Chapter 2 - The Ghost of Blackwood Ridge
The drive back to Blackwood Ridge took two hours, but every mile felt like a descent into a past I thought I had buried. The town was nestled in a valley surrounded by dense pine forests and steep limestone cliffs. It was a closed ecosystem. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone knew that crossing the Higgins family meant financial ruin, legal annihilation, or worse.
I parked my car three blocks away from the hospital, walking the rest of the way in the damp morning air. My wool coat was buttoned to the top, my collar turned up against the wind. To anyone passing by, I was just a tired father returning to check on his child. They didn't see the calloused hands, the dead-eyed focus, or the decades of tactical discipline wired into my nervous system.
When I pushed open the door to Anna's hospital room, she was sleeping fitfully, her small face pale against the white pillow. A small bandage covered a nasty bruise on her temple, and her breathing was shallow. Sitting in the armchair beside her was Dahlia.
She looked up, her expression a mix of defensive irritation and cold indifference.
“You shouldn't have come back, Sutton,” Dahlia said, her voice low so as not to wake the child. “You’re just making things harder for everyone. Luke and Reid were just... they had a few drinks. It got out of hand. Kids are clumsy. She shouldn't have provoked them.”
I didn't look at her. I pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed, gently sliding my hand under Anna’s blanket to hold her small, trembling fingers.
“You closed the curtain, Dahlia,” I said, my voice barely a whisper, yet it carried a weight that made her flinch.
“I didn't want the neighbors looking in,” she snapped defensively, though a flicker of guilt crossed her eyes before she hardened her expression again. “My family owns this town, Sutton. You can't fight them. If you make a fuss, they’ll ruin you. They’ll take Anna away. They have judges in their pocket. They have the chief of police eating out of their hands.”
“Is that what your mother told you to say?” I asked calmly, finally turning my head to look her in the eyes.
Dahlia blinked, taken aback by my lack of panic. During our ten years together, she had known me only as the quiet, withdrawn man who tried to keep his head down. She had no idea that the quietness was merely a cage holding back a predator.
“My mother wants this swept under the rug, and you should too,” Dahlia hissed, standing up and grabbing her designer handbag. “I’m going home. Luke and Reid are furious that you're even here. You better watch your step, Sutton.”
She stormed out of the room, her heels clicking sharply against the linoleum floor.
I turned back to Anna. She opened her eyes, looking up at me with tears pooling in her dark lashes.
May you like
“Daddy? Are we going to have to run away again?” she whispered, her voice breaking my heart.
“No, sweetheart,” I said, leaning down to kiss her forehead, my voice filled with absolute, unshakeable certainty. “We aren't running anywhere. They are going to run from us.”
