THE ASHES OF INNOCENCE

Back at St. Jude’s Hospital, the room was quiet save for the rhythmic hum of the heart monitor. Leo lay beneath a thick white blanket, his eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles, refusing to sleep.

Miller entered quietly, setting his wet coat over the back of a chair. He sat down beside the bed, pulling his chair closer.

"I found the alley, Leo," Miller said gently. "I found the bag. And I found your stepfather’s tie."

Leo didn't move his head, but his breathing hitched slightly. "Is she gonna die?"

"Grace?" Miller smiled softly. "No, son. The doctors say she’s a fighter. Her temperature is up, her lungs are clear, and she's taking a bottle. Thanks to you, she's going to live."

A single tear escaped Leo's eye, tracing a path down his cheek before sinking into the white pillowcase. "He killed my mother's dog last year," Leo whispered, his voice so quiet Miller had to lean within inches of his lips to hear. "He threw him in the river because he barked too much. He told me if I ever told anyone, he'd put me in the river too."

"Where is your mother, Leo?" Miller asked gently.

"In the basement," Leo choked out. "She... she was crying after the baby came. He locked her in the wine cellar so she wouldn't call the police. He took the baby in a bag and drove away. I... I hid in the back of his truck under the tarp."

Miller’s blood ran cold. "You rode in the bed of his truck in this storm?"

Leo nodded slowly. "I saw him throw the bag in the bin. I waited until he drove away. Then I climbed in."

Leo turned his face toward Miller, his brown eyes burning with a desperate, terrifying maturity that no nine-year-old child should ever possess. "He's coming here, isn't he? He knows I took her."