Page 77 of Collateral Claim

“Fine.”

“Is he holding you hostage? Like in a dark space with no windows?” I picture her biting the skin near her thumbnail.

I look around the dark, windowless dungeon. “No.” Ah, the lies we tell our family.

“Josh has secret contacts in the police. They can help you.”

I pace in front of the dungeon cell. “I don’t want you to get involved.”

“But I can’t just sit here while I’m afraid for your life.”

Charlotte’s words sound familiar. Endo would say something like this about his brother.

“Dad would’ve called the cops already,” I tell her. “He didn’t. If the police get involved, my situation will turn from bad to worse. Don’t tell anyone I called.”

“I won’t. Are you in Couldermouth?”

“How do you know about it?”

“I researched Endo. You’re in Widow’s Keep, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Lenny is from Couldermouth,” she says.

I frown, trying to remember who she’s talking about. “Lenny? Lenny, your high school sweetheart?”

“Yeah.”

I always wondered if she was heartbroken when Lenny left. He did so without a word, so that must’ve hurt, but I’d already gone to college, so I don’t know as much as I’d like to about him. All I remember is that when he left our town, she called me crying, but that’s to be expected from a teenage breakup.

We said nothing about the man (then boy) for years. In the dressing room, right as I was pinning the tiara on her pretty head so it would stay in place when she danced during her wedding reception, Charlotte mentioned Lenny. It was so out of left field that I wondered why she brought it up. Cold feet? Something more?

I pretended I didn’t notice and that the question didn’t matter, but I wondered about it for a while.

“You can’t stay with Endo, Scarlett.”

“I know.”

“If you get out, he can’t do anything because he needs information from Dad. Endo’s taken you to force compliance from our father. If he doesn’t have you, Endo has no leverage. Nothing that Dad would care about, at least.”

“He has you.”

“I’m too complicated to take. I’ve got a husband and child. He won’t come near us.”

“The perks of being a single woman, huh?”

“Not funny, Scar. Hold on, a plan is brewing in my head.”

“Charlotte,” I warn. “Don’t.”

Footsteps sound upstairs. I remain quiet down here, which my sister takes as a go-ahead to brainstorm.

“Facts,” she starts. “There’s a psycho who shot Dad and has taken you hostage. He’s keeping you in a fortress surrounded by a small army of his people in a coastal town he basically owns.”

When I don’t pitch in, she prompts, “Scarlett?”

I remain quiet. The footsteps move away, and I hear a door closing.