“You don’t make demands in my home anymore, Mom.”

Mark pulled a chrome key ring out of his trouser pocket.

He walked over to the tall wooden pantry cabinet beside the refrigerator, shut both doors, and pushed the brass slide bolt into place at the top.

He took a small brass padlock from the drawer near the microwave, snapped it through the ring of the slide bolt, and clicked it shut.

“No groceries come out of this cabinet unless Sloan or I open it,” he said.