“Because,” William said softly, turning and walking toward his workshop area in the far corner of the basement, “I have a secret. Something Trevor doesn’t know about. Something that’s going to make him regret the day he was born.”

I stared at the man I had been married to for fifty years. “What secret?”

He smiled. Actually smiled. It was a shark’s smile.

“Come here. Let me show you what I’ve been working on for the past decade. This house has more surprises than our son could ever imagine.”

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and walked down the stairs, my legs trembling. William was moving stacks of cardboard boxes in his workshop, revealing a section of the wall I had always assumed was just paneling. He pressed a specific knot in the wood, and a hidden panel slid open with a soft hiss.

Behind it lay a sophisticated system of monitors, switches, and glowing LED controls that looked like something out of a spy movie, not a suburban basement in Durham.