Chapter 3 — The Basement

I found Levi on the concrete floor. I’m not going to describe everything I saw down there, because some of it I’ve worked hard to stop seeing when I close my eyes.

It’s enough to say that he was chained by the ankle to a support column, that he was badly hurt and could barely stay conscious, and that they had been drugging him.

His knee was broken. He was cold, and disoriented, and he flinched away from my hand as though he expected it to hurt him.

“It’s me, son,” I whispered. “It’s your dad.”

He forced his eyes open. “I told you not to come,” he breathed. “Who did this?”

“Delia. And her father.” The words came slowly, from very far down.