“It’s not like your mama to disappear.” Blaze Harwood stepped into the kitchen. The screen door banged against the doorframe behind him.

Caleb’s fingers froze over his laptop’s keyboard, the mile-long spreadsheet forgotten in the wake of his father’s foul mood. He shot a glance at his wife drying the last of the supper dishes.

“She probably got caught up in town,” Caleb said. “I’m sure she would’ve called if she hadn’t left her phone on the coffee table.”

“Her car’s outside.”

“Maybe someone picked her up.”

“Doesn’t feel right.”

“Are you still hungry? It won’t take much for Amy to reheat the chicken casserole.”

“I’m full enough. Don’t think I could stomach more of that stuff, anyway.”

Amy stood with her back to them, unmoving, for several seconds before resuming her dish drying.

He hated how Daddy picked at Amy and her son Noah. If he tried to defend her to the old man, the consequences would be far worse than a few hurt feelings. He always attempted to make it up to her afterwards, but he noticed his lovemaking no longer had the power to release the tension from her body anymore.

His eyes narrowed on his wife’s back. At times like this, he wondered how he ever let a whore bewitch him.

“Let me have it,” Noah growled. “That’s mine.”

“Can’t make me! Can’t make me!” Five-year-old Tobias barreled into the kitchen, holding a dark object in his small hand. Head down, his compact body snaked around the table and chairs.

“Tobias!” Amy scolded. “I’ve told you—no running in the house.”

“Your son should stop chasing him,” Blaze said.

Noah skidded to a halt at the sight of his step-grandad.

“Move, Granddaddy.” Tobias tried to go around his grandfather, but Blaze had other ideas and hauled him into his arms.

“What do you have here?”

Noah’s eyes widened, and fear cut across his narrow face.

“Rrrow!” Tobias made a striking motion with the item in his hand.

“A bear claw,” Blaze said, his voice flat. “Where did you find it?”

“Under Noah’s mattress.” He lashed the air again. “Rrrow! Mine.”

“No, it’s not—”

“Noah.” Caleb kept his warning low and his attention on his father. “Go back upstairs.”

“Stay where you are, boy.”

“Daddy—”

“Keep your mouth shut, Caleb. I’ve got a question that only Noah can answer.”

Amy shuffled closer to her son.

Noah held his ground, though his gaze dropped to the tiled floor.

“Where’d you get the claw, Noah?”

He held his breath, hoping his stepson’s answer wouldn’t incite his father’s vengeful side. A pair of dogs barked in the distance.

Noah shrugged.

“What kind of answer is that, boy?”

“I don’t know.”

“Sir.”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Are you, stupid?”

Noah’s face pinched. “No.”

Blaze stared hard at Noah.

“No, sir.”

“Then tell me where you got the claw.”

Tobias sucked on the curved, razor-sharp tip while watching his stepbrother fidget.

“From a bin,” Noah murmured.

“Where was the bin?”

Noah peered at him out of the corner of his eye. Sweat broke out of Caleb’s upper lip.

“In a building.”

“One of my buildings?”

“Guess so.”

“Who else was in the building with you?”

Again, Noah glanced at him.

Blaze noticed this time. “My son?”

Noah gave him one jerky nod.

“What do you know of this, Caleb?”

“Nothing, sir. This is the first time I’ve seen the claw.”

“Did you take the boy into one of my buildings?”

“No—yes. I mean…I received a phone call from a client wanting to deliver some merchandise. Noah and I were headed into town for baseball practice. Rather than taking Noah to practice and then backtracking to meet our seller, I allowed Noah to tag along.”

“What do you know of my business, boy?”

Another shrug. “Nothing much.”

“‘Nothing much’ isn’t nothing. What do you know?”

Amy placed an arm around her son’s trembling shoulders. “That’s enough, Mr. Harwood. My son meant no harm.”

Blaze focused his one-eyed attention on Tobias. “Your Mama’s telling me what to do in my own house.” He wiggled his finger into his grandson’s side. “Think I should let her get by with such disrespect?”

Tobias’s eyes sparkled as if it were all a game. “No!”

The dogs’ barking intensified.

Setting Tobias on his feet, Blaze patted his behind. “Run upstairs. Your mother will join you in a second.”

A sliver of relief flaked off Caleb’s chest as he watched his son toddle off. Once he was out of hearing distance, Blaze stormed across the room, grabbed a hank of Amy’s hair, and bent her neck way back.

“Daddy, no!” He tried to loosen his father’s grip on Amy’s hair, but the old man was as strong as a mule. The back of his free hand slammed across Caleb’s face, sending him stumbling into the sink. His head caught the corner of a cabinet and he slid to the floor, dazed. He tried to stand, but his knee buckled.

“I don’t know what my son saw in a piece of white trash like you.” Spittle flew from Blaze’s white lips. “But I’ve tried to overlook your whoring ways.”

“I’ve never betrayed my husband,” Amy whispered, barely able to speak with her throat extended so far back.

“‘For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth … So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress.’”

“Let go of my mama,” Noah cried, pounding on Blaze’s back with his fist. Tears tracked down his flushed cheeks.

Blaze shoved the boy away, throwing him against the wall. A decorative plate hanging above jostled and fell, cracking against Noah’s head, knocking him out.

“Noah!” Amy screamed, clawing at Blaze’s face. His free hand wrapped around her neck, squeezing.

Caleb scrabbled to his knees, then his feet. He hooked his arms under his father’s, locking his fingers together behind the old man’s neck. Blaze released Amy.

She gasped for breath as she crawled toward her son.

“Let go of me, Caleb, or you’ll regret it.”

“Not until you’ve calmed down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. Let. Me. Go.”

The dogs outside went into a frenzy, catching both their attention. Without thought, he released his father. A boney fist slammed into his jaw. White spots blurred his vision for several seconds. Enough time for his dad to storm outside.

He followed, rubbing his jaw.

His father barked orders at the dogs. They scattered. Blaze stood over a large, misshapen form at the entrance to the barn.

Caleb’s jog slowed to a hesitant walk until he stopped a few feet from his father.

The dogs had found Mama.