“Hands where I can see them!”
Patrick froze.
Daniel did not.
He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me against him.
Something cold pressed beneath my jaw.
A small silver letter opener from the entry table.
Marianne screamed.
Marlowe’s eyes locked onto mine.
Daniel’s breath burned against my ear.
“You ruined everything,” he whispered.
“No,” I said, though the blade nicked my skin. “I stopped hiding it.”
For one suspended second, no one moved.
Then a small voice spoke from the top of the stairs.
“Let go of my mommy.”
Jonah stood there in his pajamas, holding Caleb’s stuffed dinosaur like a weapon, his three brothers behind him.
My heart stopped.
Daniel looked up.
And in that fraction of distraction, I drove my elbow back into his ribs.
Marlowe moved.
Haines moved.
The room exploded into motion.
Daniel hit the floor hard, the letter opener skidding across the marble. Patrick tried to run and slammed directly into one of the officers, who took him down beside the ruined lilies.
