My hands were shaking, but my grip on the fabric was tight.

Annika opened the front door, and we stepped out onto the wide stone porch.

The winter air was sharp, burning my lungs as I took a deep breath.

Snowflakes were falling again, drifting slowly through the beams of the police headlights.

Derek’s black sedan was stopped halfway down the long, curved driveway.

Two police cruisers were parked nose-to-nose across the gravel path, blocking his exit completely.

The blue and red strobes illuminated the snow-covered pine branches, turning the dark woods into a chaotic theater of light.

A tall officer in a dark winter coat stood by the driver’s side door of Derek’s car.

“Step out of the vehicle, Mr. Sterling,” the officer’s voice boomed through a megaphone, muffled slightly by the falling snow.

I walked down the stone steps, my boots sinking into the fresh powder.

Annika stayed a pace behind me, her boots crunching rhythmically.

We stopped near the edge of the lawn, just under the shelter of a large oak tree.

Inside the sedan, I could see the silhouette of Derek’s head.