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His fingers tighten around Duck.

I finish unpacking. When I’m done, Jamie is still sitting on the bed with the duck beside him. His hair is a mess.

I take the brush from his vanity. “Come here.”

His eyes narrow. “Why?”

“Because I said to. That’s all the reason you need.”

He doesn’t move.

“You were good today.”

Jamie looks at the brush. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Good dolls get taken care of.”

He looks like he wants to argue. Instead, he slides off the bed.

I sit on the edge and guide him down between my knees.

His back stays straight when I gather his hair. There are tangles near the ends from his nap. I start there, holding the hair above each one so the brush doesn’t pull at his scalp.

Jamie is quiet.

I work through another section. Then another. By the time I can draw the brush from the middle of his hair to the ends without catching, some of the tension has left his shoulders.

“You like this.”

“I want to go home.”

I brush from his scalp all the way down. His eyes close.

“Don’t be ugly.” I separate another section with my fingers. “Your hair is beautiful.”

He’s quiet.

I run my fingers through his hair when I’m finished. No tangles. Soft. Perfect. “Done.”

Jamie doesn’t move.

I set the brush beside me.

A few seconds pass. Then his hand reaches back and finds it. He holds it out to me. “Again.”

CHAPTER 8

Jamie

Iwake up feeling relaxed. Then I open my eyes. Stars. Blue ceiling. Locked door. Heather.

“Fuck.”

Duck is sitting on the nightstand beside The Ugly Duckling. She put him there after I fell asleep.

I reach over and pick him up. “You’ve been kidnapped too.”

He looks exactly as concerned as he did when I was six. I set him back down.