Daniel’s voice went low.
“Can you send the preserved recording to my attorney?”
“We’ll provide the proper process.”
“Thank you.”
He ended the call.
For several minutes, he sat alone.
Then a small figure appeared in the doorway.
Mason.
The boy wore dinosaur pajamas and held the blanket Emily had bought before she died.
“Dad?”
Daniel immediately stood.
“What are you doing awake?”
Mason looked at the floor.
“Is Vanessa coming back?”
Daniel crouched.
“Not tonight.”
“Tomorrow?”
The question was almost inaudible.
Daniel understood that the wrong answer could shape the way Mason slept for years.
He held out his hand.
Mason came closer.
“Not until I know you’re safe.”
Mason’s eyes filled.
“She said you would choose her.”
Daniel felt something tear open inside him.
“When?”
Mason realized he had said too much.
His face changed.
Daniel kept his voice soft.
“When did Vanessa say that?”
Mason looked toward the hallway.
“A lot.”
Daniel did not move.
“What else did she say?”
Mason pulled the blanket higher around himself.
“She said grown-ups get tired of difficult kids.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“And she said if I made you mad enough, you’d send me away.”
Daniel’s vision blurred.
He drew Mason into his arms.
“Listen to me.”
Mason looked up.
“There is nowhere you could be sent that would make you stop being my son.”
“But what if I break things?”
“We fix them.”
“What if I spill stuff?”
“We clean it.”
“What if I’m bad?”
Daniel took a breath.
“Then we deal with the behavior.”
He touched Mason’s cheek gently.
“We do not decide you’re disposable.”
Mason began crying.
Daniel held him.
Upstairs, the house was silent.
Outside, the remains of the party waited beneath moonlight.
And inside Daniel’s study, a six-year-old boy finally began describing what happened whenever his father traveled.
By midnight, Daniel had filled six pages with notes.
May you like
The collar had lasted ten minutes.
The fear had been living in Mason for months.
