I crouched slowly so I was eye level with her. “Hey,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “You okay?”
She shook her head immediately. “He hurt Mommy,” she said. “There was blood everywhere. She wouldn’t wake up.”
The world went quiet.
In my life, I’ve seen things most people don’t come back from. War does that. So do certain kinds of nights in certain kinds of places.
But hearing that from a child?
That hits different.
“How long ago?” I asked.
“This morning,” she said. “He said we had to go. He said if I told anyone…” Her voice broke. “He said I’d be next.”
I stood up slowly.
The man had seen us now. His eyes locked onto mine, flicking down to where Addison clung to me. He started walking toward us, forcing calm into his face like a bad actor.
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