Chapter 22 - The DoorDavid reached the house in minutes.
He barely remembered parking.
He ran to the front door.
Locked.
He grabbed the handle.
Nothing.
“LEAH!”
No answer.
Then he heard Maya crying.
Something inside him snapped.
He stepped back.
And threw his shoulder against the door.
CRACK.
The door didn't open.
He hit it again.
CRACK!
The frame splintered.
Then came the sound of Leah screaming.
David hit it a third time.
The door flew open.
He rushed inside.
And stopped.
Leah was on the floor.
She was still holding Maya.
His mother stood over her.
The baseball bat was raised above her head.
For one frozen second, David couldn't believe what he was seeing.
This was his mother.
The woman who had held him as a baby.
The woman who had kissed his forehead when he was sick.
The woman he had defended for most of his life.
And now she was standing over his wife with a weapon.
“DROP IT!”
His mother slowly turned.
“David.”
“DROP THE BAT!”
She looked at Maya.
Then at Leah.
Then back at her son.
“I was trying to save you.”
David stepped between them.
“You were trying to kill my wife.”
His mother shook her head.
“She is poisoning you.”
Leah cried silently.
David looked back at her.
“Are you hurt?”
“My shoulder.”
David's jaw tightened.
Then his mother whispered:
“She will take you away from me.”
David stared at her.
“No.”
His voice was trembling.
“You lost me a long time ago.”
Sirens approached outside.
His mother suddenly smiled.
But it wasn't the smile of a defeated woman.
It was the smile of someone who still possessed a secret.
“You think this is about Leah?”
David froze.
His mother lowered her voice.
“You still don't know what happened to Emily.”
The police stormed through the front door.
May you like
And before they could take her away, she whispered:
“Ask your father.”
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