My arm was thrown down, my wrist twisted, and then I was slammed into the wall. The air left my lungs when my back hit the solid surface. My eyes took in the man who’d bested me when he didn’t even know I was coming.
Benton kept me pinned as he wore his look of rage. I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. Maniacal, he held me so tightly that he could squeeze the life out of me if he wanted to. He grabbed me so hard he bruised me in every place that he touched me.
The second I realized it was him, the air returned to my lungs. “He’s in the house…”
His strong hands released my body, and he was gone. “Claire.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his command shook the house. He withdrew his gun from the back of his jeans and moved into the kitchen.
I seized the knife off the rug then held it at my side. The weapon brought me comfort, but I felt like I didn’t need it anymore.
With her hand in his, he rounded the corner and brought her to me. “Stay here.”
“Daddy…I’m scared.” She hugged into my side, her arms snug around my hips.
He left us, his gun aimed, peering around the corners and investigating every room in the house. Silently he went, his heavy footsteps not loud like they usually were when he made his way around the house.
The two of us remained huddled together, breathing heavily, anticipating the sound of a gunshot.
“What’s happening?” she whispered. “Did…those scary men come back?”
I rubbed her back as I held her, my eyes still on the hallway. “It’s okay, Claire. Your father will protect us.”
It took a solid ten minutes for him to explore the entire house and the garage. When he was upstairs, I heard a subtle creak where the floorboards held his weight, but there was no other sound in the house. None of the windows was broken. The lock on the door wasn’t busted. There was no trace of Forneus—but there never was.
Benton returned, his gun now stowed in the back of his jeans. “All clear.”
Claire left my arms and ran straight for him.
I almost dropped my knife at his words. “Are you sure…?”
He picked her up and held her against his chest with a single arm. “Yes.” He rubbed her back and pressed a kiss to her forehead, his eyes on me. He didn’t ask any other questions, probably for Claire’s benefit. “Sweetheart, everything is alright. No need to worry.”
“Really?” she whispered.
“Yes. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He returned her to the floor and kneeled to give her an encouraging smile. It was fake, but to a little girl, she didn’t know the difference. “What’d you do today?”
Her arms stayed across her chest, and she swayed slightly. “Went shopping.”
“Yeah?” he asked. “What did you get?”
“Christmas presents.”
“You get anything for me?”
She started to lighten up at the questions, and this time, she gave a nod along with a smile.
“Tell me.”
“But it’s not Christmas…” She giggled.
“So?” He gave her a gentle tickle. “Come on, tell me.”
She laughed and swatted his hands away. “No, Dad! You’ll have to wait.”
“Ah, man…alright.” He got to his feet and gave her a quick rub on the head. “Hungry?”
She nodded.
“Go pick something out—”
“Hot dogs!”
He chuckled. “Alright, hot dogs, it is. How about you get everything ready?”
As if nothing had happened at all, Claire ran into the kitchen and started opening and shutting pantry doors.
The instant she was gone, Benton was back to business. His eyes were hard and demonic, and he stared me down as he demanded an explanation.
“I’ll show you.” I guided him into my bedroom and to the nightstand.
There it sat, cold stone, an angel without facial features. With my arms crossed over my chest, I stayed back, as if it were a bomb about to detonate.
Benton stepped forward, his gun poking out from the back of his jeans. He stared down at it for a while before he picked it up and examined it. He turned it over and stared at the bottom for a moment before he returned it.
“It was there when I came home…” The moment I dropped my guard, he came back. Just when I stopped searching for his smile, it returned. It came into my bedroom, in my space, in my home.
Benton turned back to me, his eyes smoldering with volcanic rage.
“I knew he’d never let me go…”
His eyes looked out the open doorway, where Claire continued to shuffle around looking for the buns. The TV eventually came on when she found the remote and turned on one of her favorite cartoons. “I have something to tell you.” He wouldn’t meet my gaze, which was unlike him.
All the muscles of my body clenched at the same time.
“About a month ago, I met with him.”