Chapter 4 - Daniel Comes HomeAt 11:17 p.m., headlights swept across the farmhouse.
Margaret saw them from the kitchen.
Her coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth.
Daniel was not supposed to return until Friday afternoon.
It was Wednesday.
She stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
Outside, Daniel jumped from the truck.
Rain soaked him almost immediately.
“Ethan!”
No answer.
He ran toward the house.
Margaret opened the door.
“What are you doing here?”
“Where is he?”
“Asleep.”
Daniel stepped past her.
“Ethan!”
“Daniel, stop acting insane.”
He opened Ethan’s bedroom.
Empty.
Bed untouched.
Daniel turned.
Margaret stood at the end of the hallway.
His voice dropped.
“Where is my son?”
“He needed discipline.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“What did you do?”
A sound came from outside.
Not loud.
A wooden rattle.
Then:
“Dad?”
Daniel froze.
He ran.
Across the muddy yard.
Past the sheep barn.
Toward the kennel.
Lightning flashed.
For one white second, the entire scene became visible.
Five skeletal dogs.
A locked wooden gate.
And Ethan behind it.
Daniel stopped so abruptly his boots slid.
“No.”
Ethan grabbed the bars.
“Dad!”
Daniel reached the latch.
His hands shook so badly he missed it once.
Then the gate opened.
Ethan came out.
Daniel dropped to his knees and pulled him close.
The boy was freezing.
Wet.
Shivering violently.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel whispered.
Ethan buried his face against his father’s shoulder.
“I knew you’d come.”
Behind them, Margaret approached.
“You’re encouraging him.”
Daniel slowly stood.
“Encouraging what?”
“Disrespect.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You locked my sick son in a dog kennel.”
“They’re harmless.”
Daniel turned toward the animals.
That was when he truly saw them.
Ribs.
Hip bones.
Weak legs.
One dog struggled to stand.
Daniel looked back at Margaret.
“What happened to them?”
“They stopped eating.”
“All five?”
“They’re old.”
“They’re not old.”
“You’ve been gone too much to know.”
That sentence landed differently.
Because she was right about one thing.
Daniel had been gone too much.
He took his phone from his pocket.
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing?”
“Documenting this.”
“Daniel.”
He photographed the empty bowls.
The dogs.
The muddy kennel.
The exterior latch.
Then Ethan’s soaked clothing.
“Stop.”
“No.”
Margaret stepped toward him.
Daniel moved between her and Ethan.
“Do not touch him.”
The words were quiet.
Margaret stopped.
Daniel called the county sheriff’s office.
Then an emergency veterinary number.
Margaret stared at him in disbelief.
“You’re calling police on your own mother?”
Daniel looked toward Ethan.
“No.”
Then toward the starving dogs.
“I’m calling them because of what you did.”
Twenty-five minutes later, red and blue lights reflected across the wet barn.
Dr. Nora Bennett arrived shortly afterward.
She entered the kennel.
One look at the dogs changed her expression.
“This didn’t happen in a week.”
Margaret crossed her arms.
“They refused feed.”
Nora touched the brown-and-white dog carefully.
“No.”
She looked directly at Daniel.
“These animals have been underfed for a long time.”
Deputy Leah Monroe began taking notes.
Daniel turned toward his mother.
For the first time in his life, Margaret looked afraid of him.
Not because he had raised his voice.
He hadn’t.
Because he no longer believed her.
Then Ethan tugged his sleeve.
“Dad.”
Daniel bent down.
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“The money.”
May you like
Margaret’s face drained of color.
And Daniel knew the kennel was only the beginning.
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