Chapter 1
“The next person tied to that post will be you.”
Brielle stopped breathing.
I did not mean it literally.
I did not need ropes, blindfolds, or children’s games to make people understand consequences.
But she did not know that yet.
Behind me, Caleb held Micah’s hand between the two guards. The party bat lay on the grass beside the padded post.
I looked at the piñata.
Untouched.
Still hanging several feet away.
Then at the post.
Micah had been tied exactly where Caleb’s next full swing would have landed if I had entered two seconds later.
I turned to Brielle.
“This wasn’t a joke.”
She rubbed her cheek.
“You’re making it dramatic.”
Caleb started crying.
“She said Micah wanted to play.”
Brielle’s expression changed.
I looked at my son.
“What exactly did she tell you?”
He swallowed.
“That Micah was the tiger.”
The piñata was shaped like a tiger.
I looked at Micah.
“And what did she tell you?”
His lower lip trembled.
“To stay still.”
“Why?”
He glanced at Brielle.
“She said if I moved, Caleb would get sent away.”
There.
Not random cruelty.
A controlled setup.
One boy tricked into swinging.
The other frightened into staying in range.
And Brielle positioned to explain the result afterward.
I looked around the pavilion.
Then I saw the phone.
Half-hidden beneath a ribboned gift bag on the low table.
Camera facing the post.
Recording.
One bodyguard picked it up.
The screen showed the entire game from the beginning.
Brielle had not merely staged an accident.
She had been collecting proof.
“For who?”
No answer.
I stepped closer.
“Who were you going to show the video to?”
Her face hardened.
Then the phone vibrated.
Incoming call.
One name.
MARTIN ROSWELL.
May you like
My uncle.
The man who had spent five years telling me my sons needed to be raised separately.
