Chapter 1 - The Man in the Trees
Grace remembered the moment Marcus Reed stepped through the trees as clearly as if it were happening in front of her again.
Rainwater ran from his dark coat.
Mud covered the expensive leather shoes he had worn to Evelyn’s hospital that morning.
And there was absolutely no surprise on his face when he saw Thomas Kane holding Lily.
That was what terrified Grace most.
Marcus had expected to find them.
Thomas tightened both arms around the infant.
“Grace.”
His voice was barely more than a breath.
“Take her.”
Grace stared at him.
“What?”
“Take Lily and run.”
Marcus stopped ten yards away.
For several seconds, no one moved.
Then Marcus smiled.
Not warmly.
Not nervously.
The smile looked almost disappointed.
“Thomas.”
Thomas shifted so his body stood between Marcus and Grace.
“You were supposed to be on the highway.”
Marcus glanced toward the burning wreckage.
“So were you.”
Grace felt her stomach turn cold.
Thomas pushed the baby into her arms.
Lily made a tiny sound beneath the scorched blanket.
Marcus immediately looked at her.
Something changed in his face.
“She survived.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“You’re not touching her.”
Marcus sighed.
“You always were loyal.”
“To Adrian.”
“That’s your mistake.”
Marcus reached beneath his jacket.
Thomas moved first.
He slammed into Grace hard enough to send her stumbling behind a fallen tree.
A gunshot cracked through the rain.
Grace covered Lily with her body.
Another shot followed.
Then silence.
Grace looked up.
Thomas was on one knee.
Marcus stood several yards away with a pistol lowered at his side.
“Run,” Thomas shouted.
Grace ran.
She did not know where she was going.
She only knew she could hear Marcus moving behind her.
Branches tore at her coat.
Mud pulled at her shoes.
Lily began crying.
Grace pressed the baby against her chest and whispered the same words over and over.
“I’ve got you.”
“I’ve got you.”
“I’ve got you.”
Then she heard Thomas yell.
Marcus stopped chasing her.
A third gunshot echoed through the trees.
Grace never looked back.
She reached the service road nearly half a mile away and climbed into her cousin’s car.
She drove until the city lights disappeared.
For eight months, she told no one.
Not Adrian.
Not the police.
Not even Emma.
She moved from apartment to apartment.
She changed Lily’s name on every document she could.
She told neighbors the baby belonged to a cousin who was struggling.
And every night, she slept with a chair beneath the doorknob.
Back in the present, Adrian stared through the windshield as Grace finished speaking.
His expression had become terrifyingly still.
“You saw Marcus shoot Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“And you assumed Thomas died?”
Grace hesitated.
“No.”
Adrian turned toward her.
Grace’s eyes filled with fear.
“I went back two nights later.”
Adrian’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“There was no body.”
Grace swallowed.
“There was blood.”
“There were footprints.”
“And there was a message carved into the bark of the pine tree.”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“What message?”
Grace looked at him.
“DON’T TRUST THE HOUSE.”
Adrian said nothing.
Then Emma’s small voice came from the back seat.
“Mommy.”
Grace turned.
Emma was pointing through the rain-covered window.
A black SUV had appeared behind them.
Then another.
Then a third.
Grace went pale.
Adrian looked into the rearview mirror.
The first SUV accelerated.
And Adrian recognized the license plate.
May you like
It belonged to Marcus Reed.
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