Chapter 1 - The Chair on the Floor
The pan hit the floor a second before Daniel heard his daughter scream.
He had come home early because a client canceled dinner. He expected noise from the dining room, maybe his mother complaining about the caterer, maybe Vanessa laughing too loudly at one of Mateo's jokes.
Instead, two-year-old Lily was on the floor beside an overturned chair.
Her faded pink dress was torn at the shoulder. Bread crumbs covered her hair. One small knee was scraped red. Vanessa stood over her holding a heavy skillet, while Daniel's mother, Margaret, calmly cut her steak.
"Go ahead and cry," Vanessa said. "No one is coming to save trash like you."
Daniel stopped breathing.
Then Lily saw him.
"Daddy!"
He crossed the room in three strides and lifted her against his chest. She clung to his neck so hard her fingers hurt.
"What happened?" His voice came out low.
Vanessa dropped the skillet onto the table. "She threw herself out of the chair. You know how dramatic she is."
Lily buried her face under Daniel's chin.
"Daddy," she whispered, shaking, "she keeps tormenting me whenever you're away."
The room changed.
Daniel looked around the table. His mother. His uncle Paul. His cousin Trent. His sister-in-law Renee. Four adults stared at their plates.
"Whenever I'm away?" he asked.
Lily nodded.
Vanessa laughed once. "She's two. She doesn't even know what tormenting means."
"She knows what hurting means."
Daniel set Lily behind him, grabbed the skillet, and flung it across the room before Vanessa could reach for it. It smashed into a cabinet. Vanessa backed up, stumbled over the fallen chair, and crashed onto the floor.
Margaret shot to her feet. "That bastard child deserves discipline."
Daniel turned so fast his chair tipped backward. Margaret lunged toward Lily. He blocked her with one arm and drove her away from his daughter. She slammed into the edge of the dining table, sending plates, glasses, and food crashing everywhere.
"Nobody touches her," Daniel roared.
Silence.
Then he looked at the relatives who had watched.
"How long?"
No one answered.
Lily did.
"Since Mommy's picture got put away."
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Daniel's blood went cold.
Because Emma's photograph had disappeared six weeks ago.
