John made a strangled sound, his eyes growing haunted. “More abuse?”

“Yes,” Mercy said levelly. “And I hated Gideon, because I blamed it on his laziness. But that was a lie. He escaped because he was abused, too.” She tried to smile, but it fell flat. “I was angry at Gideon because he’d found this awesome family in Sacramento and at the time I didn’t have anyone. Then I met you and Angela and all the others and . . .” She closed her eyes. “I wanted to keep you for myself. I never gave Gideon any of the messages you sent. I’m so sorry, John. So damn sorry. I cheated you out of six years with Gideon. I’ll understand if this changes things between us.”

No one said anything as the seconds ticked by, then John’s voice pierced her misery, and she nearly started crying again at the warmth in his tone. “Mercy, open your eyes.”

Preparing herself, she did, only to see John smiling at her sadly. “Nothing changes. I promise. I said this morning that we’d figure it all out, and I meant it.”

She pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the sob that rose to choke her. “Thank you.”

Gideon pulled her close. “It’s okay, Mercy. Cry if you need to.”

“I’ll mess up your suit.”

Gideon chuckled. “Wouldn’t be the first time. Besides, Daisy hates this suit. She says it’s scratchy.”

Mercy rubbed her cheek on his lapel. “She’s right.”

John blew his nose noisily. “How much of this can I share with the sibs?”

“Anything I’ve told you,” Gideon said. “When this is all settled and Mercy is safe, we’ll come out to see you. Together. And then we can all sit down and hash this out once and for all.”

John frowned, then shook his head hard. “I forgot why I was calling you, Mercy. I saw the video. The one from the airport,” he added quickly, and Mercy figured her face had shown her horror. “The one of that man trying to take you away.”

“His name is Harry Franklin,” Gideon said, “but we knew him as Ephraim Burton.”

John’s jaw tightened, his eyes flickering with sudden rage. “He’s the one, isn’t he? The one that hurt you both?”

Gideon and Mercy exchanged a look. “Yes and no,” Mercy said. “Yes for me, but for Gideon it was Ephraim and his brother, Edward.”

“Mercy, that man in the video was here.”

Mercy jerked upright. “What?”

“When?” Gideon barked.

“Friday,” John said grimly. “My wife and I weren’t home from work yet. Our nine-year-old daughter opened the door.”

“Oh my God,” Mercy breathed. “Did he hurt her, John?”

“No, she’s safe. After that policeman called us this morning, we weren’t sure what to tell the kids. We didn’t want to scare them, but decided it was better to be scared but safe. When we showed the kids his picture from that airport video, Michaela pointed him out. Said he’d been by looking for you, Mercy. She was going to tell you, but you left town before she could.”