“I haven’t seen Damon around,” he went on. “He must still be up at Cushing Academy, yes? That’s due west of Worcester, correct? But Ali! Now there is the definition of a growing boy.”

I gripped the edge of the mattress with my free hand. Having my kids in Kyle Craig’s thoughts was almost more than I could take.

But if there was one thing I knew, it was that idle threats and warnings only added fuel to his fire. He’d always been insanely competitive with me, and I mean that literally. It had been nearly impossible to bring him down the first time.

How in the hell was I going to do it again?

“Kyle,” I said as evenly as I could manage, “I’m not going to have this conversation if I don’t know where it’s going. So if you have something to tell me —”

“Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust,” he said. “It’s no big secret, Alex.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You asked where this is going. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust — the same place everything goes. Of course, some of us get there faster than others, isn’t that right? Your first wife, for example, but I can’t take credit for that one.”

And then he got his wish — I snapped, lost it.

“Listen to me, you piece of shit! Stay away from us. I swear to God, if you ever —”

“If I what?” he fired back just as forcefully. “Hurt your ridiculous family? Take away your precious fiancée?” His tone had changed on a dime to pure rage. “How dare you talk to me about what’s been taken away. What you get to keep! Just how many lives have you taken, Alex? How many families have you shattered with that nine millimeter of yours? You don’t even know the meaning of loss — not yet, you fucking hypocrite!”

I’d never heard him go on like this before. In fact, Kyle rarely even cursed. Not the Kyle I’d known.

Was he devolving in some way? Or was this just another one of his carefully timed acts?

“Do you want to know the real difference between us, Alex?” he went on.

“I already know the difference,” I said. “I’m still sane and you’re not.”

“The difference is, I’m alive because none of you people have been able to bring me down, and you’re alive because I haven’t decided to kill you yet. Please tell me that obvious fact hasn’t escaped you.”

“I’m not going to kill you, Kyle.” The words were just spilling out of me now. “I’m going to make sure you rot to death, slowly, back in that cell in Colorado where you came from. You’re going back.”