My father backed away toward the fireplace, looking wildly around the room.

“Eleanor, do something!” he yelled.

My mother didn’t panic.

She looked at the handcuffs, then at me, and finally at her husband.

She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.

A bright blue light illuminated her face as the screen came alive.

She began typing a message, her thumb moving with chilling speed.

“Put the phone down, Mrs. Davis,” Harper said, stepping toward my father.

My mother didn’t look up from the screen.

“I am contacting our attorneys,” she said coldly.

“By the time you process him, the paperwork will already be filed.”

She looked at me, a cruel, knowing smile playing on her lips.

“You think you’ve won, Sadie,” she whispered.

“But you don’t know what I’ve just authorized.”

Her phone screen flashed with a confirmation message, the green light reflecting in her eyes.