Chapter 1 - “It’s Broken”Bennett turned his face away from the spoon.
The one-year-old’s cheeks were already wet with tears.
Porridge covered the corner of his mouth, one cheek, the front of his little shirt.
He kicked both feet against the high chair.
Octavia didn’t care.
“Eat.”
She brought the spoon toward him again.
Bennett twisted away.
A broken cry escaped him.
Octavia’s mouth tightened.
She had been trying to feed him for twenty minutes.
She had also been listening to him cry for twenty minutes.
And somewhere along the way, her patience had disappeared.
“Stop it.”
Bennett reached for the edge of the tray.
The spoon came again.
He turned harder.
Porridge smeared across his nose.
Octavia grabbed his chin.
“Eat!”
Bennett screamed.
Then—
SLAP.
His tiny body jerked.
For half a second, he went silent from shock.
Then his crying became louder.
Octavia stared at him without sympathy.
“Eat, you little bastard.”
Footsteps pounded down the hallway.
“MS. OCTAVIA!”
Eleven-year-old Callum Hale burst into the kitchen.
His eyes went immediately to his baby brother.
The food.
The tears.
Then Octavia.
“STOP!”
Octavia slowly turned.
Callum was thin for his age, with dark hair that constantly fell over his forehead.
He was shaking.
But he didn’t back away.
“You hit him.”
Octavia gave him a cold smile.
“Go upstairs.”
“I saw you.”
“Callum.”
“You hit Bennett!”
Bennett reached toward his brother.
Callum moved closer.
Octavia stepped between them.
“Do you know what your problem is?”
Callum glared at her.
“You think because your father lets you run around this house like a little prince, everyone has to listen to you.”
“My dad will listen.”
“No.”
“He will.”
Octavia laughed.
Then she looked at both boys.
Something strange entered her expression.
Almost relief.
“You two won’t be my problem much longer anyway.”
Callum stopped.
“What?”
Octavia turned back toward the sink.
“Nothing.”
“What does that mean?”
“Go upstairs.”
Callum didn’t move.
“What does that mean?”
Octavia looked over her shoulder.
“Tomorrow, both of you are leaving this house.”
Callum’s stomach tightened.
“Going where?”
“You’ll find out.”
“My dad didn’t say anything.”
“He doesn’t know.”
Silence.
Callum stared.
Octavia had said it too casually.
Like Sterling not knowing was part of the plan.
He looked toward the corner of the kitchen.
A small indoor camera sat on a shelf beside the pantry door.
Their father had installed several after Bennett was born.
Callum pointed.
“My dad will see.”
Octavia looked at the camera.
Then smiled.
“No, he won’t.”
Callum’s eyes narrowed.
“It records.”
“It used to.”
She walked closer.
“It broke three days ago.”
Callum looked at the dark indicator light.
He had noticed it too.
No little blue glow.
No soft click when someone entered.
Octavia leaned down.
“Your father is in Salt Lake City.”
Callum stared at her.
“He thinks everything here is perfectly fine.”
She smiled.
“And tomorrow, you’ll be gone before he knows there was ever a problem.”
Callum felt fear crawl through his stomach.
“Where are you taking us?”
Octavia bent closer.
“Maybe you should learn that children don’t get answers just because they ask questions.”
Bennett cried again.
Callum moved toward him.
Octavia stepped away.
For the first time, Callum noticed something beside the mudroom door.
A small children’s travel bag.
Blue.
Packed.
Bennett’s stuffed rabbit sticking out from the zipper.
Callum stared.
Octavia noticed.
Her expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
This wasn’t a threat.
The bags were already packed.
Then—
CLICK.
Callum turned.
A tiny light appeared on the camera.
Blue.
The system rebooted.
At exactly the same moment, fourteen hundred miles away in Salt Lake City, Sterling Hale’s phone vibrated on a conference table.
MOTION ALERT — KITCHEN CAMERA ONLINE.
Sterling almost ignored it.
Then he remembered the camera had been offline for days.
He opened the application.
Live video appeared.
Octavia stood beside the packed children’s bag.
Callum stood in front of her.
Bennett was crying.
And Sterling heard Octavia say:
“Tomorrow, both of you are leaving this house.”
His body went still.
He tapped the microphone.
His voice exploded through the kitchen speaker.
“GOING WHERE?”
Octavia froze.
Callum’s eyes widened.
“Dad!”
Sterling stood from his chair.
“Octavia.”
Her face had gone white.
“Who told you to take my children anywhere?”
No answer.
Sterling saw the bag.
“Why is Bennett’s bag packed?”
Octavia’s phone suddenly lit up on the counter.
Incoming call.
Callum saw the name.
So did Octavia.
But Sterling’s camera angle couldn’t.
Whatever name appeared on that screen frightened Octavia more than Sterling’s voice had.
She grabbed the phone.
Her hands were trembling.
Callum whispered:
“Who is it?”
Octavia stared at him.
Then answered.
A woman’s voice came faintly through the phone.
“Is everything ready?”
Octavia swallowed.
“No.”
Pause.
The woman’s voice became colder.
“What went wrong?”
Octavia looked directly at the camera.
“Sterling knows.”
There was a long silence.
Then the woman on the phone said something that made Octavia grip the counter.
“Then move the children tonight.”
Sterling heard it.
Callum heard it.
May you like
And suddenly the question was no longer whether Octavia planned to take the boys.
It was whether Sterling could get home before someone came to collect them.
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