MY DAUGHTER TOLD ME NOT TO COME FOR CHRISTMAS. "MOM'S HUSBAND WILL BE THERE," SHE SAID. "WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE HIM FEEL LIKE FAMILY." SO I SPENT CHRISTMAS EVE MY OWN WAY. BUT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, MY DAUGHTER CALLED. HER VOICE WAS SHAKING. "DAD... WHY ARE YOU ON THE NEWS?"

Synopsis

By ten o’clock on Christmas Eve, the man who stole my family was laughing under my old roof. By midnight, his face was on every television in America. My daughter, Ava, called me four days before Christmas. “Dad,” she said carefully, like she was holding something sharp. “I need you not to come this year.”