Chapter 12 - DO NOT OPEN IT
“Lily, listen to me.”
Ethan was already running toward his car.
“Do not open the door.”
“She says she's sorry.”
“Do not open it.”
“She says you said it's okay.”
“I did not.”
In the background, Vivian knocked.
Three soft taps.
“Lily?”
Her voice carried through the phone.
Sweet.
Warm.
Familiar.
“Baby, open the door. We need to talk.”
Ethan almost threw up.
“Where is Rachel?”
“In the shower.”
“Go get her.”
Vivian knocked harder.
“Lily, sweetheart.”
Lily whispered, “She's mad.”
“Go to Rachel now.”
“I don't want Vivian to hear.”
“She can't hurt you.”
“She said—”
“Forget what she said. You are stronger than her lies.”
Ethan heard tiny footsteps.
Then Vivian's voice changed.
No sweetness.
“Lily.”
The child froze.
Ethan heard it in the silence.
“Keep moving, baby.”
“Lily, you open this door right now.”
Ethan shouted into the phone.
“RUN TO RACHEL!”
Footsteps.
A crash.
Rachel's voice.
“What the hell?”
Then Lily cried.
“Aunt Rach!”
Rachel grabbed the phone.
“Ethan?”
“Vivian's outside.”
“What?”
“Lock Lily in the upstairs bathroom with you. Police are coming.”
Rachel didn't argue.
“Come on, baby.”
Vivian began pounding on the front door.
“Rachel!”
Rachel shouted back.
“Get off my porch!”
“This isn't your business!”
“You threatened my niece! Everything about that is my business!”
Ethan heard glass break.
Rachel screamed.
Ethan's foot slammed harder on the gas.
“Rachel!”
“She broke the side window!”
“Get upstairs!”
Police dispatch was already tracking Ethan's call.
Sirens were approaching from three directions.
Vivian reached through the broken glass and unlocked the door.
Rachel ran upstairs with Lily.
Vivian entered the house.
“Lily!”
The child screamed.
Rachel slammed the bedroom door and pushed a dresser in front of it.
“Stay behind me.”
Vivian climbed the stairs.
Slowly.
“Rachel, I don't want to hurt you.”
Rachel laughed, breathless.
“That's a pretty stupid sentence to say while breaking into my house.”
“You don't understand what Ethan did.”
“I understand exactly what you did.”
“He turned Lily against me.”
“She is four!”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
Vivian slammed her shoulder against it.
The dresser moved an inch.
Lily cried.
Rachel grabbed a lamp.
“Do it again!”
Vivian hit the door.
“Open it!”
“Try me!”
Another slam.
The dresser slid.
Downstairs, the front door burst open.
“POLICE!”
Vivian froze.
Rachel held her breath.
“Police! Show yourself!”
Footsteps thundered upward.
Vivian backed away from the bedroom.
Then looked toward the hallway window.
Second floor.
Roof over the garage beneath it.
She opened the window.
Rachel heard the latch.
“Oh, no you don't.”
She yanked the bedroom door open just as Vivian climbed onto the sill.
Vivian looked back.
For one second, the two women stared at each other.
Rachel said, “Where are you going?”
Vivian jumped.
She landed hard on the garage roof, rolled, then disappeared over the edge.
Police ran downstairs.
Ethan's car screeched into the driveway.
He jumped out before the engine stopped.
“Lily!”
Rachel appeared in the doorway.
Lily ran from behind her.
“Daddy!”
Ethan dropped to his knees.
She hit him like a tiny missile.
He held her.
He held her so tightly he could feel her heartbeat.
Behind the house, an officer shouted.
“We've got movement!”
Another voice yelled.
“Stop!”
Then a gunshot cracked through the night.
Ethan covered Lily's head.
Rachel screamed.
May you like
And everything went silent.
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