Chapter 2 - The House That Locked Its Doors
I looked up toward the house. The curtains were wide open. Warm, golden light spilled across the dining room table.
My mother stood by the sideboard holding one of my late father’s crystal wineglasses. My sister Natalie stood right beside her, giggling about something. They had both been laughing just seconds ago.
Then Natalie turned her head and noticed me standing over Claire’s unconscious body in the snow.
The smile vanished from Natalie’s face instantly. My mother slowly lowered her wineglass, her hand pausing mid-air. They stared through the glass.
I stared right back.
In that fraction of a second, something inside me snapped and solidified simultaneously. Years of military training took over. I had learned how to stay calm while the world exploded around me because panic got people killed. Rage would have made me stupid, and right now, Claire needed my clear head far more than she needed my fury.
I lifted her carefully into my arms. She weighed almost nothing, as if she had been starving for weeks.
“Stay with me, sweetheart,” I whispered against her hair.
Her forehead rested limply against my shoulder. I carried her straight to my truck, placed her across the back seat, wrapped my heavy military-issue parka around her shivering frame, and cranked the truck heater as high as it would go.
Her breathing remained shallow. I chafed her freezing hands between mine.
“Come on, Claire. Stay with me.”
Her fingers twitched against my palm. Her lips barely parted.
“Documents,” she breathed out.
“What?” I leaned closer, straining to hear over the roar of the heater.
“They wanted me... to sign.”
“What documents?” I asked, my stomach tightening into a knot of pure dread.
Claire swallowed painfully, her eyes rolling back slightly. “The house.”
May you like
Before I could demand answers, her eyes slipped shut. I checked her pulse again. Still beating, but too slow. I yanked out my phone, punched in emergency services, and gave dispatch our location. Then, with murder in my veins, I walked back toward the house.
---
