Chapter 2 - DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR
I waited until midnight.
Margaret and Paige had gone upstairs after spending three hours pretending we were a normal family. Paige told stories about "helping" Gwen while I was gone. Margaret kept touching my shoulder and saying how proud she was of me.
Gwen barely spoke.
She ate two bites of dinner and claimed she was tired.
At 12:17 a.m., I found her sitting on the edge of our bed with the lights off.
"Why are you afraid of me?" I asked.
"I'm not."
"You pulled away when I touched you."
Her fingers tightened around the blanket. "Reflex."
"From what?"
Silence.
I sat beside her but left space between us. "Gwen, I saw Paige throw something at you."
"It was a magazine."
"That's not an answer."
She stared at the floor.
I noticed a purple mark near her wrist before she pulled her sleeve down.
"Who did that?"
"I bruise easily now."
Now.
That word mattered.
I nodded toward the beanie. "And that?"
Her eyes filled, but she blinked the tears away.
Before she could answer, a floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Margaret appeared in the doorway.
"David, let her sleep. She gets confused when she's tired."
Gwen went completely still.
I smiled at my mother. "Sure."
She didn't leave.
"Anything else?" I asked.
Margaret's smile sharpened. "The bedroom at the end of the hall is locked. Pipes leaked in there. Don't go in. The floor isn't safe."
"Got it."
She finally walked away.
I waited until her door closed.
Then Gwen grabbed my wrist.
Her hand was ice-cold.
"David," she whispered. "Promise me you won't open that room while they're here."
"Why?"
She looked toward the hallway.
"Because if your mother knows you saw what's inside, she'll know I told you."
"Told me what?"
May you like
Gwen swallowed.
"That the money was never the worst thing they took from us."
