HIS NEIGHBOR WOULDN’T STOP REPORTING THE SOUND OF A GIRL CRYING INSIDE HIS HOUSE—THEN HE HID BENEATH HIS DAUGHTER’S BED AND HEARD HER PLEAD FOR SOMEONE TO SPARE HER

She sounded calm.

Far too calm.

“Lucia,” Veronica said softly in the recording, “if you keep causing problems, people are going to start asking why you act so unstable. You don’t want your father learning who you really are, do you?”