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<\/p>\nA pulse.<\/p>\n
Weak.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Uneven.<\/p>\n
But there.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s alive,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
The dispatcher answered immediately. \u201cSir, paramedics are less than four minutes away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four minutes.<\/p>\n
I had spent fifteen years learning how much could happen in four minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay with me, Violet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyelids fluttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad?\u201d<\/p>\n
The word barely existed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her fingers moved against the hardwood.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered something I couldn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her lips moved again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t\u2026 trust\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolet?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cVIOLET!\u201d<\/p>\n
The dispatcher told me she was still breathing and warned me not to move her unless absolutely necessary.<\/p>\n
Sirens finally cut through the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Paramedics came through the open front door with two police officers behind them. I moved aside because I had to, watching strangers kneel where I had been kneeling.<\/p>\n
One officer introduced himself as Detective Aaron Mills.<\/p>\n
He scanned the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything stolen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t checked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSigns of forced entry?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes moved toward the alarm panel.<\/p>\n
I watched him notice the green light.<\/p>\n
Then look away.<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes later, Violet was being rushed to St. Joseph Medical Center.<\/p>\n
I wanted to ride with her.<\/p>\n
Mills stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Cross, we need sixty seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have thirty.\u201d<\/p>\n
He glanced around.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitial appearance suggests an interrupted burglary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wasn\u2019t a burglary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to investigate before\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen investigate.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed toward the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cTelevision. Laptop. Wallet on the counter. Violet\u2019s tablet. None touched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the front door.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo forced entry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the keypad.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlarm wasn\u2019t damaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mills frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t necessarily mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means someone knew the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
Just slightly.<\/p>\n
Enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe. Violet. My ex-wife Harper.\u201d<\/p>\n
I paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated the next answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarper\u2019s fianc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mills wrote it down.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Harper.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
Her scream nearly broke me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmbulance is taking her to St. Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then Harper began sobbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Mills looked up.<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
At the hospital, doctors took Violet through double doors and left me standing beneath fluorescent lights with blood drying on my hands.<\/p>\n
Harper arrived eighteen minutes later.<\/p>\n
She ran toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cImaging.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grabbed my shirt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was when Daniel appeared.<\/p>\n
He walked around the corner carrying two coffees.<\/p>\n
My entire body went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
He set the drinks down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came as soon as Harper called.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at his shoes.<\/p>\n
Clean.<\/p>\n
His hands.<\/p>\n
Clean.<\/p>\n
His face.<\/p>\n
Too composed.<\/p>\n
Then I asked, \u201cWhere were you at 3:30?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper stared at me.<\/p>\n