Then he raised both hands above his head, his fingers trembling.
“On the ground,” Daniel ordered without lowering the weapon. “Face down. Hands behind your back. Do it now.”
Thomas hesitated.
The low metallic hum of the Taser powering up made the decision for him.
He dropped heavily onto his knees and then flattened himself onto his stomach across the pristine hardwood floor.
Within seconds, Daniel holstered the Taser, dropped his weight onto Thomas, pressed his knee aggressively between the man’s shoulder blades, and ratcheted the heavy metal cuffs around his wrists with a harsh, unforgiving click.
“Unit Twelve to dispatch,” Daniel barked into his shoulder microphone, breathing heavily from the adrenaline. “Suspect is in custody. Secure the channel. Send medical to our location immediately. We have a battered pediatric victim.”
I carried Emily outside onto the porch, away from the toxic house and into the clean, brutally cold night air.
I unzipped my heavy uniform jacket and wrapped it around her small, violently trembling shoulders.
She held onto me like a lifeline in the middle of a storm.
I gently took the stuffed rabbit from her, reached through the torn seam, and pulled out the smartphone.
Its screen was cracked.
The battery was dead.
But it was undeniable evidence of what this child had done to save herself.
“You’re safe now, Emily,” I whispered into her hair, rubbing her back soothingly. “The snake is gone. He’s going to jail. It can’t bite you anymore.”
She sniffled and pulled slightly away, looking up at me with huge, haunted, ancient eyes that belonged on an old woman rather than an eight-year-old child.
“He didn’t want you to go upstairs,” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the cold wind.
My hand stopped moving against her back.
The October air suddenly felt much colder.
“What’s upstairs, sweetheart?” I asked softly as fresh dread formed inside my stomach.
She looked behind me toward the open front door and into the dark interior of the house.
“The snake’s cave,” she whispered. “Where he locks it up.”
I turned toward the doorway.
Daniel was hauling Thomas roughly back onto his feet.
But Thomas wasn’t watching us.
His eyes were fixed wildly on the staircase.
His face had drained completely of color, and pure, abject horror filled his expression now that his terrible secret no longer belonged solely to him.
I keyed my radio.
“Daniel. Hold him there. I’m going up to clear the second floor.”
For illustration purposes only
Chapter 5: The Snake’s Lair
