Alyssa and Brock both chuckled. ‘Don’t push it, mister.’ As soon as he disappeared upstairs, the echo of his slamming door reverberating through the rest of the house, she tilted her head up to Brock. ‘How much do you want to bet we hit a rescue shelter sometime after he gets back?’

Her husband’s response was to smile, shake his head, run his fingers over his face, and mutter, ‘Nothing. I want to bet nothing because that would be a sucker bet.’

When Mabel cleared her throat, Alyssa realized she’d forgotten her mother-in-law was still there. Her eyes swung in Mabel’s direction in time to see her wipe her eyes with one of the ever-present tissues she kept stuffed in her smocks. ‘He’s going to be okay, our boy.’ Her words were whispered so low that Alyssa wasn’t certain if her mother-in-law was speaking to them or herself.

‘Yes, he is.’

Shortly after that, Holly walked Sophie and Leigh Ann to the front door, all of them promising to call immediately if they heard a hint of anything at all. After waving them goodbye, she joined her parents. ‘What was Isaac so excited about?’

‘He’s going camping with Trevor and his family this weekend.’ A shadow fell across Holly’s face, and Alyssa was quick to reassure her. ‘He’s going to be okay. Besides, he can’t stay a prisoner in the house forever. He needs to get back to doing the things he loves.’ Even as she spoke, she didn’t know if she was trying to convince herself or her daughter.

Tears filled Holly’s eyes. ‘I know. We definitely have to start treating him like he’s going to get past this, otherwise it’ll just take him that much longer to heal.’ She angled her head toward the stairs. ‘I’m going to head up to my room. I really hope Jersey’s out there somewhere just trying to punish us for not being sympathetic and understanding enough.’

‘Me, too, sweetie.’

The sudden disappearance of both Rachel and Jersey – and possibly Anna, though they still didn’t have much information on Rachel’s new friend – was another reason Alyssa wasn’t entirely comfortable with one of her children being out of her sight for several days. But she knew she couldn’t afford to live – or allow her family to live – in that type of fear. If they did, none of them would ever leave the house again.

Chapter Fourteen

Tuesday, May 21

The darkness of this living nightmare gripped Jersey in its relentless grasp, refusing to release her into unconsciousness. Instead, every movement, every breath sent arrows of burning pain shooting along her nerve endings. Wincing, she touched her side. Of course, she couldn’t be sure, but she suspected her ribs were bruised from the beating she’d received when she refused to obey the lady’s commands. And because she bruised so easily, her legs were already covered in various shades of green, yellow, and purple where she’d been restrained by powerful arms.

From the trunk of the car she’d been transported in, she’d been escorted – actually, dragged was more accurate – inside this house and taken down into a basement where she was thrown into a cell with several other girls, all of them dressed in colorful silk robes. Pretending a boldness she didn’t feel, she’d swung around to demand to know what was going on, but the metal door had clanged shut, barely missing her face.