Chapter 2 - What Dad Knew
Amanda lunged.
Ethan barely had time to close his hand before she grabbed his wrist.
“Give it to me!”
“You're hurting him!” Lily screamed.
Amanda ignored her.
Ethan twisted away and ran.
His socked feet slipped on the hardwood, but he caught the wall and kept moving toward the hallway.
“ETHAN!”
He had never heard Amanda sound like that.
He ran harder.
Behind him, Lily shouted, “Go! Go!”
Ethan reached the stairs.
Amanda caught the back of his hoodie.
The fabric pulled tight against his throat.
He fell backward onto the bottom step.
The recorder flew from his hand.
Amanda snatched it from the floor.
For one breathless second, nobody moved.
Then she marched into the kitchen, yanked open a drawer, grabbed the meat tenderizer, and slammed it down.
CRACK.
Lily screamed.
Amanda hit the device again.
And again.
Plastic split.
A tiny circuit board skidded across the counter.
The red light died.
Amanda stood over the broken pieces, breathing hard.
“There.”
Ethan stared at them.
His chest hurt more than his wrist.
Dad had trusted him with one thing.
He had failed.
Amanda turned slowly.
“You will not mention this to anyone.”
Lily glared at her. “Daddy's going to know.”
“No, he isn't.”
“Yes, he is.”
Amanda crouched until she was eye level with her daughter.
“Your father is in northern Alaska at a work site with almost no service. He won't be home for three weeks.”
“He calls.”
“Not anymore.”
Ethan looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Amanda straightened. “It means the satellite system is down.”
Ethan knew that wasn't true.
Dad had called him from the airport the night before he flew out.
“If I miss a call,” Daniel had said, “don't worry. But if anything feels wrong, use the recorder.”
“What counts as wrong?” Ethan had asked.
There had been a pause.
Then Dad said, “You'll know.”
Amanda swept the broken recorder into the trash.
“Both of you go upstairs.”
Lily crossed her arms. “I'm hungry.”
“You had dinner.”
“Ethan didn't.”
“Upstairs.”
Ethan took Lily's hand before she could argue again.
They climbed the stairs together.
Only when Ethan's bedroom door was locked did Lily whisper, “I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“I told her about it.”
Ethan sat on the edge of his bed. “It's okay.”
“No, it's not.”
She used his own words against him.
Despite everything, he almost smiled.
Lily climbed beside him.
“Did Daddy say what was on it?”
Ethan shook his head.
“He said it wasn't just a recorder.”
“What else?”
“He said if I pressed the side button, it would send stuff somewhere safe.”
Lily's eyes widened. “The cloud?”
“You know what the cloud is?”
“Ms. Torres says it's not a real cloud.”
That was when Ethan remembered something.
Dad kneeling in front of him in the garage.
The recorder in one hand.
A small brass key in the other.
“If the red light ever turns solid,” Daniel had said, “check the place where we built your first birdhouse.”
Ethan stood so fast Lily nearly fell over.
“What?” she asked.
“The garage.”
But before he reached the door, footsteps stopped outside.
A shadow moved beneath the gap.
Amanda's voice came through the wood.
“Ethan? Open the door.”
He didn't move.
Her voice softened.
May you like
“I just want to talk.”
Then the doorknob began to turn.
