Chapter 1 - The little thief
“They shave thieves so they remember their shame!”
Lydia's voice was the first thing I heard after walking through the door.
Then I saw Louisa.
My three-year-old daughter stood barefoot on the balcony in thin blue pajamas, trembling in the January cold.
Her beautiful brown curls were gone.
Completely.
Uneven red marks crossed her scalp where someone had dragged clippers too roughly over her skin.
“Mommy…”
I dropped my suitcase.
Louisa ran into my arms.
“I didn't steal Grandma's bracelet.”
My knees nearly gave out.
I wrapped my coat around her and carried her inside.
Lydia stood near the kitchen, completely unapologetic.
“My mother's gold bracelet disappeared. She went into my bedroom. Actions have consequences.”
“She is three.”
Heather laughed from the couch.
“You baby her too much.”
I looked at my sister-in-law.
Then Walter.
Neither looked disturbed.
“Who shaved her?”
“I did,” Lydia answered proudly.
Louisa buried her face against me.
“Mommy, Grandma said bad girls don't get hair.”
Something inside me went completely still.
I began packing.
Walter blocked the doorway.
“This is our house.”
“Move.”
He didn't.
Instead, his hand struck my face.
I hit the glass door.
Louisa screamed.
That scream ended my marriage before I even knew it.
Twenty minutes later, we were inside a taxi.
I messaged Elmer everything.
His response arrived immediately.
Come back. Apologize to Mom. Stop creating drama.
I blocked him.
Hours later, Louisa finally fell asleep beside me in a hotel room.
I stroked her bare head.
Then remembered something.
Two years earlier we'd installed a nanny camera behind books in Lydia's living room.
I opened the forgotten app.
It still worked.
I rewound to the afternoon Lydia's bracelet disappeared.
Louisa was nowhere near the bedroom.
But somebody else was.
A figure entered.
Thirty seconds later, the person emerged holding something gold.
May you like
I zoomed in.
And my blood turned cold.
