Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Stay hidden, Danny, somewhere your father would never look. Stay quiet as a mouse, baby boy.
Their breath merged, hers coming out in quickened pants of dread, Gavin’s evening as he fell asleep, his body going limp in her arms. Carefully, so carefully, she laid him on the carpeted floor, stopping in her movement every few seconds to listen. But there was no sound of Roger approaching.
Where are you? Oh God, where are you?
Again, she waited, her ears pricked to every creak of the house, every small noise. Was he walking quietly from room to room, dragging this terrible game out to make her suffer? To heighten her fear to a fever pitch? Was that his ultimate goal? Would he be satisfied with her terror, or would he try to hurt her? More permanently this time. Perhaps he wouldn’t kill her, but what if he punched her again, so hard she sustained brain damage? What if he threw her down the stairs and she spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair, her ability to speak or move gone? Completely at his mercy. A deep tremble moved through her. Oh yes, there were fates worse than death, and she’d pictured them all. She still had the knife. She’d use it if she had to, but without a phone, she was back where she’d started in the kitchen.
Outmatched.
Violet blinked in confusion when she heard the faint purr of a motor from beyond, and then the sound of crunching gravel. A car. A car had pulled up in front of their house. How had she not heard it approaching?
Oh my God. Oh my God. Help.
Violet came to her feet, moving as quietly as possible, holding her breath as she opened the closet door, half expecting Roger to lunge at her. But if she’d heard the car, he certainly had, too, and he’d be heading to the driveway, trying to get them to leave before she came outside.
Before she screamed for help.
Run. Hurry.
Violet ran to the window, ready to fling it open and scream for whoever it was that had arrived. But her hand faltered on the lock, a confused gasp emerging, eyes widening. It was Roger’s car, and it was leaving. For a moment, relief flooded her body, so intense she sagged under its power. But as quickly as the relief had descended, it vaulted into alarm. And then horror.
A little face looked out the back window, eyes terrified and haunted. Violet screamed, waving her arms, but the little boy had turned away. She ran for the hall and bounded down the stairs, skipping several at a time, a wonder she didn’t land on her head and do to herself what she’d just feared from Roger. She flung open the door, screaming Danny’s name, but the car had turned the corner in the long drive and was already out of sight.
Violet ran anyway, arms waving, heart pounding, screaming Danny’s name over and over, but it was no use. It was dark now, and the car was already too far away and quickly picking up speed, just a wavering dot of light in the distance.
Oh God, oh no, bring back my baby. My little boy.
Violet fell to the ground, weeping and shaking, calling Danny’s name until her throat was raw.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“I’m headed home to shower and change quickly, and then I’ll be on my way to you,” Sienna said.
“Finally.” She heard the smile in Gavin’s voice. “Long day, huh? I have just the thing to relax you. It’s very large and very hot.”
“Mmm, tell me more,” she said, adding a dramatic, suggestive purr to her tone.
“And very meaty,” he added.
“Ooh.”
“With extra onions.”
She burst into laughter. “In-N-Out?”
“Of course. Paired with a fine Pepsi-Cola, extra ice. I’m going to call DoorDash as soon as you tell me you’re on your way.”
She sighed happily. It was way past dinnertime, way past bedtime, actually, but she was starving. There simply hadn’t been time to eat. “You still remember all my favorites.”
“Of course. I’m sure you have more than a few new ones too,” he said, his tone becoming serious. “I’m dedicated to learning them all.”
She smiled. In fact, she did have a few new favorites. Her taste and her world had . . . expanded since she was eighteen and very poor, but she loved that he knew the person she used to be before she could afford fine dining and top shelf, because that person still existed, too, and as it turned out, not all the finer things in life cost more money.
“Do you still get extra butter on your popcorn?” she asked.
He laughed. “No, but only because my arteries aren’t in their teens anymore.”
She grinned. “See you soon. Oh, hey, Gavin, give me a few extra minutes. I’m driving right past your mom’s exit, so I’m going to stop in and check on her in person. I know it’s late, but if she’s been sleeping all day, maybe she’s up. I won’t be long.”