Chapter 1 - THE SCREAM IN THE PARK
“LET GO OF HIM!”
The scream tore through the crowded park so sharply that a man jogging nearby nearly ran into a bench.
“That’s my son!”
People turned.
A woman came running across the grass with one shoe half off, her dark hair tangled around her face, her blouse untucked, and panic burning in her eyes.
Ahead of her, an expensive-looking couple hurried toward the parking lot.
The man wore a navy suit with the jacket open.
The woman beside him wore a cream dress, oversized sunglasses, and heels that sank into the grass every few steps.
Between them was a five-year-old boy.
Mateo.
His small hand was trapped inside the woman’s grip.
“Please!”
The desperate mother stumbled forward.
“Mateo!”
The woman in cream glanced over her shoulder.
Her face tightened.
“She found us.”
The man looked at her.
“What?”
“Keep walking, Daniel.”
Behind them, the mother screamed again.
“You don’t know what she’s doing!”
Daniel slowed.
The elegant woman jerked his arm.
“Don’t listen to her.”
“What the hell is happening?”
“She’s unstable.”
The mother heard that.
Something inside her cracked.
“I’m his mother!”
Several people had stopped now.
A father lifted his toddler out of the way.
Two teenagers pulled out their phones.
Daniel looked around nervously.
“Vanessa, why is everybody staring?”
“Because she’s making a scene.”
“A scene?”
The mother ran harder.
Her foot caught on a tree root.
She hit the ground.
Hard.
Her palms scraped across dirt.
Her knees slammed into the grass.
Pain shot up her legs.
She barely noticed.
“Mateo!”
Her voice broke.
She reached out with one shaking hand.
“Look at me, baby.”
The little boy turned.
For half a second, he just stared.
Then his entire body changed.
His eyes widened.
His mouth fell open.
“Mom?”
Vanessa’s grip tightened.
Mateo twisted violently.
“MOMMY!”
Daniel froze.
Mateo kicked at his shin.
“Mommy!”
He reached both arms toward the woman on the ground.
“I want my mommy!”
Daniel’s face went pale.
He looked down at the boy.
Then toward the crying woman.
Then at Vanessa.
“What did he just call her?”
Vanessa said nothing.
“Vanessa.”
Her jaw tightened.
“She confused him.”
“Kids don’t get confused about their mothers.”
“You don’t understand.”
Daniel pulled Mateo gently away from her grip.
Mateo immediately tried to run.
Vanessa grabbed his shirt.
“No.”
The mother pushed herself up.
“Don’t touch him!”
Vanessa snapped.
“Stay back!”
Mateo screamed.
Daniel shoved Vanessa’s hand away.
“What are you doing?”
“You promised me.”
“Promised you what?”
Vanessa’s expression shifted.
Fear replaced arrogance.
Only for a second.
But the mother saw it.
Daniel saw it too.
The mother staggered closer.
“My name is Elena Reyes.”
Her voice shook.
“That boy is Mateo Reyes.”
Daniel swallowed.
Vanessa stepped between them.
“She’s lying.”
Elena stared directly at him.
“If I’m lying, ask him what song I sing when he can’t sleep.”
Vanessa’s face went blank.
Daniel looked at Mateo.
The boy was crying.
“Buddy?”
Mateo sniffled.
Daniel crouched.
“What song does your mom sing?”
Mateo pointed at Elena.
“She sings the moon song.”
Daniel slowly stood.
Elena whispered the first line.
“Little moon, stay in the sky…”
Mateo finished through his tears.
“…until my dreams come home.”
The silence around them became unbearable.
Daniel stared at Vanessa.
“What did you tell me?”
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
Then she turned.
And ran.
Daniel shouted.
“Vanessa!”
She kicked off her heels and sprinted toward the parking lot.
Elena looked at Mateo.
Then at Vanessa.
And suddenly remembered the black SUV she had seen circling her apartment two nights earlier.
“Stop her!”
Daniel took off after Vanessa.
But Vanessa reached the SUV first.
A rear door flew open.
Someone inside grabbed her arm.
Then Elena saw the driver.
Her blood turned cold.
She knew him.
He was the man who had signed the papers saying she was dead.
And as the SUV sped away, Elena realized something worse.
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Vanessa had never planned to keep Mateo.
She had been delivering him to someone else.
