do to get it, and quickly.
“Get some tea up to her,” Rosemary continued. “And I’ve no doubt someone around here has a sleeping pill or two. Given her personality, and her state of mind, it might be best to convince her to take a pill and sleep for now.”
“I’ll take the tea up,” Aidan told her. “And Charlotte has her own pills. I’ll see she takes one. Before I do, I’ll try again to convince her to call the police. Because I agree with you. Yet, if something happened . . .”
“One step at a time.” She went to him, gripped his hands. “We’ll get the money, your dad and I. And we’ll do, all of us, whatever you and Charlotte decide.”
“Nan.” He brought her hands up, pressed them to his cheeks. “My world. Cate’s the center of it.”
“I know it. You’ll stay strong for her. Let’s get these bastards the money they want, Hugh.”
Cate woke slowly. Because her head hurt she squeezed her eyes tight, hunched into herself as if to push off the pain. Her throat felt sore, and something inside her tummy rolled like it wanted her to puke it out.
She didn’t want to throw up, didn’t want to.
She wanted Nina, or her daddy, or her mom. Somebody to make it stop.
She opened her eyes to the dark. Something was really wrong. She was really sick, but she didn’t remember getting really sick.
The bed didn’t feel right—too hard, with scratchy sheets. She had a lot of beds in a lot of rooms. Her own at home, her bed at Grandpa and G-Lil’s, at Grandda and Nan’s, at—
No, her grandda had died, she remembered now. And they’d had a celebration because of his life. Playing, playing with all the kids. Tag, and tricks, and hide-and-seek. And . . .
The man, the man at her hiding place. Did she fall?
She bolted up in bed, and the room spun. But she called out for Nina. Wherever she was, Nina was always close. As her eyes adjusted, as nothing looked right, she climbed out of bed. In the dim light from a scatter of stars, a slice of a moon, she made out a door and rushed to it.
It wouldn’t open, so she banged on it, crying now as she called for Nina.
“Nina! I can’t get out. I feel sick. Nina. Daddy, please. Mom, let me out, let me out.”
Thinking it might come in handy later, they recorded her pleading cries.
The door opened so fast it smacked against Cate, knocked her down. The light outside the door burned into the room, illuminated the face of a scary clown with sharp teeth.
When she screamed, he laughed.
“Nobody can hear you, stupid, so shut the hell up or I’ll break off your arm and eat it.”
“Chill, Pennywise.”
A werewolf came in. He carried a tray, walked right by her as she scrambled back on her heels and elbows. He set it on the bed.
“You got soup, you got milk. You eat it, you drink it, otherwise my pal here will hold you down while I pour it down your throat.”
“I want my daddy!”
“Aww,” the one called Pennywise made a mean laugh. “She wants her daddy. Too bad because I already cut your daddy into pieces and fed him to the pigs.”
“Knock it off,” the wolfman said. “Here’s the deal, brat. You eat what we give you when we give it to you. You use that bathroom over there. You don’t give us trouble, you don’t make a mess, and you’ll be back with your daddy in a couple days. Otherwise, we’re going to hurt you, real bad.”
Fear and fury rose together. “You’re not a real werewolf because that’s made-up. That’s a mask.”
“Think you’re smart?”
“Yes!”
“How about this?” Pennywise reached behind him, pulled a gun out of his waistband. “Does this look real, you little bitch? You want to test it?”
Wolfman snarled at Pennywise. “Now you chill. And you—”
He added a second snarl for Cate. “Little smart-ass. Eat that soup, all of it. Same with the milk. Or when I come back, I’ll start breaking your fingers. Do what you’re told, you go back to being a princess in a couple days.”
Leaning down, Pennywise grabbed her hair with one hand, yanked her head back, and pressed the gun to her throat.
“Back off, you fucking clown.” Wolfman grabbed his shoulder, but Pennywise shook it off.
“She needs a lesson first. You want to find out what happens when little rich bitches back-talk? Say, ‘No, sir.’ Say it!”
“No, sir.”
“Eat your