“They talked about him marrying you.” It rushed out of her mouth in a jumble. She hiccuped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Summer shook her head. “What?”

Sara bit her lip. “I don’t know. They...my dad...they don’t know if they can pull it off, but they’re going to try.”

She shook her head. “No.” Her voice broke. That wasn’t right, couldn’t be.

And why would her mother even have a life insurance policy? She’d never mentioned anything like that to Summer.

“You’re underage, so you’d normally need your mother’s permission. But with her gone, they can forge her signature.” Sara dipped her chin, looked at her hard, like she really needed Summer to understand.

“He will do it. He will find a way. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“Sara.” Ama stuck her head in the door, almost making the two of them jump. “Time for Summer to rest. You can see her again for a bit tomorrow.”

“Just another minute, Mama. I’d like to pray with her, if you don’t mind,” Sara said. They grasped hands, touching foreheads. Ama nodded and closed the door.

“The police will know something’s up. If I’m apparently missing, the police will ask them why they didn’t report it.”

“He’s going to say that your mother told him she reported you missing. They’re going to have Frank say he drove her to the police station and waited in the car for her.” Frank, whom her mother hated and who hated her back—of course he was willing to lie for Taured.

“Frank is just going to play dumb and say he saw her go inside. You have to leave with the police, Summer, it’s the only way.”

“How? They won’t let me out of their sight now if that’s the case.”

“They’re going to lock you in my parents’ room while the police are here.”

Summer was quiet as she thought. Sara was right. Without her mother’s protection, they could do anything they wanted to her, especially if everyone thought she’d run away. Would her grandparents believe she’d run away? Ha! Why wouldn’t they? According to Lorraine, they had always wanted to believe the worst about their own daughter, so why would they question a story about the granddaughter they’d never met? Yet...they were all she had. Duty would make them take care of her; her mama had said something of that nature once. No matter what, she had to get out of here. Taured had killed her mother, and eventually, he would kill her, too. The memory of him standing in the cafeteria, staring at her as they led her away to her mother’s funeral, surfaced in her mind. Chilled, she looked with new resolve at her brave friend, who was risking everything to help her.