Chapter 2 - The Kitchen Floor
Grace reached the kitchen and stopped so suddenly that Mara nearly crashed into her from behind.
Mara had arrived moments earlier after receiving an emergency call from a neighbor.
Daniel lay beside the overturned chair, breathing but unresponsive. A coffee cup had shattered near his hand, spreading a dark stain across the tile.
Chloe was sitting against a cabinet. Her face was pale, but she was awake.
“Mom,” she whispered.
Grace dropped to her knees beside her daughter.
“I’m here. I’m right here.”
A paramedic gently moved Grace aside and checked Chloe’s pulse. Another responder examined Daniel.
“What happened inside my house?” Grace demanded.
Chloe tried to speak, but she became dizzy.
The paramedics placed her on a stretcher and gave her oxygen. Within minutes, her breathing became steadier.
Officer Cole examined the room without touching anything. The broken chair did not look as though it had collapsed naturally. One leg had been split near the joint, and a strip of dark fabric was caught on the rough wood.
Near the garage entrance, Cole found a muddy shoe print.
The back door was locked.
The windows were closed.
There was no sign that anyone had entered through the front.
“Everyone needs to step outside,” Cole said.
Grace refused.
“My daughter is staying here until the paramedics move her, and I’m not leaving Daniel.”
Cole studied her face before lowering his voice.
“We believe someone may have been inside the house. We need to make sure that person is gone.”
He lifted a small clear evidence bag. Inside was a black plastic card no larger than a hotel key.
Grace recognized it immediately.
It was a duplicate access card for the smart lock connecting the garage to the kitchen.
Only three people had ever received one.
Grace.
May you like
Daniel.
And Grace’s former husband, Andrew West.
