I hurried Ethan upstairs before Dad noticed us.
Instead of telling him the truth, I smiled as naturally as I could and whispered that we were playing hide-and-seek. He believed me immediately because he was still young enough to think games explained everything adults did.
Once we reached my bedroom, I locked the door, pulled him into the closet, and covered us with the thick winter blanket Mom always stored there.
We sat perfectly still while listening to heavy footsteps moving through the hallway below. Dad’s voice echoed through the house, followed by Vince laughing in a way that made my stomach tighten with fear. Mom kept pleading with them to stop, but her voice sounded weaker each time she spoke.
Then I heard another loud crash.
After that…
Nothing.
The silence felt so unnatural that I finally reached for my phone.
The dispatcher remained on the line while officers rushed toward our address. She kept asking simple questions to distract me from the sounds downstairs and reminded me over and over that help was coming. I wanted desperately to believe her, but every passing second felt like an hour.
Less than six minutes later, flashing lights reflected through the rain-soaked windows.
Two patrol cars stopped outside our house almost simultaneously. Officers Jessica Hayes and Marcus Vance stepped into the storm, immediately noticing the front gate hanging open and the porch light swinging loosely after apparently being damaged during the chaos.
Marcus pushed open the front door.
“Police!”
“David Miller, come out now!”
