Wait…“What?”
“Mr. Thomas.” Silas sat up on his knees. “He already knows Thea can keep a secret.”
“Thea…” I shook my head.What the hell was happening here?“Thea knows Ben?”
“Thea is the one who got me this job. She said it was perfect for me since I’m so good with computers and I like to watch people die.” His cheeks lifted. “I’ve been working for Mr. Thomas since I was seventeen and I’ve never failed. I always find who I’m looking for. Just like I’ll find Hugh Laughton and the ghost.”
Rolling his shoulders back, he puffed out his slender chest. Hints of confidence and mischief lingered in his eyes, and I wanted to pet him and praise him all at once.
“Thea and Mr. Thomas have been friends since before Thea saved me.”
I stiffened. “Savedyou?”
“Yeah.” He started scratching at his forearms. “She didn’t know he was hurting me but she took me away when she found out.”
Darkness swam around my pupils, and suddenly the gun at my waist weighed four hundred pounds. My fingers vibrated, my hand twitching with an intensity only a trigger and a target could calm.
“Who hurt you, Silas?”
“My father.”
The fire in my chest started to burn, and I felt the heat of the flames as they licked across my ribcage and seared the edges of my lungs. Silas made a noise, and when I looked over at him, I found him gazing at me. Gratitude and wonder laced those big brown eyes, and I knew right then…
…I knewthe flames would never go out.
“I got to go live with Thea and my father went to jail.”
Not. Fucking. Good enough.
Leaping to my feet, I shoved my hands through my hair. My nostrils flared each time my chest collapsed.
“Give me a name, sweetheart. Give me a name, and I’ll go tear his skin clean off his bones.”
“Franklin.” He flinched.He fucking flinched. “Franklin Gray.”
I pivoted, and my boots clapped against his rugs as I pounded my way toward the front door. My knuckles popped when I reached for the handle, and I had just started to tug when my mind showed up—infiltrating the rightful cloud of fury and revenge with a bit of clarity.
Franklin Gray.
Holy.
Shit.
“It was you.”
His words were barely there, but I’d heard them. Ifeltthem roll across my back and spread across my shoulders. The truth danced along my skin, and I spun around.
“I killed him.”
Silas nodded.
“Two years ago.” I rubbed my jaw. “I shot him as he was walking out of California State Penitentiary.”
“Mr. Thomas said it was a favor but I… I think Thea had something to do with it.”
“The bad guy you mentioned last night… that was your father?”
Silas nodded.