Prepare for edge-of-your-seat suspense in this Thriller Short.

In this disturbing Thriller Short, bestselling author Blake Crouch unleashes the horror every parent fears. Mitchell stares at a page in a notebook, but he isn’t reading. He saw the short pudgy man and the boy of perhaps five or six walk into the coffeehouse fifteen minutes earlier. As he sips his espresso, he listens to the father and son talk. Outside in the small town, snow is falling. He follows the man and boy to the Antlers Motel and checks into a room next to theirs. With snow piling up in the parking lot, he lies down on top of the covers and whispers the Lord’s Prayer. That evening he sees the boy walk alone into the alcove housing the vending machines. It’s the opportunity he’s been waiting for. Amid the sound of coins dropping through the slot, he puts his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gently guides him out of the alcove to his car. What has driven Mitchell to do such an unthinkable act? And how will it end?

Originally published in THRILLER 2 (2009), edited by No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler.