Page 52 of Morsel

“Just because Megan asked a question.”

“Oh yeah,” he says. “He was afraid of her.”

“Are you seriously telling me that Edgar Shadowvale was scared of his wife?”

“He was terrified,” Craig says. “He’d done so many things to seem legit. He’d tried his best to make sure that everything looked like it was on the up-and-up. He only stopped doing the adoptions because he started making more on other ventures.”

“There must be something more,” I said.

“There is,” Hank says. “Megan’s sister was the one who scared Edgar into shutting everything down.”

28

Oscar

We don’t have that much more than when we started, yet on some levels, we have an incredible amount more. I’m waiting close to the cafe where Dolly is meeting her brother, and when she leaves, she comes straight to me. We talk, and she fills me in, and then we go back to my place.

“He said he’ll come by tomorrow,” she says.

“So, tonight.”

“Probably.”

“If he’s smart, he’ll let you think we’ve got time.”

“He really wants you. He’s still convinced your brothers will pay a ransom for you.”

“It’s deeper than that,” I say.

“Fuck.”

“What?”

She turns and looks up at me.

“Do you think he’s looking for a ransom from someone else?”

“Who?”

“Someone who was adopted,” she says. “Someone who would do anything at the chance to get back at you and your brothers.”

“No,” I say. “This is too specific. If he wanted to capture all of us, there are ways to do that.”

“Then why you?”

That’s the question, isn’t it?

“I think it’s time to call my mother.”

29

Dolly

Juniper is tall, slender, and fit. Her wife, Helena, is shorter, curvier, softer. The two of them arrive at Oscar’s apartment approximately thirty minutes after he calls. They come in without knocking, and they both wrap me up in a big, shared hug.

“What’s happening?” I ask.

“Just go with it,” Oscar says.

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