Five years ago

Mary May Weber- 23 years old

The look of utter despair on her mother’s sweet round face, and the gut wrenching pain in her big brown eyes shattered Mary’s heart. It took what little remained of her inner-strength to not break down into hysterical tears. Everything about her life was a nightmare, but she had to do this. Had to have a chance at a fresh start, a new life where no one knew about the horrors she’d barely survived.

“Mamá, I have no choice.” She held her mother’s smooth, burnt sugar brown hand in her own, dying inside but pushing on. “I can’t put my child through the torture of being known as his daughter. It’s not fair and she’ll never have a normal life if I stay.”

Her father, a robust and strong man with a thick head of fading blond hair, sagged into his leather chair by the fireplace, defeat saturating every line and angle of his weathered face. “Mary, please, we’ll figure out another way.”

“There is no other way. My lawyers say that with the large out of court settlement I got from the lawsuit, I can start over,” she said gently. “I can have a new name, a new life, one that won’t taint my child from birth.”

“But why should you have to give up your family? You’re the victim of that monster!” Tears coursed down her mother’s face. “We love you, we want to help you. Surely we can find a way to keep you safe.”

“Of course you’d keep me safe. But that’s not the problem.” Looking to her dad, then back at her mom she sighed. “It won’t do any good to start over when my first visit back to you will be leaked to some gossip website and my identity will be blown. You know what they’re like, how the press and crazy people stalked us. They don’t care who is innocent or guilty, they only care about the attention they get from invading and destroying our lives. You can’t even go pick up prescriptions from the pharmacy without a bodyguard, Dad. I can’t let you live like this anymore.”

“It will pass,” her father growled, his pale blue eyes flashing. “I refuse to let them take you from us.”

Pressing her hand to her chest, she took a deep breath as she tried to find the strength to keep her tears at bay. “Think about what it would be like for my child. The first time she has a temper tantrum, people are going to wonder if she’s a killer like her biological father. Or how do you think she’ll feel when she realizes that she was...that she was conceived without my consent? And kids can be cruel. Can you imagine what it would be like to have everyone judging you from the moment you’re born? What that would do to an innocent child? Your grandchild. She’ll be under a microscope from the moment she takes her first breath, and she’ll never have the kind of life every child deserves. The kind of life you gave me.”

The sound of her mother’s crying filled the room. She slumped forward, her dark curls hiding her face as she sobbed. “My first grandchild, and I’ll never get to hold her.”

Her father stood from his chair and moved over to her mother’s side, laying his big hands on her shoulders and pulling her back into his strength. “Can you at least find a way to contact us? To let us know you’re alive? Mary, please, we’ll go crazy if we don’t know you’re all right.”

“Yes. I’ve discussed it with my lawyers.” She held up her hand when her mom tried to interrupt her. “They’ve assured me that we’ll be able to keep in touch. It may not be all the time, but I won’t vanish off the face of the Earth. I’ll be getting plastic surgery after I have the baby, enough that I won’t look like myself.” Swallowing hard, she tried to make her mother smile. “And we’ll be able to visit eventually. Maybe in ten years I can even move back to California.”

Her mother vibrated with anger, her fists tight at her side. She glared at Mary while openly weeping. “Visit? I get to maybe visit my daughter in ten years? I’m going to miss the birth of my grandchild? Not be a part of their life?”

“Hush, Rosalita,” her father said in a low voice. “I know you’re hurting, but that’s enough. Mary has a hard road ahead of her, and she needs our support, mi amor.”

“But we’ll never see her again.”

Mary’s chest heaved as she struggled to keep from bursting into hysterical tears and calling the whole thing off.

“We will, in time. Have faith.” Her mother put her hand to her mouth, sobbing as her father held her close and met Mary’s teary gaze. “I understand, sweetheart. I don’t agree with it, but I understand why you feel like you have to do this. No matter what, we love you. You’re an unbelievably strong young woman whose been dealt a cruel hand by fate. I’d give my soul to go back in time and keep you safe.”

“Dad, none of this was your fault.” She slumped back into the couch, the small bulge of her pregnant belly visible.

“What about your brother?” her mom asked in a husky whisper. “Juan is going to be devastated if you leave.”

Shit. Just when she thought she couldn’t feel any worse about the situation, they had to bring up Juan. “I know he’s going to freak out about it, but at the rate he’s getting into fights at school, he’s going to be suspended soon.”

Slipping her arm around Mary’s father’s waist, her mom sighed. “Your mind is made up.”

“It is.”

