Chapter 1 - The X-Ray That Changed EverythingThe doctor looked at me for several seconds before speaking.
“Are you Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Daniel Carter.”
I nodded.
“What happened to him?”
The doctor glanced down at Leo’s chart.
“His leg is broken.”
“I know.”
“No, Thomas.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“You don't understand.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
He turned the X-ray toward me.
“I've seen injuries like this before.”
I stared at the image.
I wasn't a doctor.
I couldn't understand the details.
But I could see something was wrong.
The fracture wasn't clean.
There were signs of older injuries around it.
Dr. Carter pointed at the image.
“This is not the first fracture.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
“There are signs that this bone has been injured before.”
I stared at him.
“Before today?”
“Yes.”
“How long ago?”
“Possibly weeks.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“But Rebecca said—”
“Who is Rebecca?”
“My nephew's stepmother.”
Dr. Carter's expression changed.
“Did she tell you how this happened?”
“I haven't spoken to her.”
“Good.”
His voice became serious.
“Because I want you to hear this from me first.”
He lowered the X-ray.
“Your nephew's current fracture may have happened during a fall.”
I swallowed.
“But the older injuries are consistent with repeated trauma.”
I couldn't breathe.
Repeated.
Trauma.
My six-year-old nephew had been hurt before.
Repeatedly.
And nobody had known.
Or perhaps nobody had wanted to know.
I thought about every time Rebecca had told me Leo was sleeping.
Every time she'd refused to let me see him.
Every time I had accepted her excuses.
My hands began shaking.
“Can I see him?”
“In a few minutes.”
“And Maya?”
“She's dehydrated, underweight, and showing signs of prolonged nutritional deficiency.”
I closed my eyes.
Three-year-old Maya had eaten crackers like she'd been starving for days.
Because she probably had.
Dr. Carter touched my shoulder.
“There is something else.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
He lowered his voice.
“When we examined Leo, he became extremely anxious whenever anyone mentioned the basement.”
My heart stopped.
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether we were going to send him back.”
I felt something inside me crack.
“No.”
Dr. Carter looked at me.
“Thomas, I recommend you contact law enforcement immediately.”
“They're already here.”
“Then don't let your nephew or niece leave this hospital with anyone until child protective services has assessed the situation.”
I nodded.
“I won't.”
Twenty minutes later, Detective Sarah Mitchell entered the waiting room.
She was accompanied by a child protective services investigator named Angela Ruiz.
They sat beside me.
“Tell us everything.”
I repeated exactly what Leo had said.
“She locked us downstairs again.”
Sarah wrote it down.
“Did he identify who?”
“Rebecca.”
“Did he describe the basement?”
“No.”
“Did he say how long they were locked inside?”
“No.”
“What about the injury?”
“He crawled to my house.”
Sarah looked at Angela.
Then back at me.
“How far?”
“Seven blocks.”
Angela's expression hardened.
“A six-year-old with a broken leg crawled seven blocks?”
I nodded.
“With his sister following him.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Sarah asked,
“Why would he leave the house?”
I remembered Leo's words.
“She was hungry.”
Sarah looked at me.
“Who was hungry?”
“Maya.”
Angela slowly closed her notebook.
“Thomas, we need to ask you something difficult.”
“What?”
“Why didn't you see the children for three years?”
The question hurt.
Because I had no good answer.
“I tried.”
I explained everything.
The gifts.
The phone calls.
The excuses.
The messages.
The grief.
Angela listened.
When I finished, she said quietly,
“You believed Rebecca was protecting the children.”
“Yes.”
“But now?”
I looked toward the emergency room.
“Now I think she was hiding them.”
At midnight, Dr. Carter finally allowed me into Leo's room.
He was awake.
His leg was immobilized.
Maya slept in the adjacent pediatric bed with an IV attached to her tiny arm.
Leo looked at me.
“Uncle Thomas?”
I sat beside him.
“I'm here.”
“Are they gonna make me go back?”
“No.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Promise?”
I took his hand.
“I promise.”
He stared at me for a long time.
Then he whispered,
“Rebecca said Daddy wouldn't want you.”
My heart shattered.
“Your dad loved you.”
Leo's lower lip trembled.
“Then why didn't you come?”
I couldn't answer.
Because he deserved the truth.
But he was six.
So I said the only thing I could.
“I thought you were safe.”
Leo looked toward his sleeping sister.
“We weren't.”
I squeezed his hand.
“I know.”
He was silent.
Then he whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Uncle Thomas…”
“What?”
“There are other kids down there.”
I froze.
“What did you say?”
Leo looked at me.
“Other kids.”
“How many?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Where?”
He pointed toward the floor.
“Under the house.”
My heart started pounding.
“What do you mean?”
He swallowed.
“There are doors.”
“Doors?”
“Rebecca said we couldn't open them.”
“Why?”
May you like
Leo's eyes filled with fear.
“Because Daddy wasn't the first one who disappeared.”
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