“Oh yeah?” He steps closer, his eyes flashing when they land on mine. “If you know so much about me, smart guy, then you know I have nothing left to lose.”

J A D E

6:45 p.m.

Fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes until Cam gets here and I can run across the street for Baxter. I don’t think about everything I just heard, about the lawsuit and Cam’s callous dismissal of a girl’s illness, or the fact that Cam said it would be eighteen minutes and in all the years I’ve known him he has never once been on time. And it’s raining again. Atlanta’s rush hour is still in full swing. There are so many possible complications, but I tell myself he will get here on time. I can’t think of what will happen if he’s too late.

The words chant like a mantra through my head.

Fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes, fifteen minutes.

Sebastian pushes off the windowsill and grabs his backpack off the floor. He shoves a hand in deep and roots around, but not before dumping the gun and both cell phones onto the side table next to Beatrix. I would protest—Too close, what kind of idiot puts a loaded gun within arm’s reach of a child?—if her arms weren’t strapped to the chair.

“All right. Game time. Let’s go.”

I stare at him in horror because I’m pretty sure what’s about to happen. Still, I have to ask, “Go where?”

“On the chair.” He pulls his hand out of the bag and gestures to the recliner at the far end, as far away as possible from Beatrix. “That one.”

I shake my head. “I want to stay next to Beatrix.”

He digs through the bag again, his hand emerging with a fresh roll of duct tape. “This is not up for discussion. I’m not asking you which chair you want to sit in. I’m telling you which one, and it’s the last one.” He drops the bag on the carpet by the side table.

Questions fly through my mind. What’s going to happen once I’m tied down? How do I save my daughter when I’m strapped to a chair? I try to think of some way to frame the questions so Beatrix doesn’t understand, but the idea of being tied down and helpless to protect her has me too panicked to think straight.

Fifteen minutes. It feels like an eternity. There’s no way I can stall for that long.

He finds the edge of the tape and tears off a long strip. It rips off the roll with a harsh clatter.

“Mom—” Beatrix begins, but I stop her with a look.

“Please,” I say to Sebastian. “If you let me stay here, I’ll make sure she stays quiet and does as you say. We both will.”