Page 55 of The Forbidden Secret

She nodded.

I dialed a familiar number and waited for it to ring. Blood rushed through my ears as I considered how close I had come to escaping him.

“What,” he answered.

“Dad,” I whispered, my voice quivering. I couldn’t push free any other words—not as I sharply inhaled and found a piercing pain in my chest from the anxiety of making this call.

His billowing laugh filled the line, and I flinched. “We’ve been trying to find a way to get a hold of you,” he shouted. “I overestimated you. I never thought you’d try to call me. How fucking foolish. Newton wasted his goddamned money.”

His words had never struck home. He didn’t know anything about me.

“I suppose you’re calling for this kid we found snooping around Newton’s house, huh?”

My heart skipped a beat, and I put it on speaker so Jaimie could hear the words he spoke. “What kid?” I asked.

Jaimie’s eyes hardened as he spoke again. “Andrew Coleman’s kid. He doesn’t live up to his dad’s legacy much, does he?”

My breathing grew quicker and shallower as the thought of him tied up and bloody flashed through my mind. All because of me. This was happening to him because ofme.And there was nothing I could do to get him out of this—nothing short of turning myself over to those monsters.

“Is he alive?” I asked.

“Of course, he is, Evelina. You think we’d let our leverage go so fucking easily?”

Something loosened in my chest, but not enough to stop my palms from sweating and my face from heating. I met Jaimie’s eyes, and she gave me a small nod to continue.

“Prove it,” I told him. “Tell me where he is.”

“You need proof?” he asked. He shuffled on the other end, and I heard the moment the phone went on speakerphone. “What do you want to say to her?”

Silence.

Then, a grunt of pain followed.Zeke’sgrunt.

Dad scoffed and took it off speaker. “He’s not the most cooperative, but I’ll break him. I always do.” He paused as I shook my head vigorously. “Unless you want to make a trade, of course.”

Jaimie reached for her phone, but I turned away. “What do you want?”

“Turn yourself into the man who bought you, and I’ll let the kid go. He’s of no significance to me, dead or alive. It’s a fair trade, and you know it.”

Jaimie reached forward and muted the phone. “Ask for a picture.”

Before I could reply, she unmuted it.

“I need a picture,” I said into the line. “Prove he’s alive.”

“Insolent bitch,” he mumbled as he went about doing as I asked.

It only took a moment before the picture came through, and I showed Jaimie. He was alive, and though he had a few bruises, he didn’t appear too badly injured. She grabbed the phone and began zooming in and out on the photo.

“If you don’t turn yourself in, he won’t be alive for long. Clide Newton’s house. That’s where you’ll find him, and that’s where we’ll be waiting for you.”

He ended the call, and I dropped the phone.

I couldn’t let Zeke die because of my selfishness, but if I turned myself in, would it really guarantee his safety? My father banked on my stupidity, but Iwasn’tignorant. I couldn’t turn myself in because he would never let Zeke go once he had me.

The second he had me in his sights, Zeke would be killed. It was too much of a risk to let him go.

“He’s alive,” I whispered, looking at the picture and exhaling. “But I don’t know how we’re going to get him out.”

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