"I'm not here to entertain your noble father act," I bite out. "It's too late for that now. You have failed your own family miserably. That much is obvious. But you have a chance to protect your daughter now. Tell me what I want to know so I can retrieve her before any real harm comes to her."

His eyes shine with emotion as he shakes his head. "I don't know where Abel would take her."

"I could choke the life out of you right now, and nobody would stop me." I stare through him. "Is that what you want?"

"Would that bring you peace?" he asks, catching me off guard.

My eyes move over his hunched frame as I shake my head in disgust.

"Tell. Me. Where. She. Is."

"I don't know, Santiago." His voice breaks. "I honestly don't know. Take me with you. We can find her together."

I slam my fist into the wall in frustration, howling like a madman. And then slowly, I pull myself together, turning back to face the man I despise more than anything.

"I'll drag Hazel out of hiding. I'll bring her before The Tribunal to pay for her desertion. What have you to say now?"

"You won't." His eyes are soft and too calm when they meet mine. "I know you won't, Santiago. Because you are better than that."

"You know nothing about me. You never did."

"I know what I can see before me," he replies. "A broken man whose anger has controlled his life for far too long. You have so much anger inside you, it's poisoning you."

“That anger was a gift," I remind him. "From you to me. And someday soon, I will repay the favor."

He frowns, and I turn for the door, his voice following me out and down the hall.

"I know who you really are, Santiago. You won't hurt my daughters."

The small, gray house in Oakdale blends in amongst all the others. It is not the first time I have visited, but it will be the first time I have stood on the doorstep.

I know every detail of her schedule. When she leaves each day. Where she goes. What groceries she buys, how often she fuels her car. There isn't a single thing I don't know. And as I count the time passing on my watch, I know in fifteen seconds, she will open the door, rushing out to her car to take her son to school.

I stand and wait. Moments later, there is a commotion on the other side of the door. Something clatters to the floor, and she curses. She yells for her son, telling him they have to go. The knob turns, and when the door opens, she spills out in a rush, nearly colliding with me.