Chapter 2

By the time the police arrived, my face was swollen beyond recognition.

Mom sat nearby, sobbing quietly.

David gritted his teeth and demanded answers from me. "I left 50 dollars for Abby. How could she not have had enough money for ice cream?

"You bastard, be honest with me. Why did you go to the scrap yard on the edge of town? You knew there were traffickers around there and that scrap yard was in the middle of nowhere. What the hell were you thinking, going there?"

I never wanted to go to the scrap yard. I hated that filthy place, with its piles of trash and an unbearable stench. But I had no choice. Whenever I ran short of money at boarding school, the only way I could make money was by collecting bottles and selling them.

Even now, my room still reeked of the sour, stale smell that clung to all those bottles. I felt like the stench had seeped into my skin, into my very soul, leaving me too ashamed to hold my head up wherever I went.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Abby wanted ribs and seafood. We spent all the money you gave to her at the market this morning. The ribs are already in the oven, and the seafood is still in the fridge.

"Dad, you've always spoiled her. She started throwing a fit because she wanted ice cream. I didn't know what else to do—"

A brutal slap stopped me mid-sentence.

"You bastard! You lost Abby, and now you're trying to pin this on me?" David grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet, his hand already raised for another slap.

The police quickly stepped in and pulled him away.

"Mr. Lambert, you need to calm down. We have the best chance of finding your daughter within the first 24 hours. Tell us exactly when and where she disappeared. Have you searched everywhere she might have gone?"

David turned toward me, his bloodshot eyes burning with rage.

I hunched into myself, forcing myself to stay calm as I recounted everything that had happened. I hadn't slept at all since noon yesterday. I had searched everywhere she might have gone, but no one had seen her.

The officers' expressions grew increasingly serious. "She disappeared around noon yesterday. Why didn't you report her missing until 30 hours later?"

"I… I didn't realize she was missing. I thought she'd gone home without me…"

David lunged at me again, his eyes filled with such rage that I was certain he wanted me dead.

"If you couldn't find her, why didn't you tell us sooner? Why did you wait until we came back? Zachary! What are you up to?"

The officers stopped him again. But this time, instead of forcing him back, they looked at me with suspicion, waiting for me to explain myself.

"I'm sorry… I'm really sorry… I was scared. I didn't know what to do."

I trembled uncontrollably. I lifted the hem of my shirt and wiped away the tears and sweat running down my face.

That was when the officers noticed the horrific scars covering my chest and abdomen. Their expressions hardened as they fixed David with a stern gaze.

I continued, "I was scared you'd be angry when you found out Abby was missing. I was scared you'd blame me and hit me. I thought I could find her on my own."

Tears kept streaming down my dazed face.

David clenched his jaw, his anger giving way to panic and grief.

"Officers, forget about him for now. We'll deal with him after we find my daughter! Please, help me find her first," David pleaded.

"She's smart and well-behaved. Her teachers always say she has what it takes to get into Bromwich College. If she's been taken by traffickers, who knows what they'll do to her?"

Finding Abigail was their priority, so the police put my injuries aside for the time being.

That night, Mom, David and the police searched every place Abigail might have gone until dawn. But there was still no sign of her.

I was left alone at home, unable to sleep. I was too afraid to close my eyes.

The bottles were all gone now, leaving an empty space where they had once been piled. I stepped into the empty space and put on the jacket David had bought for me.

It was the first time in my life I had ever owned something new. It looked nice, and it fit me perfectly. But no matter what I wore, I could never hide the stench that clung to me.