Chapter 1 - The Sound Beyond the Gates
Hailey could not make the scream leave her mouth.
The tape across her lips turned it into a frightened, broken sound as Monica pressed one hand between her shoulder blades and pushed her deeper into the dark trunk of the SUV.
“Stop fighting me.”
Hailey twisted desperately.
Her wrists were tied in front of her. Her ankles were bound loosely enough for her to move, but not enough to run.
Tears blurred the daylight beyond the open trunk.
“Daddy said I could stay home,” she tried to say.
Only a muffled sound came out.
Monica understood her anyway.
Her cold eyes narrowed.
“Your father says a lot of things when he wants you to stop whining.”
Hailey shook her head violently.
Nathan had called the night before from Denver.
He had told her he would be home tonight.
He had promised pancakes tomorrow morning.
Monica grabbed Hailey’s lower legs and shoved them inside.
“Maybe when you finally learn not to interfere in my marriage, he’ll want you around again.”
Hailey froze.
That sentence hurt more than the restraints.
Monica noticed.
A small smile touched her mouth.
“Exactly.”
She reached for the trunk lid.
A voice exploded from the mansion steps.
“MONICA!”
Monica turned.
Dorothy stood beneath the stone archway of the front entrance, one hand gripping the railing.
At seventy, she no longer moved as quickly as she once had, but fear had erased twenty years from her body.
She rushed down the steps.
“Where are you taking Hailey?”
Monica stepped between Dorothy and the SUV.
Dorothy saw the restraints.
Then she saw Hailey’s eyes.
Her granddaughter was curled against the back wall of the trunk, shaking violently.
Dorothy’s face changed.
“Give me my granddaughter.”
Monica slowly lowered the trunk lid.
“Monica, don’t you dare.”
The trunk slammed shut.
Dorothy stopped breathing.
For half a second, the driveway was silent.
Then the rear of the SUV shook.
Once.
Twice.
A faint pounding came from inside.
Dorothy stared at Monica.
“What have you done?”
Monica lifted one eyebrow.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Another muffled thump came from the trunk.
Dorothy moved.
Monica blocked her.
“Get out of my way.”
“You’re not in charge here anymore.”
Dorothy reached toward the trunk release.
Monica knocked her hand away.
“Move.”
“No.”
Dorothy reached again.
Monica slapped her.
Dorothy staggered backward.
Her heel caught the edge of the circular stone driveway.
She fell hard.
Pain shot through her hip and shoulder.
Her mouth struck the back of her hand.
When she lifted her head, she tasted blood.
Monica stood over her.
Not shocked.
Not sorry.
Contemptuous.
“You meddling old woman.”
Dorothy wiped the blood from her lip.
Her eyes went back to the SUV.
Another tiny sound came from the trunk.
Hailey.
Dorothy planted one palm against the pavement.
“You’re not leaving with her.”
Monica laughed quietly.
“You think Nathan is going to believe you?”
Dorothy looked up.
“He doesn’t have to.”
Something changed in Monica’s face.
Only slightly.
“What does that mean?”
Dorothy pushed herself upright.
“I saw you from the foyer.”
Monica’s eyes flicked toward the front windows.
“I saw the restraints.”
Dorothy breathed through the pain.
“And before I came outside, I called 911.”
The color drained from Monica’s face.
Then—
A police siren sounded beyond the mansion gates.
Monica froze.
It was distant.
But approaching rapidly.
Dorothy saw the exact moment Monica understood she had run out of time.
The smirk disappeared.
Her jaw tightened.
Her eyes moved toward the SUV.
Then toward the gate.
Then back to Dorothy.
“You stupid woman,” she whispered.
Dorothy stared at her.
“No.”
The siren grew louder.
“You made one mistake, Monica.”
“What?”
“You thought I was afraid of what Nathan would think.”
Dorothy wiped the blood from her mouth.
“I’m afraid of what happens to that child if everyone keeps protecting your lies.”
Monica suddenly turned toward the driver’s door.
Dorothy lunged forward and grabbed the back of Monica’s coat.
“Don’t.”
Monica spun.
“Let go of me!”
The wrought-iron gates began opening.
Blue-and-red light flickered against the trees outside, though the patrol car itself had not yet entered the driveway.
Monica looked toward the trunk.
Her calculation was almost visible.
Run.
Lie.
Destroy something.
Anything.
But there was nowhere left to go.
The first cruiser entered.
Then a second.
Two officers stepped out before the vehicles had fully settled.
“Step away from the SUV!”
Monica raised both hands.
Dorothy pointed toward the rear of the vehicle.
“My granddaughter is inside!”
One officer rushed to the trunk.
The other moved Monica away from the vehicle.
Monica immediately changed her voice.
“She’s confused. My stepdaughter was having a tantrum. This is a family misunderstanding.”
Dorothy stared at her.
A family misunderstanding.
The officer opened the trunk.
Hailey’s terrified face appeared.
Dorothy made a broken sound.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
The officer carefully pulled the tape away.
Hailey sucked in air.
Then screamed one word.
“Grandma!”
Dorothy started toward her.
An officer tried to stop her because of the blood on her mouth.
“I’m fine.”
“You need to sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
Hailey was lifted out.
The second her feet touched the driveway, she stumbled into Dorothy’s arms.
Dorothy dropped to her knees despite the pain.
Hailey clung to her neck.
“Grandma, she said Daddy wanted me gone.”
Dorothy closed her eyes.
“No.”
“She said he was tired of me.”
“No, baby.”
Hailey sobbed.
Dorothy held the back of her head.
“Your father did not tell her to do this.”
Across the driveway, an officer placed Monica in handcuffs.
Monica stopped struggling.
Instead, she looked directly at Dorothy.
Cold again.
Controlled.
Almost confident.
“You have no idea what you just started.”
Dorothy stared back.
The officer began walking Monica toward the patrol car.
Then another officer approached from the SUV.
He was holding something in a gloved hand.
A black cell phone.
“This was under the driver’s seat.”
Monica stopped walking.
For the first time since the sirens began, genuine fear crossed her face.
The officer looked at her.
“Is this yours?”
Monica said nothing.
Dorothy watched her.
And suddenly understood.
May you like
The trunk had not been the entire crime.
It had only been the part they had caught her doing.
