PART 2 — What Lena Revealed
Lena spoke in fragments. Her mother had died three years earlier. A man named Eric Caldwell moved in afterward.
Food became conditional. Silence became survival. Pain became “discipline.”
Her brace had never been replaced as she grew. It now hurt her more than helped.
“If I tell anyone,” she whispered, “he said I won’t be able to run anymore.”
Lucas lowered his phone beneath the table and typed a message to airport security.
Shadow stayed alert.
Then a man entered the café.
He scanned the room quickly. When he saw Lena, his jaw tightened.
He walked fast and grabbed her arm.
“There you are,” he snapped. “What did I say about wandering off?”
Lena recoiled.
Shadow barked once.
Lucas stood.
“Take your hand off her,” Lucas said calmly. “Now.”
“Mind your business,” the man sneered. “This is my kid.”
Lena clung to Lucas’s sleeve.
“Step back,” Lucas said. “Security is coming.”
The man hissed, “If you don’t come now, you know what happens.”