assault, prostitution, and whatever it is they call a mother who sells
her child to men for sex."
"What kind of lies has that brat been telling? I never laid a finger on
him."
"Shut up. You shut the hell up." She'd lost track, mixed Seth's mother
and Ethan's into one woman. One monster. "I know what you did to him,
and there isn't a cage dark enough to lock you in to suit me. But I'll
find one, and I'll shove you in it myself if you come near him again."
"I just want money." There was a wheedle in the voice now, both sly and
a little scared. "Just some money to help me through. You've got
plenty."
"I don't have anything for you but contempt. You stay away from here,
and you stay away from that child, or you'll be the one who pays."
"You better think again. You just better think again." There was a
muffled sound, then the clink of ice against glass. "You're no better
than me. I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be afraid. You should be terrified."
"I'ma I'm not finished with this. I'm not done."
The click of the disconnect was loud. "Maybe not," Grace said in a soft
and dangerous voice. "But neither am I."
"Gloria DeLauter," Anna murmured. She stood just on the other side of
the screen door, where she'd been for the last two minutes.
"I don't think she's human. If she'd been here, if she'd been in this
room, I'd have had my hands around her throat. I'd have choked her like
an animal." She began to shake now, fury and reaction crashing against
each other inside her. "I'd have killed her. Or tried."
"I know how it feels. It's hard to think about someone like her as a
person and not a thing." Anna pushed the door open, her eyes on Grace.
She would never have expected to see that white-hot rage in such a
mild-tempered woman. "I see it all too often in my work, but I never get
used to it."
"She was foul." Grace shuddered. "She thought I was you when I answered
the phone. I tried to tell her at first, but she wouldn't listen. She
just shouted and threatened and swore. I couldn't let her get away with
it. I couldn't stand it. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. From the end of the conversation I could hear, I'd say
you handled it. You want to sit down?"
"No, I can't. I can't sit." She shut her eyes, but still only saw that
blinding red haze. "Anna, she said she'd come back and get Seth if you
didn't give her money."
"That's not going to happen." Anna moved to the refrigerator, pulled out
a bottle of wine. "I'm going to pour you a glass of this. You're going
to drink it, slowly, while I get my notebook. Then I want you to try to
tell me what she said, as close as possible to exactly what she said.
Can you do that?"
"I can. I can remember."
"Good." Anna glanced at the clock. "We're going to want to document
everything. If she does come back, we're going to be ready."
"Anna." Grace stared down into the wine Anna had given her. "He can't be
hurt anymore. He shouldn't have to be afraid anymore."