Sarah looked at the ground as Tom started talking. "Well, Jake was cold! I was trying to get him into a coat or something to warm him up."

How convent, Sarah thought as she left the room. She went into her own room. Looking around, she saw that Jake had left a note-book in her room the last time he'd been in there.

She grabbed it, looking at the spiral-bound notebook. It was blue. Jake's chosen notebook cover, she thought. Inside, she opened it, looking at the title:

Jake's Journal. Read further then this and die.

Hmmm, she thought, She opened it to the first page, dated back about a year ago. "Dad hit me." That was all it said. The next page was blank, and then the page after had writing on it.

I'm afraid I've discovered something Dad's up too. I'm not sure what it is. He's up at all hours of the night. Money in the account is really dwindling. I saw over his shoulder. He practically decked me! "Jake, why are you sneaking up on me like that, you little asshole?" He grabbed me and nearly ripped my arm out. He tried to drag me to the closet, but I got away and ran to my room.

Three days later

Dad is scared of something. Today he locked me in the closet for four hours when I said hello to him. He had my arms tied behind my back and a gag tied over my mouth. He told mom I was with a friend from school – asshole.

Sarah gagged as she read through the journal. Jake detailed his father's findings. He suspected him of gunrunning, then murder, and then being dealt in the mob. She almost threw up when she read that Seth hit him over the head with a pipe – and laughed about it.

Wow, little brother, I never knew, she thought. She threw up when she read that Tom had started touching him.

She cried when she read the last entry:

Mom doesn't care, dad doesn't care. I hate myself. Each day I have to get through the day, to put my father in jail. It makes me sick to keep living, but I don't want to let him win. If I give in now, it'd be a disaster. I can't die. I can't kef—it ended there.

Sarah was in shock. She moved in slow motion. After today, her mother would think that she'd faked the whole thing,

She smiled when she heard the pitter-patter of Mike's feet. "Hey Mike! Get in here," she called.

"Yeah?" Mike asked.

"Read this and tell me if you think that Jake is making it up."

It took Mike a little more then half an hour to read the diary. He swallowed about halfway through it, and put it down. "No way in hell," he said softly.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Sarah asked.

Mike sighed, and then nodded. "What can we do? We can't tell Dad. Can we tell mom?"

"No!" Sarah said. Mike jumped, startled.

"We can't confront him yet," warned Sarah. God knows what he was capable of and how far he would go to protect his secret.

"We need more evidence," continued Sarah, nervously looking around to make sure Tom wasn't eavesdropping.

"Does this mean Dad kidnapped Jake?" asked Mike, nervously stuttering the words. He suddenly didn't feel safe in his own house. Sarah shrugged in response.

"I'm not sure. Maybe," she replied.

"Mike. Let's go. Time for practice," shouted Kate from downstairs. Mike sighed.

"I got to go to soccer. Try to stay out of Dad's way," warned Mike as he hurried down the stairs. Sarah nodded and retreated to her room. Her father was up to something really bad. What was it? Had he killed someone? Had he taken Jake? There were too many questions and not nearly enough answers.

…………………..

Morton grumbled as he pulled into a small gas station. The need to keep away from Seth meant he had to keep moving from location to location. Jake was currently sound asleep in the trunk. Morton quickly filled up the tank and went inside to pay. The cashier was nowhere to be found. Morton glanced behind the desk and found a teenage boy lying in a pool of blood. Morton gulped nervously as he looked around. The gas station was empty. Morton rushed back to his car. He was five feet away when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Then another. Bullets ripped through his chest. He had been wrong to cross Seth. As Morton lay dying on the ground, he saw one of Seth's cronies head for the car. Morton didn't recognize him. The man stopped and turned towards Morton. He walked over and took Morton's keys out of his pocket. Morton coughed up blood. The man smiled and walked back to the car. Morton groaned as the man drove off, taking Jake with him. Then he slipped into eternal sleep.

……………..

Sarah decided to take a walk to clear her head. She wanted to be as far way from Tom as possible. Sarah sighed and stretched as she walked around her block. The sun was starting to go down so the street was deserted. Sarah rounded a corner and stopped dead in her tracks a man dressed all in black burst from some bushes. Before Sarah could react, the man hit her in the side of the head with a baseball bat. Sarah felt her skull crack as she fell to the ground. The attacker hit Sarah all over her body before running off. Sarah lay broken and bleeding on the ground. Bone was sticking out of both of her legs. Sarah said a small prayer as she heard some neighbors start rushing over to her and one call the police. Sarah slipped into blackness after that.

………………

Wade Coates dragged the still sleeping Jake Baker into the cabin. Seth was waiting for him. Wade threw Jake down on the ground and walked over to Seth.

"Morton is dead," explained Wade, lighting a cigarette.

"No one saw you?" asked Seth. Wade shook his head, blowing some smoke rings into the air. Seth smiled and nodded. Then he took out a gun and fired through Wade's skull. Wade crumpled into a heap. Seth wiped some blood off his face and picked up Jake. So much for this hide out. He quickly made a beeline for the backyard, where his car was waiting for him.

.,…………..

Sarah's condition was critical. Her skull was fractured and her brain was swelling. The intense surgery entered it's third hour with Sarah barely hanging on and surgeons racing to save her damaged brain. The news of Sarah's attack made Connor very nervous. He had been sitting in his brother's room when Sarah arrived at the hospital. An hour after her surgery started, Tyler was taken back into the operating room. Connor paced his brother's room, trying to come up with a plan. Seth was tying up loose ends. It was just a matter of time before he came after Connor. Jake was missing. Tyler was recovering from a stab wound. Sarah was a wreck. Who was next? Sarah obviously knew something. Did anyone else in the family know?

……………

Jake woke up to find himself tied down on a table. What the hell? His shirt was off and his chest and stomach were wet. Seth appeared above Jake.

"How many of your siblings did you talk to?" asked Seth.

"What?" asked Jake. Seth held up two wires he had torn from a lamp and held them to Jake's body. Jake screamed as he was shocked.

"Did I stutter? Who else knows you're a spy?" asked Seth. Jake closed his eyes and sighed, trying to find something in his brain to get him out of this. He had nothing. The silence of the secluded area he was in was pierced by Jake's loud, piercing screams.