Chapter 5
I was eating lunch at my desk when a voice message came from Sophie's teacher.
She sounded as though she was shaking.
“Mrs. Cole, we can't find Sophie or Zack!”
For a second, I couldn't hear anything else. I called a ride and rushed to the preschool.
Ethan and Claire were already in the security office when I got there.
The moment Claire saw me, she charged forward, her eyes red, and slapped me across the face.
The crack rang out.
She pointed at me, spitting out every word.
“Sophie must still be angry about this morning! She's done something to Zack. She's hidden him somewhere!”
“I'm warning you, Sarah. If anything happens to my son, you'll pay for it!”
The blow knocked my face sideways. Ethan hadn't tried to stop her. He just stood there glaring at me.
“Is this what you teach Sophie?”
“You hate Claire, so you teach our daughter to hate her, too?”
I was about to explode when a teacher watching the security footage cried out.
“Here! They're on this camera!”
We rushed to the monitor.
The footage showed nap time.
Zack slipped into the girls' nap room and pulled Sophie out of her sleep mat while she was still half-asleep. He dragged her out into the hallway.
He kept pulling her until they reached the stairwell.
The stairwell that led to the roof.
I shuddered, then turned and ran.
Ethan and Claire went pale and hurried after me.
I raced up to the fourth-floor landing. Zack was curled up on the steps, sleeping peacefully.
Behind him stood the steel door to the roof.
It was secured with a slide bolt on the stairwell side.
My blood surged so hard I could hear it.
Zack stirred at the noise and rubbed his eyes.
When he saw Claire, he smiled.
“Mommy, you said if Sophie was gone, she couldn't fight me for Daddy anymore.”
“Now Daddy's all mine!”
Something inside me snapped.
I threw myself at the rusty door.
The bolt was jammed in place. I yanked and hammered at it, scraping my palms raw. Blood ran over my fingers, but it wouldn't budge.
I spun toward Claire.
Grabbing a handful of her hair, I slapped her with everything I had.
The sound echoed through the stairwell.
She screamed and fell to the floor. Blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
“You vicious bitch!”
“You taught a five-year-old to kill someone?”
Ethan froze for a second, then shoved me away and gathered Claire protectively against him.
“Sarah, have you lost your mind?”
“Zack's five! Kids say things! Claire would never teach him something like that!”
I stumbled backward and slammed into the wall hard enough to hurt all the way through me.
I pointed at Zack, still rubbing his eyes on the landing.
“Kids say things?”
“He got Sophie onto the roof and locked her out there! Did he just say that, too?”
“Ethan, that's your daughter on the other side! What kind of father are you?”
Panic flickered in his eyes, but he wouldn't let go of Claire.
“That doesn't give you the right to hit her! He was being naughty. He doesn't understand how serious this is!”
“You're acting completely unhinged!”
I looked at him—shielding another woman while he attacked his wife—and felt sick.
I turned away from him and shouted at the security guard running up the stairs.
“Break it open! Get that door open!”
He brought a fire ax down on the rusted locking hardware. A few blows tore it loose.
When the door swung open, heat rushed into the stairwell.
I faltered for a step.
Sophie had been trapped up here for two hours in this heat.
For a moment, I wanted to kill Claire and her son.
I ran onto the roof and spotted Sophie behind an abandoned water tank in a corner.
She was curled into a tiny ball, trembling all over.
“Sophie!”
I dropped beside her and pulled her into my arms.
Her body was frighteningly hot. Her lips had a bluish tinge, and she was barely conscious.
“Mommy…”
She managed to open her eyes. Her voice was almost too faint to hear.
“I'm cold…Zack said Daddy doesn't want me anymore…he said Daddy's throwing me away…”
The pain was so fierce I could hardly breathe.
Tears spilled down my face as I held her tighter.
“I want you, baby. Mommy wants you. I always will!”
Ethan ran onto the roof behind me. When he saw her colorless face, his own expression finally changed.
“Sophie…”
He reached for her.
“Get away!”
I stared at him and screamed.
“Don't touch my daughter! You make me sick!”
“Listen to me, Ethan. You are never putting your hands on her again!”
He turned white and staggered back two steps.
I lifted Sophie and hurried down the stairs, stumbling in my desperation.
When I reached Claire and Zack, I stopped long enough to look them in the eye.
“I've called the police.”
“This was attempted murder. Neither of you is just walking away from it.”
“Claire, you used a child to do this. Think about how many years that could cost you.”
Her face drained. She grabbed Ethan's sleeve and started shaking.
“Ethan, I didn't. I swear I never told Zack to…”
Ethan watched me go. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
