Volume Three - WordPress.com — Get a Free Blog Here

“Mr. Crowe, you were the last person to see Hanna alive. Are you sure she never said anything about
meeting with someone after you dropped her off?” The Detective asked for, what seemed like the millionth
time.
“She never said anything. Like I said earlier, I dropped her off at her house like I do every time she babysits
for us.
“Did you wait to see if she went into the house to make sure she arrived safely inside?”
Ryan Crowe closed his eyes, trying to remember, but nothing stood out in his mind. He could see the
pleasant but strained smile on Hanna’s face as she bounded up the front stairs…then she turned and waved.
That’s when he drove off. He didn’t remember her going into the house. Did she ever go into the house?
“I don’t remember her going inside,” Ryan Crowe finally said, a faraway look in his eyes. “I remembered
that she waved and I drove off.
The Detective looked at the other Detective in the room, his eyes displaying nothing, except to his partner
that learned to read his unspoken thoughts over the years.
They both got up and left Ryan Crowe in the small room…alone.
“What do you think?” The lead investigator asked.
“He’s hiding something. He was the last one to see her alive and I don’t believe his story that she waved and
went into the house. Even her mother said she never made it home because she waited up for her.”
“What about the boyfriend? Do you believe his story?”
He thought about it for a moment. “Yeah. His mother seemed credible enough and what reason would he
have to beat her to death. From what he’s said, they were already broken up and seeing other people. I think we
can let him go. Mr. Crowe on the other hand has some serious explaining to do.”
***
Three days after the funeral an announcement was made that the police were close to making an arrest in the
case of Hanna McKnight’s murder. On the fourth day, the police came knocking on the door of Ryan Crowe,
charging him with her murder and hauling him away from his hysterical wife and wailing daughter in handcuffs.
Six months later, in a packed courtroom full of news media, family and spectators, he was convicted and
sentenced to twenty years in prison. He never said a word in his defense, believing that justice would prevail.
His wife could be heard bawling in the distance…the McKnight family could be heard crying silently as the
sentence was read.
It was a thirteen year old Dain McKnight that broke through the quiet order of the court. His outburst was
a startling revelation of the anguish felt by his entire family…voiced by him.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! I don’t care how long it takes. As soon as they let your miserable ass out of
jail, I’ll be waiting…and when you next see me, I will be the last person you’ll ever see. I hate you! I will never
forgive you! You’re going to pay for what you did…do you hear me? You’re going to pay with your own
miserable life.”
Dain McKnight made his declaration as he was being ushered out, by force, by the bailiff and his distraught
father. It was a promise and a rage that would grow and fester inside him and he would carry for the next twenty
years like a cancer eating away at his humanity.
And he waited…and waited, until…
Chapter One:
Kadi Crowe ignored the gnawing feeling that churned in the pit of her stomach. But each time she had this
sensation she knew something bad was about to happen. Only once, when she was about seven years old did
this feeling mean something good was going to happen. Like the time her father surprised her with her most
favorite doll, Kitty.
Her stomach flipped violently when the memory of what happened to Kitty came to mind. It was a fate that
Kadi shared…damaged, neglected and ruined beyond repair.
Kadi paced nervously around the house, checking and rechecking locks, doors, windows. Then triple
checked. This was the first time since she bought this small house a year and a half ago that she left for any