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It was nearing midnight.
Rachel Glass was waiting for her husband, Louis, to come home from work and had fallen asleep on the sofa. She was so tired from her busy day and taking care of her lively toddler that not even the laughter and chatter from the late-night television show was penetrating her sleep.
It was the sound of footsteps on the porch that woke her.
Thinking it was Louis, she opened her eyes just as the glass in the front door shattered, scattering all over the floor. She leaped up screaming as a man burst into the room, and then everything stopped.
The man was staring at her in disbelief.Holy shit! Rachel Pope?
Rachel was in shock.Oh my God! Danny Biggers?
The last time she’d seen him, she had been in court, testifying against him for rape and assault. She grabbed the poker from the fireplace, and as she did, he jerked like he’d been slapped and came at her.
“Get out! Get out!” Rachel screamed and swung the poker at his head.
He ducked. “Can’t,” he muttered. “You got somethin’ I want.”
She screamed and swung at him again, but this time he was ready. He grabbed the poker out of her hand and threw it across the room, then doubled up his fist and hit her on the jaw so hard it knocked her off her feet. She flew backward, hitting her head on a corner of a table as she fell, and didn’t get up.
Danny Biggers frowned at the blood pooling beneath her head, unable to believe this was where they’d sent him. Then he stormed through the house until he found the nursery and the little girl asleep in her bed. There was a moment when he second-guessed his actions, but then he thought of the money she was worth and shrugged it off.
“Whatever,” he muttered. He wrapped her up in the blanket she was sleeping under, and took off with her.
Three-year-old Lili Glass was tiny, but when she woke up in a stranger’s arms, she let out a shriek that brought tears to Danny Biggers’ eyes.
“Son of a bitch!” he shouted, and all but threw her into the front seat of his car, buckling her in as she was still shrieking for her mama.
He handed her a bottle of milk, thinking that would silence her.
Still shrieking, she threw it at the floor.
Cursing, Danny backed up, then spun out on the grass as he drove away.
***
Louis Glass worked the closing shift at Trapper’s Bar and Grill on Main Street in Jubilee. He was tired and cold as he left town and headed up the mountain toward home. All he could think of was a hot shower and crawling into bed beside Rachel.
When he turned off the road onto their driveway and saw a couple of lights still on, he smiled. Rachel was waiting up for him again. But when he pulled up and parked, he saw the front door standing open. Panic hit, and then he was out of the car and running into the house, calling Rachel’s name. She was lying on the floor between the fireplace and the sofa, with blood pooling beneath her head.
His heart stopped as he dropped to his knees beside her, desperately feeling for a pulse. The moment he realized she was alive, he rocked back on his heels with relief. He was reaching for his phone when it hit him.
The baby!
He ran down the hall to her room, turning on lights as he went. The little bed was empty. Lili was gone!
“Oh God, oh God, oh God!” he cried and grabbed his phone, his hands shaking so hard he could barely hold it, and made the call to 911.
“911. What is your emergency?”
“This is Louis Glass, at 33972 Winding Road on Pope Mountain. I just came home from work and found the front door open and my wife on the floor. She’s unconscious and bleeding from a head wound and our three-year-old daughter is missing. Help me! Please help me!”
He could hear the 911 operator dispatching an ambulance and relaying the same message to the county sheriff as he was running back to Rachel.
“Mr. Glass, is your wife still breathing?” the operator asked.
Louis dropped to his knees and felt again for a pulse. “Yes, but I’m afraid to move her,” he said, and jumped up and ran to get a wet cloth.
“Okay, just stay on the line with me,” the operator said.
