Chapter 1 - THE DIGGING MAN
At 1:17 in the morning, Ethan Harper woke to the sound of metal scraping against stone.
At first, he thought it came from the street.
Then it came again.
Scrape.
Pause.
Scrape.
Ethan pushed aside his bedroom curtain and looked down into the backyard.
His father was beneath the old maple tree.
Daniel Harper wore dark sweatpants and an old gray sweatshirt. A shovel flashed in the moonlight as he drove it into the soil.
Ethan frowned.
For six months, Daniel had reminded everyone that the family was nearly broke.
The consulting firm had supposedly lost its largest client. The mortgage was behind. Credit cards had been canceled.
Chloe had postponed her second year of college because Daniel insisted there was no money for tuition.
Sarah had quietly stopped filling one of her prescriptions after seeing the price.
Two nights earlier, Daniel had lectured them about leaving kitchen lights on.
Yet now he was digging a hole at one in the morning.
Ethan watched Daniel kneel beside something on the grass.
A rectangular metal box.
Daniel wiped it carefully with a towel before lowering it into the hole.
Then he covered it.
He packed down the soil.
He scattered dead leaves across the ground.
And before returning inside, Daniel stood completely still beneath the tree.
Looking at the house.
Ethan stepped back from the window.
His bedroom door opened twenty minutes later.
Daniel appeared in the hallway.
“Still awake?”
Ethan pretended to look at his phone.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Daniel studied him.
For one uncomfortable second, Ethan wondered whether his father had seen him behind the curtain.
Then Daniel smiled.
“Try to get some rest. We’ve got enough problems without everyone being exhausted.”
The door closed.
Ethan waited until the footsteps disappeared.
Then he crossed the hall and knocked softly on Chloe’s door.
She opened it with irritated eyes.
“What?”
“Dad buried something.”
Chloe stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“In the backyard.”
She started to laugh.
Ethan didn’t.
The smile disappeared from her face.
Ten minutes later, they were sitting on the edge of Sarah’s bed.
Their mother listened without interrupting.
When Ethan finished, Sarah glanced toward the empty space beside her.
Daniel had said he was sleeping downstairs because his back hurt.
“He told me yesterday we might have to sell my car,” Sarah whispered.
Chloe folded her arms.
“He told me there was no point applying for spring semester.”
Sarah looked toward the window.
“What exactly did he bury?”
“I couldn’t see.”
Ethan hesitated.
“But it was a metal box.”
Nobody slept after that.
At 6:42 the next morning, Daniel left for work.
At 6:47, Ethan walked into the garage.
He returned carrying a shovel.
Sarah was already standing beside the old maple tree.
“Same spot?” she asked.
Ethan pointed.
“Right there.”
He pushed the shovel into the earth.
Three minutes later—
CLANG.
The blade struck metal.
The three Harpers stared at one another.
Ethan dropped to his knees and pulled away the dirt.
A corner of the box appeared.
Sarah whispered,
May you like
“What did he bury out here?”
None of them were prepared for the answer.
