Made her swallow it, the child said.

The story had already split cleanly in two, right down the middle, and Cordell knew from long experience that when a story splits like that, the truth is almost always standing on the side of the person with the least power in the room.

He printed the pharmacy record, set it beside the sealed envelope, and added one line to the incident log: Children requested protection before parent arrival.

Outside, tires hissed on the wet street.

But it was not the ambulance that turned in first.

Chapter 7 — The SUV