on a beach beside a dark-haired woman, both of them laughing into the wind.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Claire had never seen the woman.
But Daniel clearly had.
"Mara," he said.
Ryan nodded.
Behind them, Lily whimpered.
Claire turned back to her daughter. "Call 911."
Daniel grabbed his phone.
Ryan suddenly lunged toward the front window and yanked the curtain shut.
"No!"
Daniel spun. "What now?"
Ryan pointed through the narrow gap in the curtains. A black SUV sat across the street with its engine running.
"I didn't mean to hit her," Ryan said, words tumbling out. "She opened the door and I thought he was coming in."
"Who?"
Ryan backed away from the glass.
"The man who took my mom."
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The SUV's headlights switched on.
Then it started moving toward the house.
