She was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
—”Daddy’s snake…” the child sobbed. “It’s so big… it hurts so much…”
For one stunned second, Claire’s mind tried to turn the words into something harmless. A pet. A python. A child frightened by something in her room.
But the fear in that little voice was not the fear of an animal.
It was the fear of someone who had already learned what happened when no one came.
Claire straightened in her chair and softened her tone.
—”Honey, tell me your name.”
There was silence on the line. Then a faint creak somewhere inside the house.
The girl answered in a whisper.
—”Emily.”
—”Emily, are you alone right now?”
