Chapter 2

The light above me vanished.

A heavy engine roared to life overhead. Dad had started the car and driven it straight over the well cover. The tires groaned against the wood, showering my face with dust.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Isabelle yelled, her voice laced with panic.

Dad remained completely unfazed. "Nobody is letting him out. Rip up that admission letter, or the car stays put."

"Benjamin, you've lost your mind!" yelled Uncle Harrison.

"What's the matter with you?"

Dad actually sounded amused as he explained, "The kidnapper is already behind bars. Before he even brought Gabriel to this hideout, I'd already had undercover cops stake out the perimeter. He's perfectly safe. You're all making a scene like he's actually dead."

Huddled at the bottom of the dark well, I couldn't stop shaking as I listened to him.

All Dad cared about was the sting operation and whether the bad guy was caught. But he had forgotten that we were in the middle of nowhere.

It took a full 24 hours for the nearest squad car to get here.

Did he have any idea what I went through during those 24 hours? Did he know how many times that rusty blade sliced into my skin?

And when the killer was cutting out my tongue, I had screamed for Dad. Did he hear me at all?

My fingers scraped against the brick until I managed to pry loose stone. Gripping it tightly, I used the last ounce of my strength to tap against the wooden cover above me.

Thump, thump, thump.

Uncle Harrison's voice boomed, "He's alive! Gabriel is alive! Benjamin, did you hear that? Move the car!"

"Good," Dad replied, his voice completely flat. "Isabelle, you heard your uncle. Gabriel is fine. The second you tear up that admission letter, I'll move the car. Otherwise, nobody is getting him out of there."

I heard Elizabeth's heavy, ragged breathing.

"Dad, I'm begging you… Let him out of there. He's hurt. He needs to get to a hospital—"

"Tear up the admission letter, and I'll let him out," Dad insisted.

Uncle Harrison's voice boomed, rattling the opening of the well, "Benjamin, how could you be so cruel?"

"You think I'm the bad guy here? I raised these kids entirely on my own!" Dad snapped, his voice rising an octave. "Their mother died on the job and left me to hold this family together. Why do you think I did it? Just to watch Isabelle throw her life away for the police force?

"Listen up, Isabelle. You either tear up that letter today, or you can stand right there and watch Gabriel die at the bottom of this well!"

A suffocating silence fell over the place.

When Isabelle spoke next, the panic and despair in her voice were gone. Instead, she sounded eerily calm.

"Fine."

The sound of footsteps echoed above me.

All of a sudden, Uncle Harrison gasped. "Isabelle, what are you doing with that sickle?"

Isabelle's voice drifted down the well as she enunciated, "Dad, move the car and let Gabriel out right now, or I'm dying with him."

"You—"

"Try me."

My heart seized.

I wanted to scream, to tell her not to do something so stupid, but the only sound that came from my throat was the faint gurgling of blood.

I couldn't even manage a whisper.

I slammed my fist against the wooden cover, pounding until my knuckles went numb.

I didn't want Isabelle to do this. I didn't want her to ruin her life for me.

Dad went quiet for a few seconds. Then, I heard the metallic click of a car key turning in the ignition.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. I'll move it. Just put the sickle down."

All of a sudden, a sharp crack cut through the air, making everyone freeze in their tracks.

Dad stood by the driver's side door, holding the snapped half of the car key in his fingers. He looked up, his expression blank.

"Oops, it's broken," he said.

Both Uncle Harrison and Isabelle were utterly stunned.

Down at the bottom of the well, my tears spilled over, stinging the open wounds covering my face.