He hurried over to the garbage cans his grandparents kept lined up at the side of the garage, climbed up onto the smallest one—the one his grandfather used for sticks and stuff he picked up in the yard. Then he opened the lid of the big one next to it. It didn’t smell very good in there but his daddy had promised he would be fine.
Danny scrambled into the can and pulled the lid closed. It was really, really dark. He closed his eyes and thought of that Christmas song he liked so much. Danny couldn’t remember ever being so scared, but he had to do what his daddy told him. They were going to get his mommy out of the hospital, and then they would go home to get his Christmas presents. The ones his grandparents wouldn’t take him to get.
His daddy promised that what the police and his grandparents were saying was all lies. They just wanted to take Danny away from his daddy. They wanted to turn Danny’s mom against his dad. All they cared about was getting his mom and the new baby. They didn’t even care about Danny. Seemed like his daddy was right about that. His grandparents had been pretty mean to him. They made him stay in his room a lot. Wouldn’t let him watch television. He hadn’t had any fun at all since he came here.
He wanted to go home.
What they were doing to his daddy was bad. His grandma and grandpa shouldn’t be doing something so bad.
Danny didn’t like the police. They looked at him funny.
Well, he was gonna do just what his daddy said, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about the police anymore. He would be with his mommy and daddy far away from here. His daddy had promised that, too.
Danny wondered, as he huddled in his stinky hiding place, if that was what his daddy had meant when he’d said the princess wouldn’t take his place.
He was pretty sure he hadn’t seen a princess around here. But he might not have understood what his daddy meant. Maybe he meant the girl baby his mommy had in her tummy. If his grandparents wanted the girl and didn’t want Danny, that might be what his daddy meant.
It was getting colder, but Danny didn’t care. His coat and gloves would keep him warm enough in this stinky old trash can. He felt bad that his grandma was probably crying since they couldn’t find him. But she shouldn’t have been mean to his daddy. That wasn’t nice.
Danny closed his eyes and sang Christmas songs in his head. Tonight he would get the presents his mom and Santa had brought him. Santa hadn’t come to his grandparents’ house. His daddy explained in his letter that Santa’s presents were waiting for Danny at home. He couldn’t wait to open his presents and to see his mom.
Everything would be okay then. His daddy never told him lies. He always told Danny the truth.
All Danny had to do was be very still and not say a word.
When it got dark enough the police would stop looking for him. Then his daddy would come get him.
Jingle bell . . . jingle bell . . . jingle bell rock.
He wished he remembered the rest of the words.
42
4718 Miller Road
Pascagoula, Mississippi; 8:42 p.m.
Cyrus stared at what he had found in his son’s room.
His heart ached. Clay was his only child now. He couldn’t bear to lose him.
Cyrus closed his eyes to hold back the uncharacteristic tears. Irene was dead. Clay was all he had left in this world.
How much was one man supposed to endure?
Somehow, he had to stop this without revealing his son’s part in any of it. Clay could not go to prison. He’d made far too many enemies to survive in that shithole.
Cyrus opened his eyes and stared at the evidence he had discovered. As much as he loved his son, this had gone too far.
Irene was dead. The light of his life had been extinguished. But there was one thing he could do for his Irene. He could ensure that his son left Addy alone. Irene had loved her daughter so. She would want Cyrus to protect Addy.
He would not fail.
Cyrus had to stop this travesty before it was too late.
The front door slammed.
Clay was home.