Chapter 1 - The Second Planter
The flowerpot hit Claire Bennett while she was holding their little girl outside St. Matthew's Church. Her husband heard the crash from behind the cemetery gate, and by the time he reached them, his sister was standing over Claire like she had done nothing wrong.
Four-year-old Emma knelt on the stone path in her white funeral dress. Dirt covered her shoes. Her mother lay motionless beneath her, one arm still curved around the child she had protected.
"Mommy, please wake up."
Daniel had buried his mother twenty minutes earlier. Now his wife was on the ground outside St. Matthew's, and his sister Mallory stood twenty feet away in a glittering purple dress, breathing hard.
"What did you do?" he asked.
Mallory pointed at the silver cross around Claire's neck. "She brought Mom's necklace here. She knew it was mine."
Daniel saw the shattered terracotta pot beside his wife's head. He saw Emma's hands shaking. Something ugly and immediate took over.
He seized a second planter from beside the path and swung it at Mallory. The heavy clay struck her shoulder and broke. She stumbled against a bench, then fell behind it. The sound of her body hitting the pavement snapped Daniel back to himself.
"Oh, God," somebody said.
"Claire? Baby, can you hear me?"
Nothing. A thin line of blood ran into her hair. Emma clutched his sleeve.
"She put me down on her tummy," Emma sobbed. "She didn't let the rocks get me."
Daniel could barely make his fingers work as he touched Claire's wrist. There was a pulse. Shallow, frightening, but there.
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When the paramedic reached Claire, he asked how long she'd been unconscious. Daniel opened his mouth, but no sound came. The paramedic glanced at his partner.
"We need the trauma team waiting," he said. "Right now."
