“If this is connected…David, you need to tell
your wife to keep your family safe. If he’s still
using the same MO, Ashley’s the most likely
target.‘
Dad flinched at my name. “She deserves
whatever she gets.”
The room went silent. His words cut deeper
than any knife. Eight years of neglect,
accusations, and insults hadn’t diminished his
hatred. He wanted me dead.
“David!” Miller’s voice was sharp. “What if
she hears you say that?”
“I don’t care! If she hadn’t begged Jason to
come home for her stupid birthday, he
wouldn’t have been on that plane! He would
<
wouldn t have been on that plane! He would
have been safe!” Dad’s voice was thick with
rage and grief. “My son…he was only
eighteen! Vaporized! We searched those
mountains for eight years! Eight years! We
never even found a single piece of him…”
I’d heard it all before, countless times. A
constant reminder that I was responsible for
Jason’s death. I was haunted by nightmares
of Dad at Jason’s funeral, his hands around
my throat, screaming, “Why couldn’t it have
been you?!”
I’d wondered the same thing. Then I’d still be
their precious little girl, not the monster they
all despised.
Miller sighed. “Jason’s gone, David. Do you
really want to lose Ashley, too?”
<
I looked at Dad, hoping for a different answer.
“It wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” he
muttered.
The last flicker of hope in my ghostly heart
died. Would he be happy now? Now that I was
really gone?
An officer brought in a bloodstained keychain.
A small, white lamb, no bigger than my
thumb.
Dad glanced at it dismissively. “Just a trinket.
Send it to the lab. See if the blood matches.”
I stared at him, heartbroken. He didn’t
recognize it. He’d given it to me. After the
attack. Two men on a motorcycle had tried to
<
kidnap Mom and me. Mom had been dragged
