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Two Years Gone - Two Secrets Born

Chapter 2 The Knock and The Handcuff

Word Count: 1371    |    Released on: 07/06/2025

morning wasn't birdsong or Cherry

Bang

Measure

driver or a friendly neighbour's greetin

fr

fisted in the hem of Monique's shirt. They had both drifted off sometime after u

ck came

up! Po

ond, her mind refused to catch up. She tried to believe she was ima

we have a warrant

eath c

.

at her, eyes

s. She scanned the room, her shoes, the go-bag, her phone. But she had not packed

ity had just bec

turned int

y into her arms and whispering, "Don'

sing something dark and dif

d, replaced by the

ing a key. O

time to hide.

t door b

re we can

raised her free hand, her voice calm for her daug

with me," she sa

r knees

, boots stomping across the hardwoo

ough the chao

tive

Jace." Once, he had held her like she mattered. Once,

ehind the badge order

eyes l

she

who Ch

till here to

red. Her voice cracked with

dn't flinch.

hild," one

ing Cherry to her chest. "You

n mock gentleness. "Ma'am, you're under arres

er down, please," Monique be

icer he

rris d

her.

oulders. Cold steel

ut shrieking, a wild, terrified sound Moniq

y! MO

her, don't, please,

rry away, and the todd

Moniqu

bli

or a s

t was

ker of

ried deep benea

it wa

ard and a flat expression, a child protective

e! You can't take her, call Ruby. Ruby Bell. She's my lawyer

arris said coldly. "

ision as she was dr

in her ears long after

stale coffee. Monique sat with her wrists pinched be

seat behind the protective glass, her voice raw a

n't re

as you

ade hi

didn'

the moment you saw her. Don't

, not

u lied to me. You disappeared when I needed you most.

is," Harris finally s

this the moment you wa

t a moment, Monique saw the man he had been, or the

er," he said. "Of Ava Morris. Y

ue fl

..I don't even know, what the

ago. Strangled. In an ap

I haven't, I just go

ias? Community counseling?" His voice was razor-sharp now. "You knew

sound familiar, but barely. From two years ago? A

she said, her voice lo

ll s

ed away

ealized somet

believe she

ld make his own sins

n the metal bench, shivering more from shock than temperature. She hadn't cried since t

d hours later, un

awyer's

collapsed w

m like a storm, all sharp heels,

appened?" Ruby hissed b

dered someone na

ps parting sli

she might've been in one of the su

tment leased under a fake name, but the ID photo they used is clearly doctored. The building's surveill

blinke

il

to Monique's chest l

" two years ago, who had offered her a sponsorship she refu

whispered. "He's

r an emergency hearing to get Cherry back in your custody. I'll push for bail. But you need to

d hard. "There's

wed her ey

id, quietly, "Cherry's

stopped m

e said, in

know who the father was. It wasn't until Cherry was bor

doned

ue no

the lines around h

and dangerous, "now we have

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1 Chapter 1 Homecoming2 Chapter 2 The Knock and The Handcuff3 Chapter 3 Shifting Ground4 Chapter 4 The Weight of Silence5 Chapter 5 Bargains and Ghosts6 Chapter 6 Smoke Behind the Curtain7 Chapter 7 Beneath the Surface8 Chapter 8 Threads of Deception9 Chapter 9 Echoes of Her Voice10 Chapter 10 The Fifth Mother11 Chapter 11 The Sound of the Missing12 Chapter 12 The Orchard Gate13 Chapter 13 The Name They Couldn't Erase14 Chapter 14 The Proxy15 Chapter 15 Threads of the Past16 Chapter 16 The Man in the Shadows17 Chapter 17 The Six-Day Clock18 Chapter 18 Beneath the Garden19 Chapter 19 Into the Quiet Night20 Chapter 20 The Men Behind the Curtain21 Chapter 21 Shadows Between Us22 Chapter 22 Fractured Echoes23 Chapter 23 The Visitor at Dusk24 Chapter 24 A Hand on the Wall25 Chapter 25 The Clock Is Ticking26 Chapter 26 Past Due27 Chapter 27 Fragments of the Past28 Chapter 28 The Edge of the Truth29 Chapter 29 The Hidden Hallways30 Chapter 30 Shadows of the Nursery31 Chapter 31 The Stand32 Chapter 32 The People vs. Monique Taylor33 Chapter 33 Cracks Beneath the Verdict34 Chapter 34 Quiet Turns to Trust35 Chapter 35 Shifting Grounds36 Chapter 36 Threads of Truth37 Chapter 37 A Shift in the Wind38 Chapter 38 The Cracks in the Appeal39 Chapter 39 Beneath the Weight of Truth40 Chapter 40 The Walls Have Ears41 Chapter 41 The Safehouse42 Chapter 42 The Second Witness43 Chapter 43 The Truth44 Chapter 44 The Fallout45 Chapter 45 Shadows Bite Back46 Chapter 46 Tides Closing In47 Chapter 47 The Snare Tightens48 Chapter 48 The Watchers