I opened my eyes and breathed deeply. The smell of fresh coffee filled my lungs, and when I realized that I wasn’t dreaming about the delicious smell, I shot up in the unusually comfortable bed.
It had been weeks since I had coffee or tea; and days since I’d had anything to eat. Running for my life didn’t exactly allow one to stop at a coffee shop. Besides, as I traveled, I felt like a lost grain of sand in the universe. Manhattan looked scary enough as it was, and it would take me a bit longer than I anticipated to get my bearings. The last thing I wanted was to get lost in a big city. But then again, if I was lost, how would anyone else find me?
The city that never sleeps was definitely a change from the one street town I used to live in. I’d been here for two weeks now, and sleeping over heating ducts in the alleys wasn’t getting any easier.
I pulled the covers off and made the bed. Still wearing my ragged clothes, I tiptoed toward the door. The sound of a brewing argument rose from the kitchen downstairs.
“I can’t believe you, Jack!” the female voice loud-whispered. “Why can’t she stay with Xavier?”
“He’s away for three days. He didn’t clear his apartment.”
“So? Hire a maid.”
“I didn’t say clean, Mary. I said clear.”
Mary must have been his wife. Only stern wives could hold so much power in their voice.
“Argh, I hate that you’re doing this again.”
“It’s what I’m good at, and I think she needs help.”
“What happened to not bringing work home, huh?”
I moved into the hallway, closer to the railing.
“I have a feeling this will pay off. I don’t know how, but I think she’s worth it.”
“I’m not talking about Xavier. You bringing her here means that you’re going to investigate. You brought work home! We’ve talked about it. You’re not supposed to do that!”
Investigate?
What did that mean? Wishing I had an empty glass, I pressed my ear against the door.
“The only thing Xavier ever does well is mix business with pleasure, and I’m tired of him bringing new women around to our house.”
Xavier.
Someone above must have been looking out for me, to run into him. Before he left me in this bed last night, he told me to trust Jack and Mary. I barely knew him, but he was the first person I’d met since leaving Pace who helped me. If it weren’t for his friend Jack, who had apparently found me in an alley, they’d be pulling a zipper over my face right about now. The thought that Xavier would be gone for the next three days made me sad. And why would Jack want to investigate me? Maybe I should have left last night?
I should definitely leave today. If Ben finds me, I can’t let that lead him to Xavier. I can’t lead him to anyone.
“I love your jealousy, Mary, but you know that you’re the only one for me. You and the baby are the most important treasures in my life.”
He gently touched his palm to Mary’s lower stomach and I gasped, lowering my hand to mine.
Should I leave?
Reluctantly, I scanned the room for my sandals, but I couldn’t find them. I was pretty sure that my feet were more comfortable than those strappy nothings, but people would look even more strangely at me if I wasn’t wearing any shoes at all, so if I was going to leave this place soon, I needed shoes. Any kind of shoes. I quietly opened the door and tiptoed to the staircase.
“I still don’t like it,” said Mary.
I was on the third step from the top, waiting for the perfect moment to interrupt their conversation. Was there such a moment?
“Just try to tolerate it for three days. Please? Or at least until we figure out a way to help her. I think the girl’s in trouble.”
I cleared my throat and proceeded to walk down the stairs. “Good morning,” I whispered.
“Good morning, Anna. Come, there’s someone here I’d like you to meet.”
Jack came first into view, then a beautiful raven-haired woman. Her hair was like silk, shiny with perfect waves, and it looked like it had been professionally styled. I pulled my fingers through my own strands, but some of them got stuck in the clumps and so I lowered my arm. The glamorous woman paced around the kitchen counter, carrying her swollen belly in front, and my hand immediately flew to my own.
“Anna, this is my wife, Mary.”
I took the remaining steps down, paced toward her, and reached out to shake her offered hand. “Congratulations. How far along are you?”
“Twenty-four weeks.”
“You look beautiful. I’m Anna, and I’m sorry to be disrupting your day. I’ll be going soon.”
Jack cleared his throat. “You’re not disrupting anyone, Anna, and you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like. At least until I know that you have a place to stay and a way to support yourself.”
Mary covered her dissatisfaction with a forced smile.
“I… I have a job,” I said at the prompt. “And an apartment.”
“Anna, there’s no need to lie.”
“Don’t you see, Jack? She’s lying because she’s embarrassed. I mean, look at her.” Mary pointed my way. I could only imagine how I must have appeared. A nest for hair; ragged clothes which included a new hole in my patched dress that Jack had managed to puncture with that knife last night. The once-bright sunflower print was barely recognizable. My nails hadn’t been cut or cleaned since I’d left Pace over two months ago. I’d managed to bite a few off, but they were definitely not show-worthy.
I scanned the room for my sandals again and said a silent prayer that my only pair of shoes wasn’t lost.
“If you can show me where my shoes are, I’ll get going to my place,” I tried again.
“Where’s your apartment, Anna?”
“Ahm, it’s Thirty-third Southwest and Fifth,” I said, remembering some of the street signs I’d seen, or some combination of them.
