“Do you really think some Connecticut judge is watching us right now?”

“No,” I said. “But someone else is.”

He took another step, his leather shoes crunching on the wet gravel.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at Harrison, who was now chewing on the blue fabric of his mitten.

“You took my son without my permission,” Julian said.

“I didn’t take him,” I replied. “I protected him from a man who lives a double life.”

“You’re hysterical,” he said, his voice dropping to that smooth, manipulative tone he used in boardrooms.

“You’ve let your lawyers fill your head with nonsense.”

He reached out a hand toward the swing chains.

“Step back,” I said.

I didn’t raise my voice.

I didn’t need to.

“Or what?” Julian asked, his hand pausing an inch from the cold metal.

“You’re going to call the local sheriff?”

“I won’t have to,” I said.

I looked him directly in the eyes.

“How did you find us, Julian?”

He smirked, a flicker of his old confidence returning.

“You’re not as clever as you think you are,” he said.