Chapter 1

"She's not my daughter."

The second the words left my mouth, the rescued girl broke free from the officer’s arms and threw herself at my feet.

"Mom, I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I won't try to run away anymore. Just please, don't turn off the lights again."

Her voice was raw and raspy, like her vocal cords were rusted from disuse. Her fingers clamped down on the hem of my jeans tightly.

I stared down at her face, and the blood in my veins turned to ice.

"Who are you calling Mom?"

She lifted her head, tears streaming down her dirty face.

"Mom, you said it yourself. You said if I ever told anyone, I wouldn't be Claire anymore."

All eyes in the room were on me.

Captain William Hayes stepped between me and the girl, his voice dropping into a low, lethal tone. "Karen Vance, back off from the victim."

"I'm not touching her," I said, locking eyes with him, "I'm not saying she wasn't hurt, Captain. But I’m telling you, that girl isn’t my daughter."

Captain Hayes pulled a printed sheet of paper from his file and set it on the coffee table.

"This is a copy of the essay. The contestant wrote that she was being held captive in a basement by her own mother, Karen Vance, for the last three years.

“The street name, the house number, even the hidden steel door concealed behind the utility shelving in the storage room. Every detail checked out."

My chest caved in as I read those lines. The handwriting wasn't Claire's.

Then my eyes caught the bottom corner of the page. There, etched in faint blue ink, was a tiny crescent moon. It was the secret mark my daughter used to draw whenever she was terrified as a little girl.

I reached out to grab the paper, but Captain Hayes slapped his palm down over it. "You can't touch the evidence."

"Just answer me one thing," I said, my voice barely a whisper as I forced myself to look up at him, "The door your men just breached. Does it lead down from inside my house, or is it an entry punched through from the house next door?"

Captain Hayes' brow twitched.

Before he could answer, a young officer said, "Captain, we've got a situation outside. A huge crowd is gathering."

A roar of angry voices shattered the window glass right on cue.

"Bring out the monster!"

"Don't let her get away with it!"

"They just dragged a teenage girl out of her basement, and she's still lying!"

I spun around. Dozens of teenagers and neighbors were pressed against my front gate, their phone screens blazing like blinding white daggers.

Captain Hayes' face darkened. "Who leaked the crime scene?"

Nobody answered.

The girl on the floor suddenly shrieked, "Mom, please! Don't let them film me! You said if I ever saw the light of day again, I deserved to die!"

A female officer dropped to her knees, draping a uniform jacket over the girl's trembling shoulders. "Hey, it's okay. You're safe now. We're right here."

Instead of pulling away, the girl dragged herself across the hardwood toward me, crying hysterically.

"Mom, I'm sorry! I'll never write another essay! I'll never mention the basement again!"

The mob outside exploded. Even through the heavy glass, the screams from the livestreamers echoed clearly.

"She's still begging her for mercy!”

“How can a mother do that to her own kid?"

"Lock her up! Give her the death penalty!"

"Stop defending her! They literally dug the basement out of her house!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but I realized that any further explanation would be useless at this moment.

Captain Hayes stared at me. "Karen, anything you want to put on the record?"

"If I tell you she's not Claire, would you actually believe me?"

"I believe the evidence."

"Then run her DNA," I snapped.

"Already ordered," Captain Hayes said flatly. He paused, stepping closer. "Until the lab results come back, you're coming with us."

Suddenly, the front door burst open. A teenage girl holding a selfie stick barged past the police tape, thrusting her phone right into my face.

"You trapped a child in a hole for three years! Does your conscience even work?" she asked.

"Get her out of here!" Captain Hayes barked.

The streamer didn't budge. She pushed the lens closer until it was inches from my nose. "Look at her, guys! Not a single tear! True sociopath behavior!"

I looked straight into the camera lens, and a cold smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

"Do you even know what my daughter looks like?" I asked.

The girl stumbled over her words. "Don't try to change the subject!"

"You don't," I said, "You have no idea. Which is why you're so comfortable shoving any random girl in front of my face and forcing me to confess."

Hearing this, the girl on the floor curled into a tight ball, trembling violently as if struck. "Mom, it hurts! Please don't disown me!"

The uproar outside reached a fever pitch, rattling the windowpanes.

Captain Hayes gave me a long, unreadable look, then pulled out the handcuffs.

"Karen Vance, you’re under arrest for illegal confinement and aggravated assault. You have the right to remain silent."

As the freezing metal snapped around my wrists, my eyes caught the girl peeking out from beneath the dark jacket.

She was crying, yes, but deep in her eyes, there wasn't a single trace of panic, confusion, or fear. She knew exactly who I was.

Captain Hayes grabbed my arm and shielded me as we pushed through the front door. A plastic water bottle flew out of the crowd, striking his shoulder hard.

He didn't even flinch, calling out to the patrolmen forming a barricade, "Keep the suspect safe! Anyone who breaks the line gets taken down!"

Just as they shoved me into the back of the cruiser, the girl gripped the doorframe of the house and shrieked at the flashing lights and crowds.

"Mom! Please don't throw me back into the basement!"

The entire street went dead silent for a fraction of a second, before violent chaos erupted all over again.

Captain Hayes slammed the cruiser door shut, climbed into the front seat, and looked at me through the rearview mirror.

"Alright, Karen," he said, "Let's go to the station. And you're going to tell me everything."