Chapter 2 - THE LIE THAT BECAME THE TRUTH
At 8:19 p.m., Mrs. Evelyn Bell looked through her curtains and watched Andrew Carter’s truck disappear down the road.
She immediately called her sister.
“He’s leaving the girl alone again,” Evelyn whispered.
Her sister, who lived three towns away and had never met Andrew, gasped appropriately.
“In this storm?”
“In this storm.”
Evelyn adjusted the curtain.
She lived directly across from the Carter house and considered that position a civic responsibility. She knew when Andrew left for work, when Ashley’s school bus arrived, how often groceries were delivered, and how many times Officer Natalie had visited.
She also knew that Andrew had once spent four years in prison.
No one in Bellmere agreed on exactly what he had done.
Some said assault.
Some said kidnapping.
One man at the diner claimed Andrew had killed someone overseas and escaped punishment because of a military connection.
Evelyn preferred the kidnapping story. It explained why Andrew was so protective of Ashley.
“Maybe he finally snapped,” she said.
“Call the police.”
“I don’t want to overreact.”
“You’re not overreacting. That child could be in danger.”
Evelyn continued watching the dark house.
A flash of lightning illuminated the road.
For a fraction of a second, she saw someone standing near the Carter mailbox.
A man in a dark raincoat.
Then darkness returned.
Evelyn stepped closer to the glass.
The figure was gone.
Her sister was still talking.
“Evelyn? Are you listening?”
“I think someone’s outside.”
“At Andrew’s house?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Call the police.”
Evelyn picked up her mobile phone.
Before she could dial, the lights in the Carter house went out.
At 8:27 p.m., the storm knocked down a power line two miles north of the neighborhood.
At 8:31, Ashley’s television went black.
She sat frozen beneath the blanket.
The house became enormous in the darkness.
Every room seemed farther away. Every sound became unfamiliar.
Rain drummed on the roof. Pipes clicked behind the walls. Wind pushed against the front door with a low moan.
Ashley reached for the prepaid phone.
The screen lit her face.
She pressed the first contact.
Daddy.
The call rang once.
Twice.
Then Andrew answered.
“I’m here.”
His voice was partly drowned by rain and the noise of his truck.
“The lights went out,” Ashley said.
“I know. The whole road lost power.”
“You said you’d bring a lantern.”
“I’m at the pharmacy now. I’m getting one.”
“Come home.”
“I’m coming.”
There was a loud crack on his end of the call.
“What was that?” Ashley asked.
“Thunder.”
It was not thunder.
Andrew had heard metal strike the side of his truck.
He looked through the pharmacy window.
The dark sedan was parked near the far end of the lot.
Its driver’s door stood open.
No one was inside.
Andrew held the phone tighter.
“Ashley, are the doors locked?”
“Yes.”
“Check the back door.”
“You told me to stay away from windows.”
“Don’t go near the windows. Just check the lock.”
Ashley climbed from the sofa.
The floor felt cold beneath her socks.
She carried the phone through the kitchen.
A shape moved past the back window.
Ashley stopped.
“Daddy?”
“What is it?”
“I saw something.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
Andrew moved toward the pharmacy exit.
“Go upstairs. Lock yourself in my room.”
“But you said not to move.”
“Go now.”
The line crackled.
Ashley heard him speak to someone at the pharmacy.
“Call the police. Tell them someone is at my house.”
Then a second voice answered.
“What are you talking about?”
Andrew was already running into the rain.
Ashley hurried toward the stairs.
Three knocks struck the front door.
Not loud.
Not urgent.
Three slow, deliberate knocks.
Ashley stopped halfway up the staircase.
“Ashley?” a man called from outside.
She did not recognize his voice.
“Ashley, your father sent me.”
She covered the phone with both hands.
Andrew heard the voice through the call.
His truck engine roared.
“Do not answer him,” he said.
The man knocked again.
“I have your medicine.”
Ashley’s eyes filled with tears.
“My daddy has my medicine.”
There was a pause outside.
Then the doorknob moved.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly turning against the lock.
Andrew’s voice came through the phone.
“Go to my room. Get under the bed.”
Ashley ran.
The man outside stopped pretending to be friendly.
“Open the door.”
Ashley reached the top of the stairs.
The front door shuddered as something heavy struck it.
She screamed.
Andrew shouted her name through the phone.
The door held.
A second impact shook the house.
Ashley ran into Andrew’s bedroom and locked the door. She crawled beneath the bed, pulling the blanket behind her.
“Daddy, please.”
“I’m coming.”
“You promised.”
“I know.”
There was a crash downstairs.
Glass breaking.
Someone had entered through the kitchen window.
Ashley pressed both hands over her mouth.
Through the phone, she heard Andrew’s truck accelerating.
Then the call ended.
At 8:44 p.m., Andrew drove out of the pharmacy parking lot with Ashley’s medicine on the passenger seat.
At 8:46, a dark sedan followed him.
At 8:53, the county closed Bellmere Bridge because the river had risen above the lower supports.
At 8:54, Andrew reached the barricade.
At 8:55, the dark sedan stopped behind him.
May you like
And at 8:56, Andrew made the decision that would cause the entire town to call him a monster.
He drove around the barricade and onto the flooded bridge.
