Chapter 1 - THE CALL IN THE STORM
The rain hit Ava Morgan’s apartment windows hard enough to sound like gravel.
She was halfway through shutting down her laptop when her phone lit up.
LILY.
Ava answered immediately.
“Hey.”
No answer.
Then breathing.
Fast.
Uneven.
“Lily?”
Her sister’s face appeared shakily on video.
She was on the kitchen floor.
Her wheelchair lay on its side behind her.
One wheel twisted.
Blood marked the skin beneath her nose.
Ava stood so quickly the chair rolled backward.
“What happened?”
Lily tried to speak.
“Ava…”
“What?”
“Don’t send me back to him.”
Ava’s entire body went cold.
“Who did this to you?”
Then Garrett’s voice thundered from somewhere behind the phone.
“Give me that phone!”
Lily flinched.
The video jerked.
“Ava—”
The call died.
Ava did not call back.
Months earlier, Lily had made her promise:
If I ever say don’t send me back, come.
Ava grabbed her coat, keys, and the small envelope Lily had given her in March.
LEGAL AUTHORITY—EMERGENCY.
She drove forty minutes through the storm in twenty-nine.
At the end of the gravel road, the farmhouse appeared beneath lightning.
Before entering the drive, Ava called Investigator Ruiz.
“This is Ava Morgan. I received the phrase.”
“Is Lily in immediate danger?”
“Yes.”
“We’re dispatching.”
Ava ended the call.
Then she entered the farmhouse.
Lily was still on the kitchen floor.
Garrett sat at the table drinking coffee.
Diane stood at the refrigerator wiping a dent in the stainless steel with a dish towel.
Ava stared.
“What happened?”
Garrett did not even stand.
“She did it to herself.”
Diane avoided Ava’s eyes.
“It’s just a scratch.”
Ava looked from the dented refrigerator to Lily’s chair.
“You both watched this happen?”
Garrett sighed.
“Don’t start.”
Ava moved past him and knelt.
“Lily.”
Her sister’s hands were shaking.
Ava touched her wrist.
Lily squeezed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Ava’s breathing changed.
The signal.
She looked beneath the cabinet.
A tiny dark lens.
Still recording.
Garrett noticed where she was looking.
His chair scraped back.
“Leave.”
Ava stood slowly.
“No.”
His face hardened.
“You have no authority here.”
Ava reached into her coat and pulled out the envelope.
May you like
“She gave me authority months ago.”
For the first time, Garrett stopped looking calm.
