Chapter 1 - THE GIRL UNDER THE TREE
Mark Ellis almost dropped his coffee when he looked through the fence.
Six-year-old Lily Carter was crying beneath the old maple tree.
A rope was looped loosely around her waist and tied to the trunk.
Her bare feet were muddy.
Her cheeks were wet.
And Claire, her stepmother, stood three feet away holding a garden hose.
“Please… let me go,” Lily cried.
Claire folded her arms.
“You’ll stay there until you learn not to touch things that don’t belong to you.”
Mark’s stomach turned.
He pulled out his phone and started recording.
Claire had no idea he was watching through the narrow gap between the fence boards.
Lily shivered when Claire sprayed the ground near her feet.
“Stop crying.”
“I want Daddy.”
“Your daddy believes me, not you.”
That sentence made Mark move.
He stepped closer to the fence and raised the phone higher.
Claire suddenly turned her head.
Mark ducked back.
For two seconds, there was silence.
Then Claire walked toward the house.
Mark waited until the back door slammed.
He texted the video to Daniel Carter with one message.
COME HOME NOW.
Across town, Daniel was in a conference room when his phone buzzed.
He watched five seconds.
That was enough.
His chair crashed backward.
“Cancel everything.”
He ran.
Twelve minutes later, Daniel’s truck jumped the curb in front of his house.
He didn’t bother closing the driver’s door.
He ran through the side gate.
Then he saw Lily.
His little girl.
Still tied beneath the maple tree.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER?!”
Claire froze on the patio.
Daniel dropped to his knees and tore at the knot.
Lily threw both arms around his neck.
“Daddy, I’m sorry.”
He felt her shaking.
“No, baby.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
Daniel looked over her shoulder at Claire.
Her face had gone white.
“This is not what it looks like.”
Daniel stood slowly.
“Then tell me what it looks like.”
Claire opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, Lily whispered something against Daniel’s shoulder.
“Daddy… she said Mommy hid something from us.”
Daniel went still.
May you like
Claire’s eyes snapped toward the child.
And in that instant, Daniel knew the rope around the tree was only the beginning.
