Chapter 8
Rachel sent one guard upstairs.
“Bring Ethan.”
Daniel moved.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“He doesn’t need this.”
“Correct.”
Rachel’s voice stayed calm.
“He needed a father who didn’t plan to use him.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Jason laughed.
“Use him?”
He pointed upstairs.
“That kid gets everything.”
The oldest capo looked at him.
“He’s three.”
Jason smirked.
“Everyone keeps saying that like it matters.”
Rachel stared.
There.
Daniel’s philosophy had transferred perfectly.
Pain dismissed because the victim was young.
Fear dismissed because the victim was weak.
Cruelty justified because the adult was annoyed.
Ethan came down holding the broken fuselage.
The guard had tried to leave it upstairs.
Ethan refused.
He walked directly to Rachel.
Jason sighed loudly.
“Oh my God.”
Ethan froze.
Jason smiled.
“What? Going to cry again?”
Rachel said:
“Jason.”
He leaned back.
“There. Mommy voice.”
Rachel’s eyes hardened.
“You are eighteen.”
“And?”
“You’re mocking a three-year-old.”
“So?”
The oldest capo turned away in disgust.
Jason noticed.
His bravado slipped.
Daniel tried to recover.
“Jason is angry.”
Rachel looked at him.
“So he breaks Ethan’s things.”
“He made a mistake.”
“He planned it.”
Daniel said nothing.
Ethan tugged Rachel’s sleeve.
“Lake house?”
She crouched.
“What?”
“Dad said we go lake house if you don’t listen.”
Silence.
Daniel went pale.
“What did he say exactly?”
Ethan looked at Daniel first.
Then whispered:
“Mommy has to be good.”
Rachel’s expression changed.
“And if Mommy isn’t?”
“Dad says we stay there until you are.”
The room went silent.
One capo swore under his breath.
Rachel stood.
“You planned to isolate me with my son until I surrendered control.”
Daniel snapped:
“Not isolate.”
“What word do you prefer?”
“Cool down.”
Rachel almost laughed.
Then Ethan added:
“Jason said he gets my room when we go.”
Jason’s face changed.
May you like
Because that detail had not come from Daniel.
He had already been planning life after Ethan disappeared.
