I answered on the third ring, watching his face on my monitor. \u201cRachel,\u201d he said, and his voice had lost every ounce of its command. \u201cRachel, get us out of here, this is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not trapped, Dad,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cThe doors will open the instant a sheriff\u2019s deputy arrives and verifies who each of you is. That\u2019s for your protection and mine. I just wanted you to sit still long enough to hear something.\u201d He went silent. On the screen, Vanessa clutched Brandon while Denise lowered herself onto my sofa, her confidence draining away. \u201cYou told me James would be ashamed of me,\u201d I continued. \u201cYou used my dead husband to empty my savings three weeks after I buried him. Sixty thousand dollars, while I was still signing his death certificate.\u201d My father searched for another excuse, but before he could finish, the distant wail of approaching sirens echoed through the speakers, and every face inside the villa turned toward the windows in panic.<\/p>\n
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