“If neither of you wanted her, then…” I couldn’t bring myself to actually ask the question, because it was so inappropriate. I hardly knew her, but the conversation went deeper and deeper as she shared her life with me.
She pulled her gaze away from Claire. “I know you’ll judge me, but I just don’t care anymore, not when we’re in this place…not when we’ll die in this place. I suggested we take that road, but he said no.”
“I don’t judge you, Beatrice.” My hand moved to hers because I could see her suffering, her self-loathing. “She’s here, so it doesn’t matter what your decision would have been otherwise.”
She dropped her gaze. “He’s been out of the game since she was born, and I’ve never been certain of what he actually did, but he might know people who can get us out of here…if he’s stayed in contact.”
“Then let’s continue to hope, Beatrice. Maybe he’ll come. Maybe he’ll save us.” If I hadn’t seen him in the flesh, I would take no solace in her words, but he was a strong man with big shoulders and a height that towered over me. His arms were ripped like he picked up trucks for fun, veins running down the surface of his skin. He carried himself like he was somebody, not just a random person nobody would remember. And the look in his eyes showed the depth of his love for his daughter. Without hearing him say more than a few words, I could feel that deep and unconditional love he had for her, that eternal and never-ending love that would send him to the ends of the earth just to get her back. He would never stop searching. He would keep looking, keep asking, keep trying…until he took his last breath.
6
Benton
I sat at the dining table in my apartment, the cold air pressing up against the window, creating a gentle frost in the corners because fall was accelerating into winter far quicker than usual.
My empty plate sat in front of me, crumbs left behind from a dinner I forced myself to eat instead of to savor and enjoy. Claire used to help me cook. She would stand in front of the stove and push the veggies around while I took care of other things. Now when I cooked, I lost my appetite…because her memory haunted me.
But I had to eat. I had to stay strong. I had to be ready at a moment’s notice.
The glass of wine only had a few drops at the bottom, having a slight shine from the chandelier up above. The house was quiet because I never watched TV or listened to music. Claire’s bedroom was untouched because I couldn’t bring myself to walk in there and absorb the warm energy she’d left behind. I didn’t take jobs and ignored calls for work because I chose to spend my time in solitude, drinking by the fire or listening to my brother try to make me feel better—even though that was fucking pointless.
My eyes were down until I heard the chair across from me slide over the rug. My senses weren’t what they used to be because my mind had weakened, but even if they had been, I still might not have heard Bartholomew enter my apartment…however he managed to do it.
I lifted my chin and looked at him.
He sat still, his hands out of sight, his dark eyes on me.
I stared back at him, waiting for him to tell me the next step.
“I’ve made a deal.”
I closed my eyes and felt the breath rush out of my lungs and make my nostrils flare. My hands came together and rested against my lips, picturing Claire’s beautiful face in my head, my little girl…my everything. She must have already been through so much, must have been so scared, but also so brave. “Let’s go.” I opened my eyes and dropped my hands, pushing away my emotional impulse because I had a job to do.
He didn’t rise from his seat. “I have conditions.”
“You can kill me after.” I wouldn’t surrender until I knew she and Beatrice were safe. Claire could spend her life with her mother and inherit everything I had in a trust she could claim when she became an adult. She would be taken care of, and I knew she would remember me even decades after I was gone.
“Different conditions.”
I brought my hands back to my lips and stared.
“No retaliation. We take them and leave. Period.”
I inhaled a deep breath and felt the anger consume me. I was engulfed in flames, and no amount of water would put out this rage. Even if they didn’t touch a hair on her head, I wanted to execute them, bend them over a tree trunk, and slice their head from the shoulders.
“Whatever happens…we leave.”