“So he just took off?” Paul asked.

I shrugged. “He had some things that he needed to take care of. People leave all the time.”

“Yeah, but I thought after that big happening with you here the other night, he would want to stay. Mary made it sound like you two had some big breakthrough.”

“We did,” I offered. “Listen, its complicated, okay? I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” he muttered, moving away from the counter and going to a booth in the corner where Mary was already waiting.

I hated being short with him, but I’d never been very good at dealing with confrontation and I was even worse at lying. Mary had already tried to pry answers out of me, but I held my ground. Now, with Paul giving it his best shot, I felt like I was being interrogated for a crime. Shuddering, I thought about the last time I was interrogated. Rage and fear filled my body as I recalled the treatment the FBI had given me, and now, I’d found out that someone from their end had leaked my whereabouts to Collins.

“Can I get a small coffee, please?” said a customer.

I nodded my head, trying to knock the memories and fear out of my mind. “Sure,” I said with a smile as I passed it across the counter.

“Thanks,” replied the cute blonde man. “Say, I’m new to town here. Would you want to show me around a little later?”

“What?” I muttered, paying attention to him in earnest for the first time. “I’m sorry, did you just ask me out?”

He grinned. “Well, I was trying to but you seemed a little distracted. Maybe I should try again now that I have your attention.”

I smiled. “You can, but it won’t do you any good. I’m sorry, but I’m taken.”

“Oh? Well, he’s a lucky man. How long you been together?”

“About a month,” I replied sheepishly as I handed him his change.

He dropped the change in the tip jar but kept the single. I thanked the man and watched him walk out the door. Something about the exchange struck me as strange. Men hit on me all the time, but most of them put the bills in their wallet as soon as I gave them back to them. Even as he got in his car, he seemed to be holding it like evidence. My face began to pale as realization dawned on me. I’d just given the man my fingerprints. Mary must have seen my expression because she appeared behind the counter and put a hand on my shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

I nodded. “I don’t feel very good. I think I’m going to close up shop.”

“Do you want me and Paul to keep it open for you? It’s one of the perks of working from home—we kinda make our own hours. Plus, we are here all the time anyway using the Wi-Fi.”

It would be better if the shop stayed open. As much as I wanted to turn tail and run, I knew that keeping things as normal as possible was going to be key to saving my own ass. Looking around the shop, I nodded to Mary.

“Yeah, you know what? I think that would be great. Maybe I should get in to see the doctor or something,” I muttered.

“Want me to call him for you?” Asked Paul as he walked over to the counter.

“No, no. I will give him a call later if I still don’t feel great. Thank you both though. I don’t know what I would do without you two as my friends.”

“Anytime, honey,” offered Mary. “Give us a call later and tell me how you’re doing, okay?”

I nodded and gave her a hug before going out the back door. My car was parked right next to the shop. No one would see me leaving from there. As soon as I got into my car, I locked my doors and looked around. There was no sign of the blonde or his car, but I heard a motorcycle firing up in the distance and my hands started to shake. It brought back so many memories. I had no way of knowing if I’d been followed.

Turning out of the parking lot, I thought back to the last time I’d spoken to Shannon. A twinge of pain reminded me that I had left her behind. Everything was going to be okay, though. Peyton would find her and then we could leave as a family. I couldn’t shake the memory. Like a bad dream, it came flooding back.

“You have to go,” she whispered to me. “When was the last time that you heard it so quiet up there?”

I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous. And I won’t leave you behind.”

Shannon looked down at her ankle, still purple and mangled as a tear fell to the cement floor. We’d been together in the basement for two weeks, as far as I could tell. I’d just wanted to end the relationship with Collins. I never expected for him to lose his mind. Shannon, bless her heart, had just been along for the ride. Some ride it was too. Collins had taken her and then me in a blind rage. The assault had continued daily until today, when the door hadn’t yet opened and no noise was heard upstairs.

“I won’t leave you,” I said to her again. “We can both get out of here!”

She shoved me off the bed and shook her head furiously. “Of course we will both get out of here! But you are going to be a lot faster without me. Go get help!”

“What if they come back while I’m gone? He will kill you.”

Shannon snorted. “He’s going to kill both of us anyway. At least this gives us a shot at freedom.”

“Maybe a shot for me, but it’s a death sentence for you.”

“I like my odds better with you out there as opposed to being kept prisoner in here with me.”

“Shannon,” I whispered.

She glared at me. “Damn it, Brandi! You need to run!”

Her forceful plea made me jump. I looked up at the basement door. It would be unlocked, as always. Collins had nothing to fear from us. We knew the drill. If either of us tried anything, it wouldn’t be just Collins using us. Fear raked through me. If I opened that door and they were there, I couldn’t take the abuse that was coming. On the other hand, Shannon had a point. We were dead either way. Looking down at her broken ankle, given to her the last time she’d tried to escape, I knew that I had to try.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked her quietly.

She nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. “Please, Brandi, get help for both of us.”

“I will,” I promised her.

Creeping up the steps on all fours, I carefully pushed open the worn door. It was silent. No footsteps came my way. The television wasn’t even on. It was encouraging to see, and it gave me a little bit of hope. I stood up all the way and looked around. The place didn’t just look empty. It looked abandoned. I gasped as I walked through all the rooms. All traces of the gang were gone. I ran back down the steps and beamed at Shannon.

“They are gone! I mean, really gone!”

“What?” she whispered in shock. “This isn’t possible. They wouldn’t just leave us.”

“Yes, they would. We are nothing to them. They know no one in the mafia will help us or reprimand them.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked. “Go get us some help!”

“You still won’t come?”

“No, it’s a two-mile hike back to town. I would never make it. Just go. I will rest here. Can you help me upstairs?”

I nodded and did as she asked. She believed me once she saw the empty cabin. With a final hug, I left her on the sofa and ran out the back door. The hike was an easy one to the nearest police station. I was gone maybe three hours, but when the officer and a slew of police cars pulled into the driveway and searched the house, it was empty. They scoured the surrounding forest and found nothing. Broken and terrified, I went to the FBI.

“She wasn’t there,” I whispered to myself as I pulled into the driveway.

Shaking my head, I tried to free myself from the memory as I carefully looked around. I couldn’t see anyone watching me, but Collins’s men were careful. They could be hiding anywhere. Slipping out of my car as fast as I could, I jogged to the door and rushed inside. It wasn’t until the door was locked that I let out a sigh of relief. My life and everything that I’d fought for was slipping away again.