A social worker with twenty years of experience dealing with cases just like mine. Gloria had seen it all—the broken families, the lies spun by siblings, the parents who’d rather believe a convenient story than face uncomfortable truths. She knew the signs and symptoms of hypothermia, but more importantly, she recognized the signs of familial betrayal.
Gloria found me sprawled on the gravel, a sodden, shivering mess. Her instincts kicked in immediately. She had a woolen blanket in her car—something she always carried for emergencies—and she wrapped it around me with practiced care. As she waited for the ambulance, she talked to me even though I was unconscious, hoping that perhaps on some level, I could hear her calming words.
When the paramedics arrived, Gloria was already on the phone with the police, recounting what she had found. The officer on the line had listened intently, his tone growing more serious with each detail she provided. This wasn’t just a case of a lost girl in a storm—it was shaping up to be something much darker.
