Chapter 1 - The Fall
“Hold still,” Claire Mercer hissed. “She’s mine now.”
Six-year-old Lily’s bare feet scraped against the marble balcony as Claire dragged her toward the railing.
“Mrs. Mercer, no!” Maria Alvarez dropped the laundry basket and ran. “Don’t let her go!”
Claire’s face twisted. “Then watch her fall.”
She shoved.
Lily vanished over the edge.
Maria did not think. She jumped over a patio chair, slammed her hip into the stone rail, and threw herself forward. Her fingers closed around the back of Lily’s pajama shirt. The child swung twenty feet above the pool deck, screaming so hard no sound came out at first.
“I caught her!” Maria gasped. “I have her!”
Claire stared as if she had seen a ghost. “How did you reach her in time?”
Maria dragged Lily back inch by inch, tearing skin from her palms. When the little girl finally rolled onto the balcony, Maria wrapped both arms around her.
“Shh, sweet baby. You’re safe with me.”
Footsteps thundered from the hallway.
Daniel Mercer appeared in the doorway, still wearing the suit he had left in that morning. “What is happening in here?”
His eyes moved from Maria’s bleeding hands to Lily’s bruised cheek, then to Claire standing beside the railing.
“How could you do this?” he asked.
Claire’s mouth opened. “It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“You dropped a child over the balcony!”
“She slipped! I swear!”
Maria stood, keeping Lily behind her. “Please, sir. She threw her on purpose.”
Claire snapped, “She’s lying! You can’t believe a servant over me!”
Daniel stepped between them. “Shut your mouth.”
Claire recoiled. “Daniel—”
He pointed toward the hall. “Touch Lily again and you’ll regret it.”
For the first time, Claire looked afraid.
Then Lily tugged Daniel’s sleeve with shaking fingers.
“Daddy,” she whispered, “Mommy Claire said she had to make me disappear because I saw the red book.”
Daniel went still.
Maria felt Claire’s attention sharpen behind them.
“What red book?” Daniel asked.
Lily stared toward Claire’s bedroom.
May you like
“The one she hides under the floor.”
And Claire ran.