Jack looked at me funny, and I wondered whether I’d gotten the street directions wrong. I’d seen so many numbered streets with different cardinal coordinates that it was difficult to remember. They were all like a puzzle to me. Who could have remembered them all?
“You barely look like a visitor in Manhattan. And you’re definitely not from around here. There’s no Southwest Street, Anna.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s my job to be familiar with this city.”
“What exactly is your job?”
My gaze caught part of the chandelier in the hallway. How could anyone afford a place like this? Well, Ben probably could, if he still had the money I stole. Was he looking for me? Probably. I didn’t think he’d ever stop. Was John all right?
“I’m a bounty hunter,” Jack replied.
“What’s that? You go hunting for…?”
I looked around the pristine, top-notch penthouse apartment. Everything appeared brand new. Probably because it was. New, expensive, and definitely nothing I’d ever seen before. Colorful vases; a slick couch with a throw, pillows, and a cup holder in its side; a television set so big that the muted news anchor looked like he was about to jump out of the screen. It was almost the size of a car window. Jack was definitely not an ordinary hunter. Yet I didn’t find any evidence of taxidermy.
“People pay me to find people,” he said, and I felt my knees slightly bend. I used the corner of the wall to steady myself.
Bounty hunter? Hunting people.
“Does that scare you?” he asked.
“What do you think?”
“Yeah, I guess it’s not a typical career choice.”
Not typical? Was he kidding me? He got paid to find people – to find someone who was trying to hide; someone like me. Jack could be close to the level of deranged as the man I was running away from, and Ben Cortez was a mafia man.
Still desperate to locate my sandals, I took a step closer to the elevator, hoping he wouldn’t notice. It was in the same direction as the couch, which I’d have to pass to get to the door.
“So if someone paid you to find me, you’d sell me out?”
“Who’s looking for you?”
“Someone… maybe… is.”
“Anna, I can’t help you if you don’t help me.”
I sighed. I’d been running for so long that it felt like I’d lost a few weeks of life and I really needed a break. Hoping it would be easier to hide in the big city, I’d chosen one of the biggest ones in the country and then landed in the apartment of a person who could profit off me. The city wasn’t turning out to be as welcoming as I’d originally thought — up until now, that is. Despite a weird career choice, Jack was nice. He was the first person I’d met who seemed to care. Xavier as well. If the business partners and Mary didn’t sell me out, maybe I could stay here for a while. The list of people I had to trust was growing too quickly, but I had someone else to think about as well. My nutrition hadn’t been as good as I would have liked in order to give my baby the best care possible. The stress of my trip itself had taken a toll on my body, but at least we were still alive. Once the word about me had spread, a bounty hunter would be the first to know. All I needed was a quick escape plan, just in case.
“You can’t help me. No one can help me. The man who’s looking for me is like a ghost.” It was still difficult to believe that people like Ben, who’d smuggled millions of dollars, could hide so well from the authorities. The feds had come to Pace more than once, but each time they did, the Cortez family was gone. They had eyes everywhere and it made my skin crawl with fear.
“If I stay, he’ll find me. Oh, he’ll find me and he’ll drag me back there by my hair if he has to, and he’ll kill anyone who helped me.” I saw Mary take a quick breath in. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he already hired you to find me, and you’re just buttering me up. And you didn’t answer my question.”
I wanted to know if Jack would sell me out. I wanted to know if I could rest for a couple of days in a small corner of the big city before heading out again. Or was I too late?
“Maybe you should just let her go, Jack. I don’t want any trouble coming into our house. We have a baby to think about now.”
Jack stood across from his wife and gently took her under her arm, whispering, “Mary, I think you should leave.”
“What? From my own house? How can you even ask that of me?”
“Mary, you have a doctor’s appointment, and you insisted that your sister come with you this week. Remember?”
“Well, am I just supposed to leave you here with her?”
He was slowly nudging her toward the door, grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter on the way.
“Yes, you are, because I love you and I know that deep in that beautifully dark heart of yours, you love me as well. Go to your appointment. Stop by the spa on the way back and by the time you return home, we’ll have figured out how to help Anna.”
Jack was sweet. Too sweet, it seemed for Mary. Yet I didn’t think she’d ever realize it. Had I judged her wrong? After all, people had judged me wrong so many times in the past month that it would be difficult to count.
“Fine, but I still don’t understand how you’re supposed to help someone who it obviously seems doesn’t want to be helped.”
Mary stuffed her purse under her arm. Jack covered her shoulders with a thick sweater and kissed her on her cheek. “I love you. Don’t stress, please. It’s not good for you or for the baby.”
“I know. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Mary left, and I inched closer to the hallway, still looking around for my shoes “Mary is upset,” I whispered.
“Mary’s hormonal. She’s a good woman and she’ll get over it. I don’t want to stress her, but I can see that you need my help.”
“How?”
“Xavier told me not to let you out. I don’t know why just yet, but I’m expecting he’ll tell me when he returns. One way or another, I do know that you showed up in my life for a reason.”
“You’re a strange man, Jack Madden.”
He shifted, bracing his shoulder against the wall, giving me an inquisitive look. He was good at asking questions, like a detective.
