The local police were completely bought, and my mother controlled the courts.

Except for my son, Leo.

Margaret still had him at the Reed family estate, keeping him under her roof.

If she realized I had escaped with these documents, she would use the baby to force my silence.

She would do whatever it took to destroy the evidence.

I had to get to him tonight.

As I stared into the dark woods, I remembered what Emily had told me once about the nursery in the main house.

She had talked about the silver antique mirror hanging above the changing table, calling it her only safe place in that cold house.

There was something else hidden there, I was sure of it.

I pushed the documents back into my jacket and zipped it tight.

The Reed estate lay two miles to the east, past the salt marshes.

I began to walk, keeping to the shadows of the tree line to avoid the coastal road.

The rain settled into a steady, freezing drizzle that numbed my face.

My boots sank into the marshy ground, the black mud sucking at my heels with every step.