“You’re as stubborn as your father,” her mother said with a sad smile, her chin trembling. “Wherever you’re going, you’d better stay in touch. If you don’t, I swear I will hunt you down myself.”

She really wished she could tell her parents that she was moving to the Florida Keys, but it was better if they didn’t know her plans.

“I will. You can always contact my lawyer, or my victims advocate, Kelly, if you need to get in contact with me. She is handling my relocation.”

At that, her parents relaxed a little bit. Kelly was around their age, and she was a tough as brass. A no-nonsense former Marine and victim’s advocate who worked with the FBI, she’d taken Mary under her wing after she’d been assaulted and left for dead. The salt and pepper haired woman had been at Mary’s bedside when she’d awoken, and had been the one who informed Mary that her attacker was dead, killed in a shootout with the FBI. The kind older woman was there on nights Mary couldn’t sleep because of anxiety, but was afraid to take any medicine because of the baby. From the moment Mary learned she was pregnant, her life took on a new purpose. She wanted her baby, wanted to be the best mother she could, and Kelly had been nothing but supportive.

Kelly was the one who suggested Mary start her new life on the other side of the country, far from LA and its infestation of paparazzi. Evidently Kelly had a few childhood friends living in Key Largo who would help Mary get settled. Since it was about as far away from her home in Long Beach as she could get without freezing her butt off, she went with Kelly’s suggestion. Tonight, she would be leaving in the dead of night on a private plane, with two decoys running interference on the paparazzi.

Kelly didn’t mess around with keeping Mary safe. Eleven years ago, Kelly’s daughter had been killed by an abusive boyfriend, after the police didn’t take her complaints seriously. From that point on, Kelly had dedicated her life to protecting victims of violence. Mary was extremely thankful she’d been paired with the woman, because the case and investigation surrounding her rape and attempted murder had been a giant clusterfuck of a media circus. First her name had been leaked, then her address, and the next thing she knew she had to go into hiding to avoid the constant attention from the less scrupulous members of the press.

A shudder went through her as she recalled the terrifying night she’d found a man inside her house, taking pictures of her things.

She’d hit the silent panic buzzer she wore as a necklace, but the man had vanished before help had arrived.

That was the last straw for Mary, because if he’d made it further into her home, he would have seen the small collection of baby things in her spare bedroom’s closet.

Once again, her hand went to her bump and she closed her eyes, sending her child love. While some people might question her decision to keep a child conceived after a rape, she had absolutely no question in her mind that this was her baby—Mary was meant to be her mother. Her faith might become rather fragile at times, but deep in her heart she felt at peace with her decision and knew it was the right one.

Even if it meant she had to leave behind everyone and everything she’d ever loved.

Her phone buzzed and she checked the text on her screen from Kelly, letting her know it was time to leave. News vans were starting to gather around her parents’ house. Mary was, after all, the miraculous woman who’d somehow managed to survive Donald Frazer, one of the most prolific serial killers in the last twenty years who’d used the Pick Me Up driving service to target his prey. The car service had failed to do a complete background check on him, and at last count the believed he was responsible for the deaths of at least nineteen women in the Los Angeles area, another eleven in San Francisco, and six women in San Diego. Maybe more.

A shiver raised goosebumps along her arms. She’d been drugged after he’d abducted her, so she wasn’t sure what was real or imagined, but what she did remember terrified her if she allowed herself to think about it for too long. Sucking in a deep breath, she relaxed all her muscles and refused to let the panic take hold. She’d been a certified yoga teacher for four years but she never thought she’d use her training to fight off paralyzing panic attacks.

Her phone buzzed again, and she rolled her lips before saying, “I have to get going. There will be a deposit of three million dollars in your bank account. Use it to move to a gated community, please.”

Sagging down next to her mother, her father’s face lost all of its color. “That’s too much.”

“Dad, I love you.” She hugged him tight while her mother hugged them both. “And it’s not too much. I don’t want you to have to worry about working or putting Juan through college. Please, do this for me. Take the money. I know you’ll invest it wisely but, please, move somewhere safe. I need to know you’ll be okay. Promise me.”

“I promise,” her mother whispered. “We’ll be safe. Don’t worry about us.”

“Mary,” her father said in a heavy voice. “You are always welcome here, always. Whenever you’re ready to return home, we’ll be waiting for you.”

“I love you,” she choked out as she used the heel of her hand to wipe her tears.

“We love you, too,” her mother’s lower lip quivered. “So much.”

They stayed huddled like that until her phone buzzed yet again. “I have to go.”

“Come back to us, baby girl, please,” her father whispered.

“I will, Dad. I promise you, someday I will.”