Cade fixed his eyes on the ceiling of his room, his hands resting on his chest as he lay in bed, and his brain calculating the weight of his chosen responsibility. Every tick of the clock made him edgy of Elsie's current state—the number of stabs in her body, and her raspy voice trying to get free from a secluded room. One wrong move and he'd be dead. Why did his father give him this mission when his life and Elsie's were at stake?

He wants to get rid of me in the smoothest way possible with a clean conscience. Dad acts as if he cares, but in reality, I'm...