Chapter 1 - THE HAND IN THE DARKNESS
Mateo tightened his fingers around the tiny hand reaching through the broken floor.
“Emiliano.”
His son’s fingers twitched.
Then a weak voice came from beneath the house.
“Daddy?”
Mateo’s entire body went still.
For almost a year, he had imagined hearing that word again.
In dreams.
In crowded streets.
In grocery stores when another child called for his father.
Every time, he had turned around.
Every time, it had been someone else.
But this time it was real.
Mateo dropped the iron poker and ripped another broken plank free.
“Daddy’s here.”
His voice cracked.
“I’m here, mijo.”
Behind him, Rebeca began sobbing.
Mateo ignored her.
Jimena stood several feet away with both hands covering her mouth.
Her little shoulders trembled.
“Is that really Emi?”
Mateo looked at his daughter.
“Yes.”
Jimena made a sound somewhere between a cry and a laugh.
Then she ran toward the opening.
Mateo caught her before she could get too close.
“Stay back, sweetheart.”
The space beneath the floor was deeper than he had expected.
A narrow concrete chamber ran beneath part of the living room.
It looked less like a crawl space and more like something deliberately constructed.
Mateo grabbed his phone.
He turned on the flashlight.
The beam disappeared into darkness.
Then it found a face.
Mateo nearly collapsed.
Emiliano was lying on a thin mattress.
His hair had grown almost to his shoulders.
His cheeks were hollow.
His clothes hung loosely from his body.
There were plastic bottles near the wall.
Food wrappers.
A blanket.
A bucket.
And a small battery-powered lamp.
Mateo’s stomach twisted.
His seven-year-old son had spent nearly a year in that place.
Close enough to hear footsteps.
Close enough to hear Rebeca walking above him.
Maybe even close enough to hear his own family visiting.
“Call an ambulance.”
Mateo looked toward Rebeca.
She was still kneeling beside the ruined floor.
“Call them now.”
Rebeca did not move.
Mateo’s voice exploded.
“NOW!”
Jimena screamed.
Rebeca reached for her phone with shaking hands.
Mateo turned back toward the opening.
“Emiliano, listen to me.”
“We’re getting you out.”
The little boy blinked against the light.
“Don’t let her close it again.”
Mateo slowly looked over his shoulder.
Rebeca’s face crumpled.
Mateo felt something colder than rage move through him.
Again.
Emiliano had said again.
Which meant he remembered exactly who had put him there.
Mateo began tearing boards away until his palms split and blood streaked across the wood.
He did not feel it.
He only felt his son’s hand gripping his.
Then Emiliano whispered something else.
Something Mateo almost did not hear.
“Aunt Rebeca wasn’t the only one.”
Mateo froze.
“What?”
Emiliano closed his eyes.
“There was a man.”
Rebeca suddenly stood.
“No.”
Mateo turned.
She backed toward the hallway.
“No, Emiliano.”
Her voice was desperate now.
“Don’t say anything else.”
Mateo stared at his sister.
May you like
Then distant sirens began rising beyond the gates.
And Rebeca ran.
