CHAPTER 1: THE SIRENS DON’T LIE
The sirens didn’t sound like help.
They sounded like truth.
The ambulance doors slammed open before the vehicle fully stopped, paramedics rushing toward Lily with a kind of urgency that made my knees buckle. One of them gently took her from my arms while the other asked questions I couldn’t process.
“How long was she out here?”
“Was she breathing when you found her?”
“Any medications in the home?”
Marcus answered. I couldn’t. My hands were still trembling, covered in something that wasn’t just dirt.
Behind us, my family stood frozen—perfectly still, like mannequins waiting for a scene reset.
But this wasn’t something that could be reset.
A police officer approached slowly, his gaze shifting from Lily to the dumpsters… then to my parents.
“What happened here?”
No one answered.
Vanessa crossed her arms. My mother straightened her blouse.
My father said, “It’s a misunderstanding.”
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The officer didn’t look convinced.
And for the first time that morning, neither was I.
