Chapter 1 - The Call That Never Disconnected
Ava Mercer saw her mother kissing another man before either adult realized she was standing at the bottom of the staircase.
Natalie had both hands against Cole’s chest.
Cole was leaning over her beside the sofa.
For one second, Ava did not understand what she was seeing.
Then Natalie turned.
Her expression changed instantly.
She crossed the room, grabbed Ava and struck her across the cheek.
“Keep your mouth shut. Don’t you dare run to your useless father.”
Ava stumbled sideways but stayed standing.
She was ten.
She had never seen her mother look frightened of her before.
That fear mattered.
Ava pulled herself free and ran toward the foyer.
Her white phone was already in her hand.
She called Ethan.
Cole reached her before she reached the front door.
He caught her wrist and pressed her back toward the wall.
Ava fought to keep the phone close.
“Dad—Mom is with—”
Cole ripped it from her hand.
He stabbed at the screen.
Then the phone slipped.
It landed face-up on the rug.
The call had not ended.
“Ava... WHAT’S WRONG, SWEETHEART?”
Ethan’s voice filled the foyer.
Nobody moved.
Natalie stared at the phone.
Cole’s face changed.
Ava stood with tears gathering in her gray-blue eyes, one hand against the cheek her mother had struck.
Ethan had heard something.
Nobody knew how much.
Cole slowly moved away from Ava.
Natalie looked toward the front door as though calculating whether her husband might somehow be standing behind it.
Ava looked at her mother.
The fear was gone now.
Something colder had replaced it.
Disappointment.
She bent, picked up the phone, and stepped away before Cole could touch her again.
Ethan was still on the line.
“Ava?”
She finally found her voice.
“I need you.”
Those three words ended whatever control Natalie thought she still had.
Within minutes, Ava was sitting on the front steps of the Carters’ house next door while their sixty-three-year-old neighbor, Janice, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
Natalie remained inside.
Cole had already left through the garage.
Ethan stayed on the phone until Janice confirmed Ava was safe.
Only then did he ask the question Ava was terrified to answer.
“Who was Mom with?”
Ava looked back toward her own house.
Natalie stood behind the living-room window watching her.
“Cole.”
There was silence on Ethan’s end.
May you like
Not because he didn’t know the name.
Because Cole Bennett had been his closest friend for almost twelve years.
