Page 168 of Safe and Sound

“Your mother wouldn’t ask her family for money. Your father was so desperate for that money that he killed her. Money that is desperately needed is somehow tied to the key from the necklace.

Area brought his hands together to begin slowly clapping. The sound unnerved me. Somehow I didn’t think uncovering this was a victory.

“Where’s the key, Ava?”

“Why should I tell you? With my husband and daughter safe, what should motivate me to tell you?”

Ares tsked. “As smart as you are, that’s a silly statement.”

“Maybe.”

“At this moment, they’re safe. That safety is fragile. It depends on you giving up the key.”

Since I felt cornered, I sighed. “It’s in the safe at my parents’ house.”

“Do you know the combination?”

I hadn’t until the night of Nick’s murder. Mom had revealed it was my birthdate. “I do.”

He gave me a shark like smile. “Congratulations.”

Furrowing my brows, I said, “I don’t understand.”

“You passed the test.”

“What test?”

“The bullshit test. We apprehended a safe this morning. Normally, we would use a blowtorch to open it, but we didn’t want to do anything that might melt the key.”

As the helicopter began to descend, I glanced out the window. We were at an airport. From the look of it, we were at Logan. “Where are you taking me?”

Once again, he gave me that shark-like smile. “Let’s see if you’re people reading skills can uncover it.”

After Ares and I exited the helicopter, we walked down the tarmac to where a private plane sat. We weren’t in the air long, and I surmised that we must be in Philadelphia. Once the SUV I was shuffled into started driving through the city, I recognized the landmarks.

The silence between me and Ares was starting to get to me. I knew better than to ask him anymore questions about where we were going. So, I decided to go for more personal ones.

“Are you married?”

He quirked a blonde brow at me. “Do you see a ring?”

I shrugged. “Maybe you don’t wear it.”

“I’m not married.”

“How old are you?”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of trying to fix me up?”

To my surprise, a laugh tumbled from my lips. “No. I wondered how close in age we were.”

“I’m thirty.”

“We are close.”

“My sister is a year older than you.” Although I didn’t ask, Ares said, “There were two more sisters between us, but my father made my mother abort those.”

“Why?”

---