Amber Alert

Prologue

Where did we go wrong?

Our own daughter... gone. Vanished. Evaporated. Is she in the clouds, as evaporation might seem, or is she still here, somewhat joining us as I write this down? To imagine a tiny, unprepared, gullible child's life being in the hands of a psychopath makes me feel like I have to vomit. What would we do if we were in her small, pink and blue Sketcher's sneakers?

She'd have a better chance of survival if I put her in a cardboard box drifting down a deep, choppy river. It's hard to imagine, I know, but if you had a choice between taking a bullet or being taken to a secondary location, what would you choose? Would you rather have a prolonged, painful, incomprehensible time until it led to your death? Or would you take it quick and easy, and possibly even escaping the chance of that?

But, all she wanted was a carousel ride. We let her down. As a family, it was our duty to protect her at all costs. Looks as if we pretty much failed devastatingly.

If you need me, I'll be spending the entire rest of my life in bed. Watching Netflix about a girl who was kidnapped, just to remind me of my failures as a parent.

See you around. Or, maybe not.