The dispatcher said officers were coming. She asked where we were and told me to stay inside the locked room.
Wood splintered below. The back door slammed into the wall; footsteps crossed kitchen tiles.
“They’re inside,” I whispered.
I heard the junk drawer slide open and its contents move. The tablet remained there. Nora was safe beside me.
Then I heard Dalton.
“Nora? It’s Daddy.”
I covered my mouth. The voice was soft, familiar, the one he used as she was a baby.
“Come on out, Nora-bug. It’s adventure time. Remember our secret? We’re going to see the ocean.”
Nora whimpered beneath the towel. I held her foot behind me while pressing my phone against my chest.
He entered her bedroom. Afterward, the footsteps came back along the hall.
The bathroom handle twisted behind me. I braced harder.
“Brooke.”
He said he knew where I hid when I was scared. He wanted me to open the door so he could see his daughter.
