Chapter 5 - The Shadow Returns
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The nursing interview went terribly. Clare’s hands shook, her mind constantly drifting back to the black car idling near her cousin’s apartment. The clinic manager told her they would "keep her resume on file," the universal code for rejection.
Clare walked back to the apartment in a daze, the oppressive Miami heat suffocating her. She had forty dollars left to her name. If she didn't find work by Monday, she wouldn't be able to buy Maya's asthma medication.
She unlocked the heavy deadbolt to Maria’s apartment and pushed the door open.
“Maya, sweetie, I’m back,” Clare called out, dropping her keys on the cheap laminate counter.
Silence answered her.
“Maya?” Clare’s voice rose in panic.
She rushed into the living room. Maya wasn't on her blanket.
Then, a tall, broad-shouldered figure stepped out of the narrow hallway leading to the bedrooms.
Clare’s blood turned entirely to ice.
Richard stood there. He was wearing a crisp polo shirt and expensive slacks, looking like the perfect suburban husband. But his eyes were dark, manic, and filled with a terrifying, familiar rage.
“Did you really think a gas station ATM withdrawal wouldn't trigger my fraud alerts, Clare?” Richard asked, his voice deceptively calm.
“Where is my daughter?” Clare demanded, backing slowly toward the kitchen, her eyes darting toward the knife block.
“She’s in the bedroom. She was crying, so I told her to play in the closet,” Richard smiled coldly, stepping closer. “You made a huge mess, Clare. You humiliated me. My coworkers asked where my wife was. Do you have any idea how much money it cost me to bribe a private investigator to find this pathetic dump?”
“You have a restraining order, Richard! You aren't supposed to be within five hundred feet of us!”
“A piece of paper doesn't overwrite a marriage vow,” Richard snarled, the mask finally slipping. He lunged forward with terrifying speed, grabbing Clare by the throat and slamming her violently against the kitchen cabinets.
Clare choked, her hands scrambling uselessly at his iron grip.
May you like
“You’re packing your bags, and you’re bringing my daughter out to the rental car,” Richard whispered, his face inches from hers, spitting with fury. “If you scream, if you fight me, I swear to God I will make sure you never see her again.”
Clare’s vision began to blur, black spots dancing at the edges of her sight as she struggled for air.
