Page 56 of Broken Skulls

I still.

He can’t mean …

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Mr. Baxter continues. He relaxes in the chair despite being bound.

My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest.

“Your looks, my talent …”

“No,” I whisper.

Jacob squeezes me tightly around the waist. “Don’t let him in your head,” he whispers.

This makes Mr. Baxter chuckle loudly. “I’m so deeply embedded there that she’ll never get me out.” He levels an evil stare at Jacob.

"The baby wasn't yours …” I hear myself say.

His gaze leaves Jacob to narrow on me. “You lie, Lizzie. You know what happens when you lie.”

This time I laugh. I throw my hands out and spin in a circle. “I don’t see any of your torture devices here.”

“Have you seen any of our daughter’s paintings?” he asks me. “She’s a very talented artist.”

My heart skips a beat.

“Did you know that her entire college career was paid by a generous anonymous donor?”

How did he find out about her?

His evil smile widens. “Don’t worry. While her mother lost her mind, her father made her into something great.”

“You’re not her father,” I repeat, backing into Jacob. “It was Dr. Williams,” I lie.

“Dr. Williams is a pig. Don’t disgrace our daughter by claiming such a thing!” Mr. Baxter barks, making me jump.

My head falls in submission, and my knees wobble with the need to fall before him.

Jacob senses the change in me. He turns me in his arms, holding my chin between his thumb and finger.

Mr. Baxter continues his rhetoric. “Did you really think I believed your parents sent you to school in Italy? You were never that smart, Lizzie.”

He’s known from the very beginning. I kept quiet about Dr. Williams, about him, for nothing.

Jacob shakes me. “She’s safe.”

I swipe at my eyes. He’s right. She’s safe, but I was naïve and thought I’d outsmarted him. I won’t make the same mistake twice.

“Can you get Jesse for me?” I ask Jacob.

He looks over my shoulder at Mr. Baxter. “I don’t want to leave you alone with him.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He gives Mr. Baxter a warning glare before leaving the room.

I turn around slowly. We stare at each other. “Did you talk to her?”

He doesn’t answer.

---