Chapter 1 - THE DOLL WITH THE CUT STOMACH
I heard fabric tearing before I saw Chloe.
The sound came from the bedroom.
A soft rip.
Then another.
I had been in the kitchen rinsing a cereal bowl while rain tapped against the apartment windows.
“Chloe?”
No answer.
I wiped my hands against my jeans and walked down the hall.
My daughter sat on the bedroom floor in pink pajamas and white socks.
Her old rag doll lay across her lap.
Lucy.
She had slept with that doll since she was two.
One button eye was missing. The yarn hair had gone gray from years of washing. Harrison had repaired the left arm twice.
Now Chloe had opened the doll’s stomach seam with the tiny blunt scissors from her craft box.
Stuffing covered the carpet.
Something wrapped in plastic sat inside.
“Chloe… what are you doing?”
She looked up.
Her face collapsed immediately.
She pulled the bundle against her chest.
“Daddy told me to do it in secret.”
My body went cold.
Harrison had been missing for four days.
Victoria Sterling told me he had disappeared after taking money from their company.
Police had not called it a disappearance yet because his passport was gone and his car had been found at Logan Airport.
I knew only that my husband had not come home.
Had not called.
Had not answered Chloe’s voice messages.
“What did Daddy tell you?”
“He said if Mommy gets scared, open Lucy.”
“When?”
“Before he went away.”
My knees weakened.
I sat beside her.
“Did he tell you not to tell me?”
Chloe nodded guiltily.
“He said only if he doesn’t come back for pancakes.”
Harrison made pancakes every Sunday.
He had missed one.
Then another.
I took the bundle carefully.
The plastic had been taped twice.
Inside were three things.
A folded note.
A black USB drive.
And a driver’s license.
The photograph was Harrison.
The name was not.
HENRY COLE.
Nevada.
The address belonged to somewhere outside Reno.
“What is this?”
Chloe touched the note.
“Daddy’s.”
I opened it.
Sarah,
If Chloe gives you this, something went wrong.
Do not call Victoria.
Do not bring anything to Carter Sterling.
Copy everything before you trust anyone.
The next line had been underlined.
I am not running from you.
My vision blurred.
“This is your father’s handwriting.”
Chloe began crying.
“I didn’t break Lucy?”
“No, baby.”
“I did what Daddy said.”
“Yes.”
I pulled her against me.
“You did exactly what he asked.”
I should have stopped there.
Called police.
Waited.
Instead, I made the first mistake.
I plugged the USB into my laptop.
A single video file opened automatically.
Harrison appeared.
Dark room.
Concrete wall.
One naked bulb somewhere behind the camera.
His shirt was rumpled.
There was a bruise near his jaw.
He looked straight at me.
“Sarah… don’t trust Victoria.”
My hand flew to my mouth.
The recording continued.
“If she tells you I stole from Carter Sterling, she’s lying. If she has the original shipping box, do not let her take the doll, the USB, or—”
A violent pounding shook the apartment door.
Chloe screamed.
I yanked the USB out.
Another blow.
Then another.
“Sarah!”
Victoria’s voice.
I pulled Chloe behind me.
“Bedroom.”
“No.”
“Chloe.”
She gripped my sweater.
I carried her with me toward the front hall and looked through the peephole.
Victoria Sterling stood outside.
Elegant camel coat.
Black designer dress.
Gold earrings.
Heels.
Perfect makeup.
In her left hand she held a crushed cardboard shipping box.
The box I had asked her about two days earlier.
The box she said did not exist.
“Open the door, Sarah.”
I did not move.
“I know Harrison sent you the doll.”
My heart slammed.
“How?”
Her face did not change.
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“You’re frightened.”
“Yes.”
“Then let me help you.”
I almost laughed.
Instead I called 911.
Victoria lifted the shipping box toward the peephole.
A handwritten message crossed the label.
I recognized Harrison’s writing.
IF I DISAPPEAR, RUN.
Victoria’s eyes remained fixed on the door.
“Sarah,” she said softly, “whatever Harrison told you, he didn’t tell you what he did first.”
Chloe buried her face against my hip.
The dispatcher answered.
I said my address.
Victoria’s expression changed for the first time.
May you like
Then she looked down the hall.
And ran.
