THE HOUSE OF STOLEN SHADOWS

I stared at the crayon drawing. Mommy.

Vanessa and I had never had children. She had always insisted she was too focused on her career in public relations. She told me she never wanted to be a mother.

"Mr. Carter?" Elena was standing in the doorway, looking at the drawing in my hand. "Is that..."

"I don't know," I said, my voice hollow. I turned the drawing over. On the back, stamped in faint blue ink, was a logo: Oakridge Pediatric Care Center.

"She's not just stealing the money to run away," I realized aloud. "She needs it for something. Or someone."

I looked at my mother. "I'm going to Oakridge. Elena, lock the doors. Don't let anyone in except the police."

I drove across town, my mind a storm of confusion and rage. The Oakridge center was a high-end facility specializing in long-term care for children with chronic, severe illnesses.

I walked into the lobby, my forty dollars burning a hole in my pocket, completely aware that I was financially ruined. I approached the receptionist.

"I'm looking for a patient," I said smoothly, leaning on the desk. "My wife, Vanessa Carter, is the mother. I just got back from overseas."

The receptionist smiled sympathetically. "Oh, Mr. Carter! We're so glad you're back. Little Leo has been asking about you."

Leo.

"Which room?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

"Room 415. He’s doing much better today."

I walked down the brightly lit corridor, the smell of antiseptic burning my nose. I reached Room 415. The door was slightly ajar.

I pushed it open.

Sitting in a specialized hospital bed was a pale, fragile-looking boy of about seven. He was attached to a dialysis machine, coloring in a book.

Beside his bed, holding his hand, was Marcus Vance. The lawyer.

Marcus looked up, his smug expression faltering for a fraction of a second before he recovered. "Daniel. You're faster than I anticipated."

"Who is this child?" I demanded, stepping into the room.

The little boy looked up at me with large, tired brown eyes. "Are you the bad man?"

The question hit me like a physical blow. "What?"

"Mommy said a bad man was trying to take away the money for my new kidney," Leo said innocently.

I looked at Marcus. "You’re paying for a kidney on the black market. That's why you need the two million from my father's trust. And Vanessa..."

"Vanessa is his mother," Marcus said smoothly, standing up. "She had him when she was nineteen. Long before she met you. Her father forced her to put him in a facility to avoid a scandal. When her father went bankrupt, she had to find a way to pay the medical bills."

"So she found me," I said, the bitter taste of betrayal flooding my mouth. "A guy with a good salary and a dead father who happened to have a hidden trust."

"Survival, Daniel," Marcus sneered. "It’s nothing personal."

I stepped closer to the bed. I wasn't going to yell in front of a sick child. But as I looked down, I saw something resting on Leo's bedside table.

It was a heavy, intricately carved wooden rosary.

My breath caught in my throat. I recognized every bead, every scratch on that wood.

"Where did you get that?" I asked the boy.

Leo smiled weakly. "My nurse gave it to me. The one who took care of my grandpa before he died."