Chapter 2
I closed the dinosaur gallery.
Nobody left.
The children were taken to another wing with their mothers.
Leo refused to go.
He stayed beside Claire.
I let him.
Daniel sat against a padded display platform with two bodyguards behind him.
Preston sat twenty feet away.
Far enough that they couldn't whisper.
Close enough that they could watch each other panic.
I stood in front of Claire.
“Roll up your sleeve.”
Daniel laughed.
“Here we go.”
I looked at him.
He leaned back.
“She's going to put on a whole performance now.”
Claire's hands shook.
Daniel continued.
“Go ahead, sweetheart. Show Daddy how delicate you are.”
My daughter froze.
I heard several men behind me shift.
Daniel smiled.
“See? She loves attention.”
I wanted to break his jaw.
Instead I looked at Claire.
“Your sleeve.”
Slowly, she rolled it upward.
The room changed.
Bruises covered her upper arm.
Different colors.
Different ages.
Some round.
Some shaped like fingers.
One dark mark wrapped halfway around her arm.
My breathing slowed.
Dangerously.
Daniel shrugged.
“She fights when I try to calm her down.”
Claire stared at him.
He smiled.
“If she knew how to listen, half that wouldn't happen.”
There it was.
His justification.
Not denial.
She deserved it.
I walked toward him.
Daniel straightened.
“You touch her again tonight and you won't need tomorrow.”
His mouth closed.
Claire whispered:
“Dad.”
I turned.
“There are more.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Where?”
She looked at Leo.
I understood.
“Not here?”
She shook her head.
Daniel laughed again.
“Tell him about the stairs.”
Claire went pale.
“What stairs?” I asked.
Daniel answered for her.
“She falls.”
I looked at my daughter.
Claire didn't speak.
Daniel's voice sharpened.
“Don't stand there looking pathetic. Tell him how clumsy you are.”
“Daniel.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“You raised her to think every bruise deserves a funeral.”
Leo pressed against Claire.
Daniel noticed.
“Stop babying him too.”
Claire put one hand over Leo's ear.
Daniel smirked.
“That's why he's soft.”
My grandson was three.
Daniel was already ashamed of him for being afraid.
I turned toward Preston.
“You knew.”
He raised his hands.
“Marriage isn't my business.”
Leo looked at him.
That was interesting.
Not fear.
Recognition.
“What?” I asked.
Leo stayed quiet.
Preston immediately spoke.
“He's tired.”
Again.
Nobody asked him.
I crouched.
“Leo.”
He played with the edge of his paper crown.
“What does Uncle Preston do at your house?”
Preston's jaw tightened.
“Don't interrogate a child.”
I looked at him.
“Every time he speaks, you become nervous.”
Daniel snapped:
“Because you're filling his head with nonsense.”
Claire suddenly said:
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Daniel.
For the first time that night, something besides fear appeared in her face.
Anger.
“You filled his head.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Careful.”
Claire flinched anyway.
Even with me standing there.
That told me how many times she'd heard that tone without me.
I stepped between them.
“Careful with what?”
Daniel smiled at my daughter.
Cold.
Private.
Cruel.
“You know what.”
Claire stopped breathing.
I turned to her.
“What does he mean?”
She wouldn't answer.
Daniel leaned back.
“Go ahead.”
He laughed softly.
“Call your father for help now.”
His eyes moved to me.
“Where was he the other nights?”
Claire's face broke.
I had no answer.
Because I hadn't been there.
Daniel knew it.
He enjoyed knowing it.
Then Leo tugged my trouser leg.
“Grandpa.”
I bent down.
He pointed toward one of the foam excavation tunnels built into the dinosaur display.
A child-sized crawl space.
“Daddy makes me play there when Mommy cries.”
Claire went completely still.
I looked at the tunnel.
Then Preston.
His face had lost all color.
“Why?” I asked.
May you like
Leo pointed deeper into the display.
“Because I fit in Grandpa's secret door.”
