Chapter 1 - THE SHADOW BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Something moved behind the upstairs curtain.
It was not the uncertain flutter of fabric stirred by an air vent.
It was the unmistakable outline of a human body stepping backward into the darkness.
I tightened my arms around Emily and moved behind the storage shed.
Mrs. Harris stood near the fence, one hand clamped over her mouth.
“Call 911 again,” I told her.
“Tell them a child was found imprisoned and someone is still inside the house.”
Emily began shaking so violently that her teeth clicked together.
I pulled off my jacket and wrapped it around her.
“Who’s upstairs, sweetheart?”
Her eyes remained fixed on the window.
“I don’t know.”
“Is it your mother?”
Emily pressed her face into my shoulder.
“Mommy stopped coming outside.”
Before I could ask what that meant, the back door opened.
The sound was slow and deliberate.
One hinge squealed.
A man stepped onto the patio.
For half a second, my mind turned him into Jason.
Then I saw the gray uniform, the badge, and the weapon held low beside his leg.
“Police,” the officer called.
“Show me your hands.”
I lifted one hand while holding Emily with the other.
“She was locked in that cage.”
The officer’s expression changed when he saw her split lip and the broken padlock.
His partner entered through the side gate and immediately radioed for paramedics.
More sirens approached from the street.
I pointed toward the upstairs window.
“Someone was watching us.”
The first officer moved toward the house while his partner remained with Emily.
Two additional patrol cars arrived.
The backyard filled with commands, radios, and hurried footsteps.
Emily clutched my shirt.
“Daddy, don’t let them open the pool.”
I knelt until our faces were level.
“Why?”
She looked toward the black contractor bags beneath the green water.
“Because he said the pool keeps secrets.”
A crash exploded from inside the house.
An officer shouted.
Another voice yelled for medical assistance.
Seconds later, two officers emerged carrying a woman between them.
Her wrists were tied with electrical cord.
Silver tape covered her mouth.
Her bare feet dragged across the patio.
It was Sarah.
Her face was bruised.
Her eyes were barely open.
Emily made a sound I had never heard from another human being.
“Mommy!”
I held her as she fought to reach Sarah.
Paramedics rushed forward with a stretcher.
As they removed the tape, Sarah gasped once and turned her head toward me.
“Michael.”
Her voice was cracked and weak.
“He’s still here.”
Every officer in the yard froze.
“Jason?” I asked.
Sarah’s eyes moved toward the roof.
“No.”
She swallowed painfully.
“Jason left last night.”
“Then who is inside?”
Sarah began trembling.
“The boy.”
At that exact moment, something struck the underside of the pool.
May you like
Three slow knocks rose through the stagnant water.
Then came three more.
