Chapter 1 - The Child in the Rain
“You were never supposed to find us.”
Evelyn’s voice was almost swallowed by the rain.
Jace stared at her as six years of anger, grief, and unanswered questions crashed into one unbearable moment.
The little girl opened her eyes.
They were gray.
The same cold gray as Jace’s.
She looked from Evelyn to him, then tightened her fingers around the silver crescent moon.
“Mommy?”
Her voice trembled.
“Is that him?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Jace felt the ground disappear beneath him.
“Is that who?”
Evelyn stood too quickly.
The little girl slipped from her arms and struggled to remain on her feet.
“We have to go.”
Evelyn pulled the child close.
Jace stepped in front of them.
“Six years.”
His voice was low.
“You vanished for six years, and now a child who looks exactly like me is asking if I’m him.”
“Move.”
“Tell me her name.”
Evelyn tried to walk around him.
Jace caught her wrist.
She flinched so violently that he released her at once.
That reaction hurt more than a slap.
He had never touched her in anger.
But someone had taught her to fear being grabbed.
The little girl began coughing.
It was not an ordinary cough.
Her small body folded forward as she fought for air.
Evelyn dropped to her knees.
“Maisie.”
She pressed a trembling hand against the child’s back.
“Breathe slowly, sweetheart.”
Jace crouched beside them.
Maisie’s lips had begun to lose their color.
“She needs a doctor.”
“No.”
Evelyn lifted her into her arms.
“No hospitals.”
“We’re standing across from one.”
“We cannot go inside.”
Maisie’s eyes rolled back.
Her body went limp.
Evelyn screamed her name.
Jace took the child before Evelyn could object.
She felt frighteningly light.
He ran through traffic without waiting for the signal.
A horn blared.
A taxi stopped inches from his leg.
Jace did not slow down.
He carried Maisie through the emergency entrance of Chicago Children’s Hospital.
“I need a pediatric team now.”
A nurse rushed forward.
“What happened?”
“She collapsed.”
Evelyn entered behind him, soaked and breathless.
“Please don’t enter her real name.”
The nurse paused.
Jace turned toward Evelyn.
“Her real name?”
Evelyn looked toward the security cameras.
Fear drained the color from her face.
“It’s too late.”
Two hospital security officers appeared near the elevators.
One of them looked down at a photograph on his phone.
Then he looked directly at Evelyn.
“Evelyn Hale?”
Jace moved between them.
“What is this?”
The officer reached for his radio.
“We have an active notice concerning the abduction of a minor.”
Evelyn backed against the wall.
Jace stared at her.
The little girl was being carried through the emergency doors.
The officer pointed toward Maisie.
“That child is listed as the kidnapped granddaughter of Conrad Mercer.”
Jace’s blood turned cold.
May you like
Conrad Mercer was his father.
And according to every document Jace had ever seen, Conrad had no granddaughter.
