Chapter 3 - Shadows in the Snow
The drive to the hospital felt agonizingly long. The snow had begun to fall harder, muffling the world outside into a thick, suffocating white. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still hear Emma’s piercing scream—the sound of absolute betrayal from a child who loved her grandfather.
When we reached her room, Emma was sleeping, her face swathed in cool, medicated gauze. The redness had subsided slightly under the hospital's care, but the raw, angry blisters remained a stark reminder of what had happened under our own Christmas tree.
Daniel sat in the chair beside her bed, holding her small, limp hand. He hadn't spoken for twenty miles. The shock of realizing his own flesh and blood could attempt to harm his daughter had shattered something fundamental inside him.
“He hated you, Clara,” Daniel finally whispered into the quiet room, his eyes fixed on the heart monitor's steady, rhythmic beep. “I knew he was stubborn. I knew he was old-fashioned and resented your boundaries. But I never thought... I excused his behavior for years because he was my dad.”
“We trusted him,” I said softly, resting a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “That’s what makes it terrifying. He sat at our table, drank our coffee, and watched her unwrap a weapon disguised as a gift.”
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket. It was Officer Vance.
“Mrs. Pierce? We have an update,” Vance’s voice came through the speaker, competing with the faint crackle of static. “State troopers located Richard’s vehicle parked off an old logging road about three miles from the Blackwood Ridge property. The car is empty, engine is stone cold. He abandoned it.”
“Is he at the cabin?” I asked, leaning against the hospital wall.
“We’re sweeping it now with backup,” Vance replied cautiously. “There’s something else you should know. Inside his vehicle, we found a ledger. Dozens of pages filled with notes, dates, and... grievances. Not just against you, Clara, but against Daniel, against the doctors who treated his wife years ago, and against a neighbor who reported him for zoning violations five years back. The man has been compiling a list.”
“A list of what?”
“Targets,” Vance said grimly. “And right at the top, underlined three times, was Emma’s name.”
My breath hitched. “Why Emma? She adored him.”
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“Because,” Vance said, “in his warped, vindictive mind, punishing you wasn't enough. He wanted to take away what you loved most, to make you feel the helplessness he believed you inflicted on him when you cut off the hunting trips. We’re locking down the perimeter of the cabin now. Stay at the hospital. We’ll update you as soon as we have him.”
The line went dead, leaving only the hum of the fluorescent lights above me.
