After the car stopped, one of the guards rolled the window down.
“Something happen that made you come back?” he asked.
“Colin asked. It was a direct order,” the driver said, his voice steady.
“All right.”
The gates opened and we were allowed through.
The next fifteen minutes flashed by in my head.
Almost everyone in the house had been subdued, but everything was done in an eerie silence. Two of the three mensearched the mansion while the other stayed with the household staff.
I didn’t see Colin at first and assumed he was in his room.
A few minutes later I saw him walking toward us with one of the henchmen behind him, a gun pressed to his back.
Our children were blindfolded but remained beside us the whole time. I couldn’t understand why they were kept with us, though both Colin and I kept covering their ears. They didn’t need to go through this; this would scar them.
“Mom, when will this game end?” Hanna asked.
“What’s going on?” Joshua demanded.
“It’s okay, Hanna,” I said, lowering my hands from her ears.
“Buddy, it’ll be over soon,” Colin said, doing the same.
“Jay, take everyone to the gym and lock them in—except these,” he pointed at me, Colin, Hanna, and Joshua. “If anyone tries anything funny, you’re authorized to kill the jokester.”
Even the head of security was among those ordered around, and from what I could tell Colin had been used somehow to keep the other guards from reacting.
“What are you planning with all this?” Colin intervened, making a movement as if to step toward the man.
“Easy now!” The gun was shoved into his chest. “I’m the one talking here—so you keep quiet.”
“What do you want?”
“What are you most afraid of, Colin. That’s your name, right?”
Colin didn’t answer—he just looked toward us, where I sat clinging to Hanna.
“Hmm. I see.” The man smiled.“Jeremy, bring the kids and the woman closer.”
“No! Stay away from them!” Jeremy shouted, terrified, stepping in front of us.
“And who do you think you are to say that?” the man snapped.
“They have nothing to do with this.”
“So what?” the man I guessed was the boss said. “I’m interested in other things. This mansion is a goldmine.” He looked around, impressed. “And you’re wrong—I wouldn’t have gotten to you without Isabelle.”
All of this was because of the debt Rudolph had run up.
I bowed my head, shaken.
“Isabelle!” Colin’s voice called out. “It’s not your fault. Everything will be okay,” he tried to reassure me.
The man shook his head as if he were amused by the whole situation.
