It was replaced by a deep, hollow horror.

He realized he had been a pawn used against his own wife and child.

He looked at me, his eyes pleading, but I kept my posture rigid.

“I need to sit down,” Daniel said, his voice hollow.

He turned and walked back into the dark hallway of the house.

“Daniel, get back here,” Patricia commanded, following him inside.

The heavy wooden door remained open, letting the yellow light of the hallway spill onto the porch.

“We have enough for the arrest warrant, Captain,” Hayes said quietly to me.

“But we need to secure the physical hard drives in her office before she can destroy them.”

“I’m going in,” I said.

I stepped across the threshold, my boots loud on the hardwood floor.

The house smelled of Patricia’s expensive lavender perfume and stale coffee.

In the living room, Daniel was sitting on the edge of a leather sofa, his head in his hands.

His phone lay on the coffee table in front of him.

Patricia was pacing near the window, her phone pressed to her ear, speaking in hushed, angry tones.