My husband had just left for a business trip when my six-year-old daughter whispered, 'Mommy... we have to run
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Chapter 3 / 5
Chapter 3: The Truth Unfolds
The police arrived within minutes.
Two officers. Then four.
Then more.
They took us to a patrol car, wrapped Lily in a blanket, and asked questions I barely knew how to answer.
“Your husband’s name?”
“Derek Collins.”
“Where is he now?”
“Supposed to be on a flight.”
One officer looked at another.
That look.
I didn’t like that look.
“What?” I demanded.
The older officer hesitated. Then said carefully, “Ma’am… there’s no record of your husband boarding any flight this morning.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said, “he never left town.”
The world tilted.
Lily’s voice echoed in my head:
We won’t be here when it’s over.
Tears blurred my vision.
May you like
“He was going to kill us,” I whispered.
No one corrected me.
