I call Totten.“Go to the nearest hardware store and buy an oxy-acetylene torch with all the fixings.We need the lock and plate cut.”
“On it.”
I watch the monitor, praying that’s my wife in that bed.I’m worried she’s already dead because I can’t see her moving.
An hour later, Totten walks in with Delphi helping him carry the equipment.
Hades gets pissed.“Stay by my side, goddess,” he orders her, and she reaches for his hand.He removes his glove to hold hers, and they stand there as Poseidon gets the torch started and cuts the plate away from the lock.
He shines a light down into a short space.“Well, I’m not taken, so I’ll go down there in case it’s booby-trapped.I’m also trained for close quarters like this.”
He climbs down the ladder, and I realize what the other ladder is for.I run back to the living room where I found it.
By the time I return, Poseidon hollers up.“Going in.”
He drops through a hatch that opens into the room below, and I hear screaming.Daphne.I climb down and drop into the room.My legs jar from the impact, but I don’t care.
“Little girl,” I say loudly.
“Dare,” she says, her voice the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.
In the beam of the flashlight, I watch her wobble toward me.I dive for her and pull her into my body.She’s sweaty, dirty, and stinky, but I don’t care.She’s in my arms.
“I thought he was coming to rape me.He said he wouldn’t because I’m pregnant, but I thought he changed his mind.”She sobs against me.
“He’ll never touch you again.He’s a dead man,” I swear as the guys lower a ladder down to us.
I carry her up on my back.Poseidon checks out the room and shakes his head.
Delphi runs for her as soon as we’re back up.
“How long have I been gone?”she asks.
“Three days.It’s Wednesday,” Delphi tells her, and we hold her between us.
“We need her to be seen by a doctor,” I finally say.
I lift her in my arms and carry her out of that place.
“Burn it to the ground,” I tell Cronus, and he nods.
She’ll never have to see that place or worry about going back there.
ChapterSixteen
Daphne
Istretch in the soft sheets of our bed, in our home, and feel my husband next to me.He won’t leave my side.I wonder how long it will take him to go back to work.My parents and sister are here too, staying in the guest rooms.No one wants to leave me.
I carefully sit up.A nightlight is on across the room because I’m afraid of the darkness.Looking out the windows, I watch the sun rise across the valley and think about the fact I thought I’d never see this view again.
My hand slides across my belly, where our baby is still safely growing.Dare told me what Thatcher said, that I’d lost the baby.I told him it wasn’t true.At the hospital, where I stayed for one night, they gave me fluids and monitored the baby.We had an ultrasound done.I’m far enough along for a heartbeat to be heard.I’m due in June of next year.
Police wanted to know what happened.I told them what I could.Because Cronus pulled some strings, Thompson and Winslow are both gone for good.Dare assured me Thatcher Winslow is dead.I’m glad I never have to worry about him again.
I slide from the bed and walk to the closet to grab a large weighted hoodie along with some sweatpants.I take a pair of Dare’s thick socks, slip them on, and walk down the hall through the living room and out onto the deck.The chilly early November air hits my face, and I pause, closing my eyes.
I take in the feeling of fresh air on my skin and walk over to the swing chair.I sit down and look out over the valley from here.
