Stories by Claudia

Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
Sunday — 11:16 A.M.
“Heather!”
Blane yelled as he ran in the house. Slamming the door, he ran toward where he could hear her voice.
“Heather?”
“We’re in here,” she said.
He jogged toward the den off the kitchen. Heather was sitting in a rocking chair with Mack on her shoulder.
“Hi,” [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER NINETY
Saturday morning — 1:20 A.M.
Sandy opened the door to her condo apartment and took a deep breath. She’d always loved the smell of her very own home. Even after being closed up for so many weeks, her home still smelled safe. That’s how she had felt [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
Friday evening — 6:15 P.M.
Delphie almost collapsed with relief when Johansen released her. In the last few hours, he had been brutal with her. She wasn’t sure if the old man was getting careless or simply didn’t care if he hurt her. At one point, she [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
Friday evening — 5:45 P.M.
Jacob stepped through the doorway and listened. He could hear Valerie screaming in the kitchen. Valerie’s pain and terror threatened to overwhelm his little brother self. He had to stay focused. He pushed away everything other than his singular focus – Johansen.
Cloaking [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
Friday morning — 5:25 A.M.
Dressed in her pajamas, Jill ran down the stairs from the loft. Her bare feet made a tight drumbeat as she pounded past the landing. Slipping around the corner, she almost ran over Honey. Honey had been wheeling at top speed toward [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
Thursday Night — 7:15 P.M
The Castle
“I made dinner.” Sandy rushed around their apartment. “Delphie will be here…”
Sandy ran to answer a knock at the door. Delphie came in and hugged Sandy. Seated at the dining room table, Noelle watched Sandy run through the apartment. Her mouth [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
Two weeks later
Thursday — 3:25 P.M.
After getting a bite to eat, and checking that Katy and Noelle had snacks, Delphie sat down at a small table in her apartment. She usually took care of the kids after school, but Jill had taken the day off [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
Friday morning — 8:24 A.M.
Sandy stood inside the doorway to admiring her salon. One wall was painted a burnt orange color similar to a Colorado sunrises. There were four stations set up along the exposed brick side of the studio. A changing room and a bathroom [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
Thursday — 1:05 P.M.
Denver County Court Building
Jill moved across the court room to retake her seat in the witness box. She had been on the stand since they showed the horrible videos of Honey’s attack. Jacob and her mom, Anjelika, had been with her [...]

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Previous Chapters
Recap of the Beginning and character summary
CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
Wednesday evening
Aden spent most of the day waiting. After the hearing, he had waited in a holding cell at the courthouse. It wasn’t awful. It wasn’t even all unexpected. He’d simply forgotten what it was like. He’d started the day as a President of a [...]

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