Page 161 of Their Little Ghost

Doctor Warner doesn’t need telling twice. He bolts away, skidding and almost tripping over his own feet in his hurry.

“What’re you going to do now?” Dad hisses.

Despite his menacing glare, there’s a glimmer of something else behind his eyes—fear. He’s finally learning exactly how he made his victims feel.

“You’re going to tell us where to find Erin’s remains and your records,” Aiden says. “The real records. The ones that document every experiment you’ve ever done. You’re going to take them down to the station and confess.”

“I won’t,” Dad sneers.

“You have no choice,” Eli says, passing the remote to Aiden.

Aiden clicks the red button. “You won’t attempt to escape or run.”

Dad grits his jaw as Lex undoes his binds. His face contorts, like he’s in pure agony, but his free will is gone. His own weapon has been turned against him.

“Kill me,” Dad says. “You want to see me suffer, so kill me.”

“Trust me, I’d like to,” Lex purrs. “But killing you would be too easy.”

Dad turns to me. “Sarah, think of what this is going to do to your mother.”

“She already knows she married a monster,” I say. “She’ll be safe when you’re locked up. You’re finally going to get what you deserve and, while you’re rotting in jail, your career, reputation, and everything you’ve built will be destroyed.”

His cruel stare zeroes in on me. “You have always been my biggest failure.”

Even though he knows his life is over, he still uses the last of his energy to make me feel small.

Lex lunges, but Eli grabs him before he lands a punch. Shame. I would have been happy to see him with a broken nose.

“No!” Eli says. “We can’t have the cops asking questions.”

“But—”

“Eli’s right,” Aiden says, returning his attention to my father and clicking the red button. “You will never speak or look at her again. You’ll only speak again when I tell you to.”

Lex scowls. However, he takes out some of his aggression by roughly hoisting my father up and tying his hands behind his back. Although restraints shouldn’t be necessary, it doesn’t hurt to have a backup measure in place.

“Before we leave, you have a decision to make, Sarah,” Aiden says. He hands me the remote. “You can return to your old life, or you can make yourself disappear.”

I stroke the smooth plastic object in my hands. It’s virtually weightless, but it holds so much power…

“Disappear?” I look down at it. “What do you mean?”

“Your father killed Erin,” Eli says. “He could have killed you both.”

“You choose what happens next,” Aiden says. “We said we’d give you freedom. It’s up to you how you want to spend it.”

If Sarah and Erin Acacia both die, I’m free to start over. Or, I could return to Mom and pick up the pieces of the life I left behind as the daughter of a criminal. The decision is easy.

“You killed both of your daughters,” I say, clicking the red button. “You will confess to your crimes.” I toss the control to Aiden, not wanting to see my father again. “Can we go now?”

“Take Sarah to the cabin and wait for us there,” Aiden says.

“I’m not coming with you?” I ask.

“You’re dead, remember?” Lex says. “You can’t be running around Pasturesville.”

“Come on.” Eli wraps his arm around my shoulders. His embrace is warm and comforting. “It’s time to go home.”