Chapter 1: The House They Left Behind
Child Protective Services interviewed Drew the next morning with a pediatric counselor sitting quietly beside him.
Peter waited outside the room, his hands clasped so tightly they hurt.
Every few minutes he heard Drew's small voice, followed by long stretches of silence.
The counselor later explained that silence often spoke louder than words.
When the interview ended, Drew walked straight to Peter without saying anything.
He simply wrapped both arms around him.
Peter hugged him back.
"I'm here," he whispered.
"And I'm staying."
Later that afternoon, detectives asked Peter to accompany them to Reena's house while officers executed a search warrant.
Peter almost refused.
He wasn't sure he could bear seeing that place again.
But if it helped Drew and Lily, he would do it.
The front door opened with the turn of a key.
Everything looked ordinary.
Family photographs.
Clean furniture.
Fresh flowers on the kitchen table.
A perfect home.
Until one detective noticed fresh scratches around a deadbolt on the basement door.
The lock opened with a loud click.
The air below felt cold and stale.
Peter's stomach twisted.
The basement wasn't a storage room.
It had been turned into a prison.
A tiny mattress lay on the concrete floor beside empty plastic cups.
There were no toys.
No blankets.
Only a bucket in one corner.
The walls were covered with childish crayon drawings.
One picture showed four stick figures holding hands.
Another had only three.
Detectives also discovered a hidden camera pointed directly at the mattress.
Nearby, investigators recovered a phone containing months of messages between Reena and her boyfriend discussing punishments, food restrictions, and ways to keep the children from "causing problems."
Peter couldn't read another word.
He walked outside and leaned against his truck, fighting back tears.
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His brother had trusted the wrong person.
Now it was Peter's turn to make things right.
