The master bedroom door is closed. I eye the main door, just thirty steps away, then the master bedroom door.
We’ll have to make a run for it as quietly as possible.
I nudge Sam until he looks up tentatively. Putting a finger on my lips, I point to the door.
He looks up too. Then nods.
We take a deep breath, preparing to escape. I count to three on my fingers, then we bolt on our toes, as fast as we possibly can. I pull the door open slowly and close it carefully behind us.
When the fresh air hits my face, I take my first real breath in what feels like months.
Sam is shivering beside me. I grab his arm and keep him moving. We walk slowly through the silent streets. The quiet feels deceivingly peaceful after being exposed to that atrocious music for so long. I can finally hear my heartbeat going a mile a minute.
We walk over to the parking lot casually, and I smile at the person working the booth before taking our keys. We take our seats without any words, putting on our seatbelts. I hit the engine, driving as far away from here as possible.
As soon as we’re out of the parking lot, Sam goes on a swearing tirade. I learned quite a few new words for the next few minutes of the drive.
“Fuck that was so exhilarating. Now I know why you loved it so much. Let’s do that again. Let’s break into that house?” He points to a house we just passed.
Did I just create a monster? “Didn’t you have your head buried in your knees because you were scared shitless?”
He looks at me like I’m stupid. “Yeah, the part where we got away with it is the exhilarating one. Not waiting there todie.”
“We’re never doing that again,” I mention just to hear him agree.
He pouts.
“Say you’re not going back there.”
“But we didn’t get to check the basement yet. And he’s going away for two days next week.”
“No,” I say firmly. “We’re not doing that again. You have all that data from his computer. We’ll find something there, I’m sure.” And you’ll be safely back behind your computer.
Sam sighs. “You’re such a party pooper.”
“Shouldn’t be news.”
“Yeah, yeah. So what do you think, was he lying to his mother? He knows Raymond?”
I take a breath, thinking it over. “At least, we know he wasn’t lying to us about Raymond leaving him and his mother. And it tracks with what we already knew. He changed his identity again five years after he moved to Boston.”
Sam nods. “He could still have kept in touch with him.”
I shake my head. “Doesn’t sound like Raymond. He was a selfish man who liked to feel powerful. Having complete control over lives, whether by killing or manipulating them. Keeping in touch with a kid he doesn’t even see doesn’t sound like him, even if it was his son.”
“But who can make you feel more powerful than your son, who’d do anything for your approval?”
I glance at Sam, who has a contemplative expression. “I trust him.”
“Yeah?”
I nod. “You’re still not hanging out with him alone, though. Public places with a tracker are all that’s allowed. No funny business.”
Sam laughs. “You must have been very scared in there if it aged you enough to say ‘funny business’.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes,Iwas the scared one.”
“It was so fun, though.” I glance at him again to find his eyes shining bright. I don’t like this. Not one bit.
