Chapter 8 — What She Said

The lead guard stepped forward, one hand resting near his belt, his voice sharp with the reflexive authority of a man who does not like things he cannot see.

“What did she say?

Step back, kid.

Step away from the table.”

Elena did not hear him.

The whole room, the sterile gray walls, the hum of the fluorescent lights, the heavy chemical smell of industrial floor cleaner, had fallen away from her completely, because the words her eight-year-old daughter had just breathed into her ear were still ringing through her like a struck bell.

They had sounded so small, so delicate, in Chloe’s quiet child’s voice.