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

“I will in an hour.”

Lucia moved like someone expecting to be stopped. She grabbed a backpack, stuffed in clothes, her laptop, her mother’s old necklace, and a framed photo of Ana. Thomas watched the way she chose the photo first. The guilt nearly knocked him down.

Veronica began pacing, calling him dramatic, saying Lucia needed psychiatric treatment, saying no one would believe a construction worker over a dental office manager with school contacts and “documented concerns.” Then she said the sentence that ended every last trace of hesitation in him.