***
“Sabrina!” Carol places her arms around me after I enter the library.
“Carol,” I greet her, hugging her back. “It’s good to see you again.”
The first time I saw Carol again, two months ago, I barely recognized her, yet I just had to spend a little time with her to know that she’s still every bit the Carol I knew back in middle school – competitive but caring, motherly if not protective, only older, taller, more beautiful and richer.
We sit on the couch.
“Tell me, how are things?” Carol asks.
So, she is here to check on me.
“Good,” I tell her. “The child is finally warming up to me, and Mr. Brewster is very kind.”
“I see.”
She frowns, falling silent.
I touch her hand. “Why? What’s wrong? I’m doing well, right?”
“Yes, you are.” She places my hand in both of hers. “You’re doing much better than I’d hoped and you seem like you’re happy here, which is why it pains me to tell you that you might have to leave.”
“Leave?” I feel terribly confused.
But I only arrived a few days ago.
“Did Ra… Mr. Brewster complain about me?” I ask, that reason the first thing that comes to mind. How could they have possibly known? “Have I done something wrong?”
“No.” Carol shakes her head. “Mr. Brewster hasn’t called me at all, and I’m sure he has no reason to. You’ve done everything you should as you should.”
“Then why?”
I can’t think of any other reason.
“Because I have some bad news.”
I stiffen, my confusion instantly turning into fear. “What bad news?”
“You know my brother works at the Houston PD, don’t you?”
“Yes. You told me.”
“Well, he told me that yesterday, someone dropped by looking for Savannah Brown.”
I tense all the more, my heart pounding.
She lowers her voice. “That was the name you were using when you were singing, right?”
I nod.
“Of course, it could be another Savannah Brown but something tells me this man was looking for you.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “What did the man say about me?”
“Just that you had ran away. Benny’s colleague asked the man if he wanted to file a missing persons report but he didn’t. He said he’d find Savannah Brown himself.”
I suppress a shudder. “He’s here. One of Vince’s men is here, which means Vince knows I’m here.” The walls start to close in around me. “He could be anywhere.”
“Nonsense,” Carol says. “He’s not superhuman.”
Maybe, but that isn’t as comforting as she thinks it is.
“Something happened this morning,” Carol adds. .”
“Oh?”
Carol takes a deep breath. “My computer was hacked just a while ago. I came here to tell you as soon as I could.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what information the person was able to get but you know your current address is in my files.”
I clasp my hand over my mouth. “Shit.”
“I know your name on my files isn’t Savannah Brown and your photo is different. Even so…”
“He knows.” I stand up and start pacing. “He knows I’m here, and he’s coming to get me. He…”
“Sabrina.” Carol grabs my hand. “We’re not sure what he got, okay? We’re not sure it’s the same guy.”
“Oh, come on, Carol,” I snap. “You know Vince! Of course it’s the same guy!”
Carol nods sadly. “It’s a possibility.”
No. It’s not a possibility. It’s very likely.
“I can’t stay here.”
“Yes, you can. You’re safe here. If they come after you here, Mr. Brewster can have them arrested.”
“Or they can harm Mr. Brewster and David,” I tell her. “You don’t know what Vince is capable of. I have to leave. Isn’t that what you came to tell me?”
“I told you that you might have to leave but that’s up to you. I only came to warn you.”
“I’m warned and I’m leaving.”
“Now? I can’t bring you to my house since they already know I might know you, but I can drop you off somewhere. I can talk to Mr. Brewster if you like.”
“What will you tell him?” I ask out of curiosity.
She shrugs. “That you have a really sick relative?”
Something tells me Randall isn’t going to believe that. In fact, something tells me he’s not going to let me leave, which means I have to leave in secret.
“So are you leaving with me?” Carol asks.
“No,” I tell Carol. “I’ll sneak out tonight. If Vince knows I’m here, he’ll come and get me himself. That gives me a bit of time.”
She nods. “Okay. You do that. Don’t worry about Mr. Brewster. I’ll explain things to him tomorrow and get him a new nanny immediately.”
A new nanny? The thought makes my heart sink.
David and I have only just begun to get to know each other. We’ve already begun. And now I have to leave.
But I have no choice. Maybe I should never have come here. I should never have hoped I could be safe or happy.
My time here was just a dream, a dream I didn’t deserve to have. Now, I have to wake up and face reality once more, even though it’s a nightmare.
That’s all there is to it.