“M-Mr. Brooks, young Jason should be at his riding lesson today…”
Daniel froze, realization dawning far too late. He hung up quickly and dialed the riding instructor instead.
“Mr. Johnson, is Jason in class? Please put him on the phone—I need to speak with him!”
Mr. Johnson froze for a moment.
“Mr. Brooks, Jason didn’t come today. I even tried calling Mrs. Carter, but no one answered. Was he picked up by someone else…?”
Before the sentence was finished, Daniel Brooks gave a cold snort and slammed the phone down.
“You even bribed the teacher? How long are you planning to lie to me?”
“It’s Monday. Why didn’t you take him to school? What exactly are you trying to do? You think I won’t get angry, is that it? Don’t let me find him, or I swear I’ll beat him!”
Now he thought of his son?
But he had no idea—he would never see Jason again.
The image of my child dying with his eyes wide open haunted me. My chest tightened painfully as I broke down in sobs.
“Jason is dead… you killed him with your own hands!”
“Stop spouting nonsense!”
Daniel’s face darkened to purple, fury blazing in his eyes.