“I have to tell you something,” Sara said, pulling away. She wouldn’t look at Summer as she sat on the edge of Lorraine’s bed and traced the roses on the bedspread with her finger, her eyes wide. She looked nervous, scared. It was unlike her.

“I heard my dad talking to him.”

Tom, as the doctor and the first to move his family into the compound, was one of the most respected men in the community other than Taured himself. It wasn’t unusual for them to have private talks. Summer had seen them walking the parameter of the compound together many times in deep conversation, the same at dinners.

Summer frowned. Whatever her friend had to say was going to be awful, she already knew it. She didn’t have words, so she wrapped her arms around her body and sank next to Sara on the bed.

“They’ve reported your mom’s death to the police and they’re coming to get her body. They had to report it. Taured is paying someone inside the Friendship police to tell him stuff, and your grandparents called the cops after you two never showed up.”

Summer reached for Sara’s hands, grasping them between her own. “Taured took me to see her body. He showed me...she had these marks between her toes that he said were track marks and that she was on drugs. He’s going to tell the police she was an addict and she overdosed. But I know she’d never do that. Drugs killed my dad and she hated them. Taured did it to her and that’s why she died.”

Sara squeezed her hands hard so that Summer looked up in surprise. “He plans to keep you here, that’s what I heard him say to my dad.”

“Taured,” Summer whispered. It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t even a surprise, but somehow, saying it out loud made her feel woozy and light-headed. Taured thought everything belonged to him, including her. Sara said nothing for several seconds, watching Summer’s face.

“They can’t keep me here. If my mom is...gone, they’ll send me to her parents, right?”

“They’re going to say you ran away a few weeks ago and that’s what made your mom overdose on drugs. They’re pretending you’re not here, Summer. They’re going to keep you locked up.”

Her heart was her whole body, thudding until she was shaking so much Sara got up and threw a blanket around her shoulders.

“Listen, I’ve been thinking about it...”

Sara’s face, which was naturally serious, looked almost pinched in its earnestness.

“There’s more. Your mom had a life insurance policy. She got it after your dad died. You’re the beneficiary. Taured wants it.” Sara’s nostrils were flaring as she looked Summer in the eye, her own eyes brimming with tears.

“What?” Summer hissed. “Just say it.”