‘‘That’s to deal with later.’’ Ethan felt the ache begin around his heart and move in to squeeze. But he shook his head. ‘‘Read the rest.’’

‘‘Okay. ‘Ray knew how much it hurt me to part with the boy, so he helped me out. But now that he’s gone, I’m starting to worry that it might not be the best place for Seth there with you. I’m willing to be convinced. If you’re set on keeping him, you’ll keep up Ray’s promise ofhelping me out. I’m going to need some money, like a sign that you’ve got good intentions. Five thousand. You can send it to me, care of General Delivery here in Virginia Beach. I’ll give you two weeks, figuring the mail’s kind of unreliable. If I don’t hear back, I’ll know you don’t really want the kid. I’ll come get him. He must be missing me something awful. Be sure to tell him his mom loves him, and might be seeing him real soon.’ ’’

‘‘Bitch,’’ was Phillip’s first comment. ‘‘She’s testing us out, trying her hand at a little more blackmail to see if we’ll fall for it the way Dad did.’’

‘‘You can’t.’’ Anna put a hand on Cam’s arm, felt the quiver of rage. ‘‘You have to let the system work. You have to trust me to see that she doesn’t do this. In court—’’

‘‘Anna.’’ Cam shoved the letter into the hand Ethan had held out. ‘‘We’re not going to put that boy through a court case. Not if there’s another way.’’

‘‘You don’t mean to pay her. Cam—’’

‘‘I don’t mean for her to have one fucking cent.’’ He prowled away, struggling to fight off fury. ‘‘She thinks she’s got us by the balls, but she’s wrong. We’re not one lone old man.’’ He whirled back, eyes blazing. ‘‘Let’s see her try to get through us to lay hands on Seth.’’

‘‘She was pretty careful how she worded things,’’ Ethan commented as he scanned the letter again. ‘‘Doesn’t make it less of a threat, but she’s not stupid.’’

‘‘She’s greedy,’’ Phillip put in. ‘‘If she’s already angling for more after what Dad paid her, she’s testing the depth of the well.’’

‘‘She sees you as her source now,’’ Anna agreed. ‘‘And there’s no predicting what she’ll do if she knows that source isn’t easily tapped.’’ Pausing, she pressed her fingers to her temples, ordered herself to think. ‘‘If she comes back into the county and attempts to make contact with Seth, I can have her detained, legally barred—at least temporarily—from direct contact with him. You have guardianship. And Seth is old enough to speak for himself. The question is, will he?’’