Page 71 of Good and Gone

It turns out the only thing on the other side of that door is a traumatized little girl. I scoop her up in my arms, and she buries her face in my chest. I smooth her hair and hold her close. "It's okay," I say. "Everything is okay."

"He's in the bed," Reese says. The sound of her voice is muffled against my chest. She sounds so tiny, so weak.

The only thing I can think in that moment is that she shouldn't be in my arms. She should be home, tucked into her bed, safe. Something bad has happened, and I worry that something is at least partially my fault.

"Everything is going to be okay," I whisper as the cops file into our home.

Tyler nods at me. "She says her dad is in the bed, and he's bleeding."

"The master bedroom is upstairs," I say. "First door on the right."

"I see," the officer says. He looks at Reese. "How old are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm six," she says, her eyes focused on the floor.

"What's your name?"

"Reese," she says. She looks up at me and then at Tyler. "He's hurt," she says. "He's bleeding."

"I know, sweetheart. We're going to get him some help. Can you tell me what happened?"

I hold on to Reese, smoothing her hair. "It was a bad man," she says.

"It's okay," I say. I rock her back and forth, trying to calm her. "He's gone now."

"He had a knife," she says. "He cut my dad. He hurt him."

The officer looks at Reese and then at me and back. "Sweetheart, I need you to tell me what happened."

She's quiet for a minute. I can feel her little body shake against me. She's trembling.

Tyler stands next to me, and he puts his hand on my lower back and then pulls over a chair. I sit and Reese curls into my lap. "Her mother died a few months ago," I say.

"Is there anyone else in the house?" the officer asks.

Reese shakes her head. I pull up the website on my phone of Kenneth’s medical practice. “Reese, honey,” I say. “Is this the man you saw?”

She shakes her head, and I can see that she isn’t sure. “It was dark.”

Tyler offers the officer a chair. He takes it, so he and Reese and I are at eye level. "Do you know what happened to your dad?"

Reese takes a few deep breaths. "He was sleeping," she says. "He's sleeping. But the bad man came and—"

"What did the bad man do, Reese?" the officer presses. "I didn't see," she says. "I hid when he came."

"Where did you hide?" I ask her. I hold her tiny little body tightly against me. "Did you lock yourself in the closet?"

I look up at Tyler, and I see the sadness on his face.

"No," Reese says. "I hid under the bed. The man came, and I heard him make my dad cry out. And I ran, and I ran."

"Then what happened?"

"I looked out the window, but I couldn't see my dad. And then I saw Lily."

"Lily?"

Reese nods. "She told me the bad man was going to come back."

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