“You’re a bounty hunter. I should stay away from you. But you’re kind, and… there’s just something about you…”
“I’m glad you feel that way, and I hope you remember that. You’re safe here, Anna, so make yourself comfortable. Breakfast?”
At the mere mention of food, my mouth watered, and I nodded. In that moment of hunger which could easily be sated, I forgot about my shoes and the elevator.
“Come, join me. I haven’t had any either.”
Jack motioned with his hand to the stool, and I almost tripped getting over there in a hurry. The white leather seat felt cold underneath me. It warmed as soon as I sat, the heat of my skin penetrating the soft cover. I reached for the black coffee and took a sip while Jack filled his plate. Except he didn’t sit down with it to eat; instead, he passed the heap of food to me.
On a normal day, I would have waited for him to be ready, but given that I had no more than restaurant leftovers in my stomach, I dug in.
“Mmm,” I hummed, stuffing the scrambled eggs into my mouth, then taking a bite of the freshly baked bread. “It’s delicious. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
He was watching me eat, smiling, as if the chunks plummeting into my stomach were giving him the same satisfaction they were giving me. I doubted that was possible.
“So, someone’s looking for you. Why? What did you do?”
If Xavier was Jack’s friend and business partner, then he couldn’t be as bad as I’d first perceived him.
“You mean besides burning down his house?”
“Ouch! I knew you were a rebel the moment I saw you.” His smile was kind and genuine. He was a handsome fellow, and judging by the size of this penthouse, definitely a well-established one, too.
“No one died in the fire. And he’s not a nobody. He’s a somebody, and he’s going to find me and kill me.”
“I get the feeling that burning his house is the least of your worries.”
Instead of answering him, I picked up the fork and stuck another mouthful of scrambled eggs into my mouth. They were paler than the ones I was used to eating, and tasted of… smog. Was that the city taste? These eggs came from farmed chickens, not free range ones like we had in Pace, but at this moment, they tasted too darn delicious to reject. I was beyond starving.
Jack was right, though. The burnt house wouldn’t be at the root of Ben’s revenge, but fifty million would be.
“When is Xavier coming back?” I asked.
“How about you answer my questions and I answer yours?”
“Okay, but you didn’t ask me a question. You made a statement.”
“Pretty and smart. Xavier’s away on a job.”
“Hunting the bad guys?”
“They’re not always bad. Sometimes they’re good, and the job gets a little complicated.”
I stilled. “How do you deal with that?”
He looked at me with a bemused smile, and I couldn’t help but grin myself.
“I don’t usually answer so many questions. I don’t get involved.”
His direct gaze pierced through me. Jack must have been good at his job. He made trusting him simple and easy. It wasn’t even a decision that you had to make. You just did.
“Do you have prenatal medicine for that kid you’re carrying?” He pointed to my belly, and I gasped.
The bump wasn’t visible yet. I knew that because I’d seen myself in one of the storefront windows a couple of days back. In fact, I’d looked kind of skinny. I couldn’t have been showing. Not with the little food I was able to feed my baby the past two months. This baby wasn’t even born yet, and I was already a bad mother.
“You can’t tell anyone. Not even Xavier.”
His face twisted, as if I’d asked him to commit murder. “I’m guessing the father doesn’t know?”
I shook my head. Of course he didn’t know. If John had known, he would have never let me leave Pace. But I had to. I wouldn’t let them take another baby away from me. Never again.
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise. But Mary is a keen woman. It would sound better if the news came from you. She’d open up to you a little more.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah, and if you helped me by keeping Mary busy with her baby shopping, I could check if anyone’s looking for you.”
“You don’t have to check. I know they’re looking.”
“How?”
“People like… like him don’t let go. They own you until you take your last breath.”
Especially when you steal their millions.
Patient and definitely not quitting, he waited.
Damn that trustworthy face!
There was something so good about Jack. If I ever had an older brother, that’s the way I’d imagine him, to be: gentlemanly-like.
Like Jack.
“He’s mafia.” I coughed into my hand.
“I need you to be a little bit more specific than that.” Jack didn’t seem to be surprised.
I shook my head. “Mafia isn’t scary enough?”
“There are lots of thugs who think they’re the mafia, and they have no clue what that actually means. Where are you from?”
“Arizona.”
The question popped so out of nowhere that I didn’t think before replying. Jack stilled, obviously thinking some pretty disturbing thoughts, his face drooping more with each second. It didn’t matter; Xavier would have told him that I was from Pace anyway.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“That narrows it down much further,” he grunted, and raised his hand before I got a chance to say anything. “Keep this information to yourself, Anna. Don’t repeat it to anyone.”
“You’re the first person I’ve told. So if they find me, I’ll know it was you.” I grinned, hoping that my teeth hadn’t yellowed too much. Being on the run didn’t exactly allow for a daily washroom routine. Was he my friend?
Just as I opened my mouth to speak again, we heard someone clear their throat. Mary stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and a face that matched my mother’s, God rest her soul, when she found out that I’d stolen candy from Mrs. Wade’s store. Up until a month ago, I never stole in my life. But a month ago, I still had my son.
“Mary? How long have you been standing there?” John looked like he’d seen a ghost, and Mary looked like she was about to kill. And she was looking right at me.