Chapter 3 - Do Not Let Them Take Us
"No."
Ethan backed toward the door so fast he nearly slipped on the marble.
Lily grabbed Noah's hand.
Margaret turned to the security guard.
"Who did you call?"
"I only asked if there was an active missing-child alert."
"Cancel it."
"Mrs. Caldwell, I can't cancel a county report."
Ethan pulled Noah behind him.
"We have to go."
Margaret stepped between him and the door.
"You will freeze outside."
"Better than Hope House."
The man in the navy sweater came closer. "What happened there?"
Ethan said nothing.
Lily did.
"They lock the pantry."
Everyone turned toward her.
She swallowed.
"If you ask for food after dinner, Mr. Pike says hunger teaches respect."
The housekeeper crossed herself.
The woman beside the Christmas tree looked sick.
Margaret's son introduced himself as Thomas, but Ethan barely heard him. All he could hear was the old metal door of Hope House slamming shut. He could smell bleach, wet wool, and the oatmeal they stretched with water until it looked gray.
"They said your mother placed you there?" Margaret asked.
"No," Ethan snapped. "She died. The hospital called the county."
Margaret's face lost color.
"Sarah is dead?"
The question came out broken.
Ethan instantly regretted how hard he had said it.
"Three months ago."
Margaret reached for the back of a chair.
Thomas caught her elbow.
"Mom."
She pulled away, staring at Ethan.
"No one told me."
"She tried."
"What?"
Ethan touched the locket.
"She wrote letters. A lot of them."
Margaret's lips parted.
"I never received a single letter from Sarah in eleven years."
Before Ethan could answer, a black SUV turned through the gate.
Lily gasped.
"That's him."
The vehicle stopped under the portico. A tall man in a gray overcoat stepped out, brushing snow from his shoulders.
Malcolm Pike.
Director of Hope House.
He wore the same soft smile he used when donors toured the building.
Ethan had seen that smile disappear the moment the doors closed.
Pike rang the bell.
Noah began to cry without making a sound.
Ethan grabbed Margaret's wrist.
"Please."
It was the first time all night he sounded ten years old.
"Don't let him take us."
Margaret looked at Noah's bare ankles, Lily's torn sweater, and Ethan's bruised knuckles.
Then she looked toward the door.
The bell rang again.
Margaret straightened.
"Thomas, call Detective Ana Ruiz. Tell her I want a child-welfare officer here before anyone leaves this property."
Pike knocked harder.
A voice came through the door.
"Mrs. Caldwell? I'm here for my children."
Ethan's face twisted.
"We're not his children."
Margaret's eyes hardened.
"I know."
She opened the door.
Malcolm Pike smiled.
May you like
Then he saw the brass key in Ethan's hand.
And for one second, his smile died.
