“But Theo’s been shot,” I said. “He was dragged inside the house. Ben is a psycho. He killed my sister. He tried to kill me. He’s going to murder Theo.”

“Mr. Thraxton couldn’t care less about what happens to Theo,” the hulking man said. “As long as Teddy is safe.”

He marched across the road and to my father’s car, me trailing in his wake. I tried phoning Theodore, but no one answered.

“How did you get here so quickly?” I asked.

“There are tracking devices in all of Mr. Thraxton’s vehicles,” he said. He opened the back door of the car. “Hello, Teddy.”

“Hi, Harris,” Teddy said, clearly unenthusiastic. “Where’s Daddy?”

“I’m going to take you home, Teddy,” Harris said. “To your grandpa.”

“His grandpa’s right here,” my father said.

Harris ignored him. “Come on, Teddy.”

I didn’t want him to take Teddy, but I knew that was selfish. We were sitting ducks out there, and Ben was armed. “It’s best if you go home right now, Teddy,” I said. “But I promise we’ll see you soon.”

My nephew reluctantly slid out of the seat. “I want to see Daddy,” he said.

“Your grandpa will let you play with the trains,” Harris said. “There will be cookies and ice cream.”

“I want Daddy,” Teddy answered decisively.

“You have to help Theo,” I said to Harris. “You can’t leave him in that house.”

“I have my orders,” Harris said. “We’re only here for the boy. Theo can rot.”

He lifted Teddy and carried him off. I started after him, but my father touched my shoulder.

“We need to let Teddy go with them. It’s the safest thing for him,” he said. “Now we have to do what we can to help Theo.”

CHAPTER 47 THEO

CHAPTER 47

THEO

“When you think about it, Caroline ended her own life,” Ben said, cuffing my hands together in front of me. “By making too many bad decisions.”

“You killed Caroline because she wouldn’t run away with you.” I was grateful Deirdre had given me the outline of the story already. I was in no small amount of pain, but it was clear that listening to Ben’s version of the story would be intolerable. I was inoculated against anything he claimed.

He kicked me again, then dragged me farther into the cellar. He attached something to the cords that bound my wrists.

“You smug bastard.” Ben pushed a button, and my wrists jerked upward. In the dark, I hadn’t seen that I was chained to a pulley attached to a beam running along the ceiling. It lifted me to my feet, then went farther, raising me until I was off the ground completely, dangling from my arms.

“I see. Now you’re going to torture me.” I sounded jaded, even to my own ears. “That’s your masterly plan? Should I beg you not to hurt me?”