Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76203 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
And I don’t know how, it was all so fast, such a blur, but I got away.
Gasping for air, I stumbled forward and snatched my daughter out of the cart.
I opened my mouth but couldn’t scream, could barely make any sound. So I did all I could do. I ran back to town as fast as my legs could carry me.
“I burst into the local general store. It was kind of a hub for the local men to hang out. I couldn’t talk to them, but they could read my face. And when I pointed to my throat, they all seemed to get the point and rushed out into the streets, pulling their guns from their holsters. But the guy was already gone.”
“Did they catch him on any cameras?”
“This was a really small town. They didn’t do cameras. The police took a report, but there was nothing to go on. I didn’t even stick around long enough to see a doctor. I had an escort of townspeople to take me back to my room so I could pack our stuff… then just hightailed it out of town.”
It had been a rough week or so after that. My throat was a constant source of pain. Each swallow felt like razor blades. I could barely rasp out words to my very afraid daughter, who was suddenly racked with nightmares.
“Christ, Runa…”
“Yeah.”
“Have you ever gotten a good look at them?”
“I’ve gotten decent looks. But they’re just so painfully… average. Forgettable. No tattoos, scars, or birthmarks that might help the police identify them.”
“Do you have any idea what this is about? Were you working for someone shady at any point?”
“I’ve been racking my brain for years. I can’t think of anything I might have gotten wrapped up in. Or why they went from just watching me… to trying to actively kill me.”
“Speaking as someone from that kind of world… I could only imagine they think you know or have seen something.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
“People like this can be paranoid. If they were doing a deal—or hit—and you happened to walk by, they would assume you saw and can point them out in a lineup.”
“But I was clearly trying to get away.”
“But you did go to the cops more than once.”
“Because they were stalking me!”
“You’re being rational about it. They wouldn’t be. Some of these guys are so used to killing that they view it the same way as swatting a fly. So it means nothing to them to chase you down and kill you just in case you saw something. Especially if they are tied to the mob or cartels.”
It still seemed so crazy to me. To follow me across half of the United States? When I was clearly just trying to start over and raise my child?
I was lost in my thoughts when York spoke again.
“What happened to your ribs?”
I exhaled hard, the breath shaking in my chest.
“Georgia.”
“What happened in Georgia?”
“I was already on my way down here after getting the tip about you being here. But I was out of money, so I stopped at a motel that I could rent by the month. I took on a few cleaning and dog-walking jobs. Even the occasional babysitting for other people staying at the motel. It was actually going pretty well. I hadn’t put that much money away in a long time.”
“And then?”
“And then I got a call about a deep-cleaning job for a rental house. Those are the best. They pay the most. And they are empty, so I can get away with bringing Denali with me without worrying about anyone saying something about it.”
“I’m not liking where this is going.”
“Yeah. It was a really remote house. Which should have put up alarm bells. But I thought nothing of it as I pulled up and unloaded the cleaning supplies.”
I went in and opened all the windows, which I always did to make sure the fumes didn’t get to me or Denny. Then I started with the bedrooms and closets, so I could close those rooms and clean my way out the door in the common area.
Denny had her sticker-by-numbers book to keep her occupied as she sat on top of the desk in the bedroom, super focused on trying to get her stickers as straight as possible.
I’d just moved into the primary bathroom when I saw a shadow move around the house.
Sure, it could have been the owner, checking in on me, or coming to yell at me for bringing my kid to work.
But I knew better after all we’d been through.
“I grabbed Denali and shoved her into the primary bathroom closet, telling her that she needed to be quiet and stay put no matter what she heard.”
It was then I heard the footsteps in the kitchen.
I didn’t think.
I flew out of the bedroom as quietly as possible and closed the door silently. All I could think of was getting them away from my daughter, try to convince them that this was one of the situations where I left my kid with a sitter, like I’d done several times in different cities.