Minutes later, Jessica came running back into the kitchen. ”Mom! Dad wants to talk to you. It’s important.”
Sonia leaned the broom against the counter, forcing herself to bite back a scathing retort: nothing you say is important, Finn, I can’t stand the sound of your voice, I can’t wait for when Jessica’s old enough to see through your pathetic lies. Restraining herself, she held out a hand for the phone and pressed it to her ear. “What’s up, Finn? I have work to do.”
“What’s all this about some weirdo moving in next door?”
Sonia squeezed her eyes shut. She should have warned Jessica not to mention Ray. Of course Finn would make a stink about it, just to make her life difficult.
“If you’re referring to Celia’s son, he’s a single dad with a four-year-old. That hardly qualifies him as a weirdo.”
“Jessica says he’s weird. His kid isn’t allowed any toys. What kind of a loser doesn’t buy his kid any toys? He never gets to play outside, or watch movies, or eat sugar. You think that’s normal? Sounds more like some twisted form of punishment by psycho-dad.”
Sonia’s fingers curled into a fist. Finn was one to talk. For the first couple of years after their divorce, she had purchased gifts on his behalf to give to Jessica on her birthday and at Christmas, but the reimbursement Finn promised never came. She had long since given up on the charade—it was better Jessica knew the truth. “Look, this is none of your business,” she spat back. “I have no desire to discuss the merits of the next-door neighbor’s parenting style with you of all people. If that’s all you wanted to gripe about, I need to get back to work.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me! I’m not done talking.” Finn thundered into the phone. ”One call to my superior and I’ll have CPS knocking down your door to investigate why you’re letting our daughter go over to that whacko’s house, unsupervised. Trust me, the army will side with me that you’re an unfit mother and get Jess out of there pronto. And then you can fight me in the courts for custody.”
A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Sonia’s neck. Even from thousands of miles away, Finn was trying to trigger the same old fears in her. But she wasn’t the same person he’d bullied years ago. ”Don’t be ridiculous! You’re talking about Celia’s son, not some stranger. Besides, Jess isn’t going over there unsupervised. Henry comes over here to play.”
“That’s not what she told me,” Finn fired back. “She’s been in and out of that house half a dozen times when he was home and you weren’t there, so don’t lie to me.” His voice sank to a threatening snarl. “You know I don’t like it when you lie to me.”
Sonia grabbed the phone tighter, blood pounding in her temples.
“And where is the creep, anyway?” Finn asked. “Why’s his kid staying at your place?”
“He rolled his truck—he’s in hospital.”
“Bummer! Too bad he made it.”
“Look, what do you want, Finn? I’ve got better things to do than stand here and argue with you all night.”
“I’m worried about Jess,” Finn went on, his voice softening. ”She told me what Henry said about his dad choking his mom.”
The knot in Sonia’s stomach tightened. “He didn’t say it was Ray. We don’t know who he was talking about. For all we know, his mother might have an abusive boyfriend. Maybe Ray’s just trying to protect his son.”
“Or maybe you’re protecting him! I’m not buying it. Jess says he’s weird, and if Jess says he’s weird, I believe her. And if you were half the mother you should be, you’d believe our daughter too! He’s a psycho!” Finn yelled, his fleeting attempt to remain calm wilting in a heartbeat. He lowered his voice to a familiar menacing growl. “Don’t think for one minute that if anything happens to Jess, I won’t come after you.”
11
Sonia lay on her back in bed staring out at the moonlight spilling over the lawn. The truth of the matter was, Finn was right. She might have put Jessica in danger. For all she knew, Ray could be dangerous—violent even. It was reasonable to think that Finn, with his counter-intelligence training, had picked up on some warning signs from the snippets Jess had told him. Until she got to the bottom of things, she would have to forbid her daughter from going over to Ray’s on her own anymore—even to fetch Henry.
Groaning in frustration, Sonia fluffed up her pillow for the umpteenth time and rolled onto her other side. Why did Finn have to pick today of all days to call their daughter? If he’d called a month ago on her birthday, like he’d promised, Ray wouldn’t even have entered into the conversation. She hadn’t had the heart to reprimand Jessica for telling her dad about their new neighbor. In retrospect, she should have thought to warn her not to bring it up. Finn’s threat to have her investigated by the army likely amounted to little more than hot air—he had no real interest in taking responsibility for Jessica himself. Still, it had been a timely warning that she needed to be more careful. She wouldn’t put it past Finn to try and stir up trouble purely for his own sadistic amusement.
Abandoning all attempts to fall back asleep, she clambered out of bed shortly before 5:00 a.m. Figuring she might as well get some work done while the house was quiet, she brewed a double espresso and sat down at her rustic wood desk in her office. Deep into a design concept presentation for potential new clients, she suddenly became aware of a presence in the room with her. Swiveling in her seat, she spotted Henry standing in
