I left Emily wrapped securely in my uniform jacket under the careful protection of the backup officers who had just arrived at the curb, their cruisers washing the immaculate front lawn in chaotic flashes of red and blue.
I drew my sidearm.
I wasn’t willing to take another chance.
When I stepped back into the foyer, the bleach smell seemed even more powerful, clawing at the back of my throat and mixing with the metallic scent of Thomas’s blood.
Daniel had him securely pinned against the wall near the entrance.
“Don’t go up there,” Thomas pleaded, his voice cracking as a pathetic, high-pitched whine replaced every trace of his earlier bravado. “Please. It’s just a mess. Let me clean it first. You don’t need to see it. It’s private.”
“Shut your mouth,” Daniel growled, shoving him harder against the drywall and knocking the air from his lungs.
Then he looked toward me and gave a tight, grim nod.
“Watch your corners, Maria. We don’t know what else is in this house.”
I climbed the staircase slowly and tactically, one agonizing step at a time.
The expensive wood groaned quietly beneath my boots.
With every step deeper into the darkness above, the air seemed to become heavier, thicker, increasingly difficult to breathe.
The upstairs hallway was completely black except for faint ambient light spilling through a half-open doorway at the far end.
Emily’s room.
I approached carefully with my gun raised, checking an empty, spotless bathroom and a perfectly arranged guest bedroom along the way.
Nothing.
Only immaculate suburban normality staged around a hidden nightmare.
Then I reached Emily’s door.
I pressed my back firmly against the wall beside the frame.
Through the narrow opening, I could see a pink princess blanket dragged halfway across the carpet as though abandoned during a frantic escape.
I reached out with my left hand and gently pushed the door.
It opened slowly.
The hinges released a high metallic squeal that made my teeth clench.
I stepped inside.
The overpowering, nauseating bleach smell originated here.
The carpet was still damp from it.
I swept the room with my high-powered flashlight and the barrel of my weapon.
