Chapter 3 - THE TRUCK OUTSIDE
I moved before fear could paralyze me.
“Lily, take Ava and Milo to the laundry room. Lock the door. Stay away from the window.”
“Mom—”
“Now.”
My daughter obeyed.
I grabbed my phone and called Detective Mallory Price.
Mallory and I had gone to college together.
She was blunt, suspicious, and allergic to powerful men who used charity photos as character witnesses.
She answered with half a laugh.
“Please tell me you are not calling about the school fundraiser.”
“Mallory,” I said quietly, “there are two children in my house. They say their mother is locked in a room under Victor Harlan’s garage. Harlan’s truck is outside.”
The laugh vanished.
“Are the children injured?”
“Hungry. Scared. One little boy. One girl. My daughter has been hiding them.”
“Lock your doors. Do not confront him outside. I’m dispatching local units and calling state police myself.”
“State police?”
“If Victor Harlan is involved, I’m not letting half the town know before we secure those kids.”
Through the front curtains, I saw the black pickup roll slowly past again.
Then stop.
My doorbell rang.
My breath caught.
Mallory’s voice sharpened.
“Do not open that door.”
“I won’t.”
“Put me on speaker and set the phone down where it records audio.”
I did.
The doorbell rang again.
Then a knock.
Heavy.
Controlled.
“Mrs. Carter?” a man called. “Olivia?”
I stood in the hallway, silent.
“It’s Victor Harlan. I’m looking for my stepdaughter. I believe Lily may have brought her here.”
My hand tightened around the banister.
His voice was warm.
Almost embarrassed.
The voice of a man used to being welcomed.
“I don’t want trouble,” he continued. “Ava has emotional issues. She runs when she doesn’t want to take her medication.”
From the laundry room, I heard a small choked sound.
I prayed the door was thick enough to hide it.
Victor knocked again.
“Olivia, I know you’re home. Your car isn’t in the driveway, but Mrs. Greene saw movement.”
Across the street, Mrs. Greene’s front curtains shifted.
Good, I thought.
Keep watching.
Victor’s voice lowered.
“You really don’t want to involve yourself in someone else’s family matter.”
There it was.
The threat beneath the neighborly tone.
A second vehicle turned onto our street.
Then another.
Not police cars.
Unmarked SUVs.
Mallory had moved fast.
Victor saw them too.
For the first time, his posture changed.
He stepped back from my door.
One SUV stopped behind his truck.
The other pulled in front of it.
Mallory got out of the first vehicle wearing a dark jacket, her badge clipped at her waist.
Two state troopers emerged behind her.
Victor spread his hands.
“Detective Price. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
Mallory smiled without warmth.
“I hear that a lot.”
I opened the door only after Mallory knocked and said my name.
Victor tried to look past me.
Mallory stepped into his line of sight.
“You don’t need to see inside.”
“My children may be in there.”
“Your stepchildren?”
His jaw tightened.
“My family.”
Ava’s voice suddenly came from behind me.
“No.”
She stood in the hallway, Lily beside her, Milo clinging to her coat.
I had not heard the laundry room door open.
Ava was trembling so hard her knees knocked together.
But she lifted her chin and said it again.
“No.”
Victor’s face softened instantly.
A performance.
“Ava, honey. Your mother is worried sick.”
Ava shook her head.
“You locked her downstairs.”
Victor’s expression did not change.
Not enough for strangers.
But I saw the flicker.
So did Mallory.
Victor said, “She’s confused.”
Milo began to cry.
“She wants the blue blanket,” he whispered.
The words landed strangely.
A child’s detail.
Small.
Impossible to rehearse.
Mallory looked at one of the troopers.
“Secure Mr. Harlan here. I’m requesting an immediate welfare check at the Harlan residence. Possible unlawful confinement. Possible medical emergency.”
Victor’s mask slipped.
“You have no warrant.”
Mallory stepped closer.
“No. But I have two frightened children, a report of a locked adult, and exigent circumstances if there is a medical emergency. Keep talking. You’re helping.”
Victor looked at me then.
For one second, hatred broke through.
Pure and cold.
“You have no idea what you just did.”
I thought of Lily under the burden of secrets.
Of Milo whispering he was hungry.
Of Ava asking what if he finds us.
May you like
I looked back at him.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
