CHAPTER 40

I push Mom's memories away. I remember her reading to me in bed and stroking my hair. the affection of her.

Love weakens you, and Amanda, this is not the moment to be weak. Not when a predator is directly in front of you.

I tighten my hands even more, lift my chin, and give him a straight-faced look. "You assigned Nathan a task. Did you not?

We come together in the centre of the space, my rage piercing him with its heat and his icy stare.

I considered seeing my father. Of fleeing the hospital, thinking that my return to the man was the worst thing that could have happened to me.

What might I have discovered? A demolished flat full of rats? A brand-new family with tales of an isolated man's death?

A man's body?

Tears well up in my eyes, but they stay in place. What purpose would that serve?

Suddenly, the memory of the cabin comes back. The last summer I spent with Mom and Dad was full of cookouts by a glittering lake on a disposable BBQ, the sun beating down on me, and Dad throwing me