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I stare at their message in shock. Love? Love? The man locked me in a basement for days at a time. He nearly beat me to death. Violet sold her daughter’s body for money. Had strange men come into their home and molest her. How dare they say we have their love and their hearts? They had enough to put into this locket but not enough to give us a decent childhood?
I throw the box and locket out in front of me and cross my arms.
Kane is kneeling at my side. The envelope is sticking out of his pocket. I reach forward, pull the locket out from the mess the open box made and stick it in Kane’s palm.
“Here,” I say. “Behold, the loving parents that raised Scarlett and me.”
He examines the locket, opening it to see the photo, flipping it over to see the loving words they left for us. Holding the rings between his thumb and the tips of his fingers.
His gaze moves at a glacially slow pace to meet mine. He wants to say something. Please just say it, Kane. He purses his lips. He holds it back. His eyes bounce back and forth between both of mine.
“You should keep this.” He holds out the locket.
I shake my head.
“I think it’s important that you do.”
I gasp. “You remember how my sister died, right? Violet, the woman in that photo, did that to her. She killed my sister.” I push his hand away. “I’ll never put that around my neck.”
He looks at me, holding back, edging on advice he wants to give. His hand reaches for the jewels now covered in dirt and grass.
“It looks like Jack left you a trust fund.” He changes the subject.
“I don’t want it.”
“I think this was his way of making sure you would be taken care of.” He pauses. Watches me with uncertainty. “He left it in the basement for you to find.”
At this I can’t help but laugh. “In the basement, huh? He gets one last laugh from the grave.” This is both ironic and simply ugly. The one place I would never step foot into again is the one place he leaves me valuables to start a new life. If Kane never went down there, I would have gone the rest of my life without it. Surely he knew that, surely he could have guessed that the basement was not kind to me as a child. He was not kind to me as a child.
“I’m going to put it back where I found it,” he says quietly. “Until you’re ready to open it again.”
28. “Please comeback for me.”
Thirty years ago, Vexamen soldiers launched a missile from inside the Dark Wood, it blew up parts of the old Demechnef headquarters, forcing the government to evacuate, to find new protection and go into hiding.
Since then, no one has figured out where they reside now. It’s one of the most famous secrets. But of course, Kane knows where they now hide. It’s impressive, really. One of the greatest secrets of the last couple of decades and Kane knows the exact location. And not just that, he knows how to get in. He knows their weak points. He knows how to escape.
The only issue I foresee is how does he plan on getting Ruth out undetected? A valuable prisoner. The only leverage they have to lure him back.
I can see he has been working out the small details of his plan since we left my father’s house. I want to ask him what the envelope was. How could my father possibly have what we need to help us?
We pull up on his motorcycle back to the Red Oaks. His back and shoulders are filled with tension, like he’s hanging from a wire hanger in a coat closet.
My fingers touch the center of his back. “Kane?”
He doesn’t look back at me. “You have to stay here.” Something like a heavy, occupied coffin weighs down on his voice.
Stay? “No, I’m going with you.”
He shakes his head. “You can’t.” It gets heavier. “I’m going to get her out alone.”
I push him in this back. “I can help!”
“Skylenna… if you come with me, you’ll be my priority. You’ll be the only person Dessin cares to keep safe. If he has to choose between Ruth or you… he’ll choose you.”
