I knew Darius and Mimi had wanted to give us this home, while home had begun to feel like it was in the arms of a man who I’d left behind on the other side of this city.
This sweet, hopeful town that now felt like a trap.
An ambush.
I rammed on the brakes and came to a jarring stop.
Juni cried out through the bottled fear. “Mommy.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know.”
My entire being shook uncontrollably as I rushed out of my seat and yanked open the back-passenger door. I fumbled to remove my daughter from the straps—my reason, my purpose, my life—knowing I’d only have to put her right back in them.
I hated it.
Hated it.
I guarded myself against the pain, against the coming hurt and loneliness, and focused on what I had to do.
Run.
With my daughter in my arms, I jogged up the sidewalk. I was barely able to get the key into the lock. When I finally managed it, I tossed it open. The wood slammed against the interior wall, shaking the little house like an earthquake had come to toss it from its foundation.
I wondered if it had.
The door banged shut behind us, and I bolted toward the suitcase I’d shoved in the corner. One I had believed I would never have to use again.
A fool.
A fool.
I set Juni onto her feet and began to stuff our necessities inside.
“Mommy, no, I don’t wants to go on another adventures. We like it rights here, remember? We gotta stay here forever, and the bads man can never come here because it’s the bestest place we ever gots.”
For a beat, my eyes squeezed shut, wishing it were true. That I could offer it to my daughter.
Give her the life that she deserved.
“We’re going to go someplace extra fun, Juni. I promise. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry.”
“Mommy, no.” She pressed her little fists to her eyes.
God.
How could I keep doing this?
But I had no other choice.
We’d left that night under the cover of darkness. Amid the agony of leaving half myself behind. The cutting away of life that had scourged me to the soul.
My son lost to a battle he never should have had to fight.
I’d been helpless to change it.
Helpless to do anything but fight for my daughter.
I’d been running ever since. Unsure if Carlo was one step behind me. My gut had told me he’d never believed the reports that we’d all perished that night, even while I’d prayed that he was gone himself. That when he’d disappeared, he’d disappeared from this earth.
He’d never stood trial.
Had never been held accountable.
Had never paid for the sins that he’d perpetuated because the only choice I’d had left was to run. To protect my daughter.
Trust no one.
I grabbed Juni’s shot records and the few documents that I had, my sight blurring over as the hope dimmed from my sight.
The hope of her going to school.
Of living a normal life.
Of having a home.
A family.
For the joy I could feel fading away.
“What are you doing?”
A tiny scream got free when the voice caught me unaware, and I was on my feet and swinging my attention toward the hall.
Darius stood at the end of it. His arms were stretched across the length, and he hung onto either side, like he was holding himself back, like he’d been caught up in the turmoil, too.
“Leaving,” I told him.
I hated that it was true.
“What? No. You don’t have to be afraid, Salem. Told you that you were safe. That you don’t have to run anymore.”
My head shook as grief fell down my face in hot streams of despair. “He found us.”
Darius’ brow curled and he roughed a hand over the top of his hair. “What?
What are you talking about? You’re fine, Salem. Just calm down.”
“I…” I trailed off, unable to form the words. The trust Jud had given me, the truth he’d confided in me.
I’d had to stomp all of it under my feet.
“Tell me what the fuck is goin’ on, Salem.”
“Jud…he knows Carlo.”
Darius blanched before awareness raced in to take over his expression. Groaning, he scrubbed both palms over his face. “Shit. Knew this was gonna happen.”
Ice froze me to the spot, and I blinked through the stupor. “What?”
Darius let go of a harsh sigh. “Warned you to stay away from him. Told you he was trouble.”
There was something in the way he said it.
As if he were annoyed rather than panicked.
Dread slithered down my spine, a slow awareness that I didn’t want to take hold. “What do you mean? Tell me what you’re talking about, Darius.”
Darius shook his head and took a lumbering step forward. “I told you I was gonna make it right for you.”
My brow twisted, and I took a step back. “I don’t understand. You’re scaring me.”
Darius slowly approached. The words dropping from his tongue were daggers that pierced me through. “Carlo found me, Salem. He promised he wasn’t after you. He only wanted the man who killed his brother. The one responsible for him losing his son.”
“No.” I stumbled a step back farther. Dull blades sliced through my middle. Pierced me to the core.
Darius wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.
“It was time, Salem. I had to do it for you. For Juni.”
“Oh my god.” Horror gusted from my lungs, and I pressed my hands against the cavern carved in my chest like I could hold myself together as the panic multiplied tenfold.
There was no question then.
Carlo was there.
He’d been watching.
The car.
It was him.
It was him.
Darius kept coming my way. “All I had to do was get in with Jud. Find his weaknesses, Salem. See what was gonna hurt Jud most, and you’d be free. But first, I had to prove my loyalty. That’s why I brought you here. To convince Carlo that you and Juni were still alive but no longer a threat to him. In exchange, you and Juni are free to live your lives in safety.”
“You’re lying. You’re lying. You wouldn’t do that to me. To us.” I begged it.
“Do it to you? I did it for you.”
“No, Darius.”
“You were supposed to stay away from him, Salem. I’d hoped last night…that the fire would remind you of what was important. That you’d realize you didn’t belong there. That you’d come to your senses.”
“I can’t believe you’d—”
The words clipped off when I felt the commotion at the end of the hall, and my attention whipped to the right to find Mimi shuffling into the living room. Confusion was written on her face, her aged eyes darting between us, though hurt was written there as she caught up to Darius’ confession.
She hadn’t known.
Darius had done it.
He had set us up, and I wasn’t sure we would be able to get out.
I grabbed Juni’s hand. “We have to go, sweetheart.”
“No, Mommy, no more adventures. Please.” She tried to yank her hand free.
Agony lanced while the betrayal whipped.
How could he do this to us? When we’d finally had a chance?
“I can’t believe you’d do this to us. I can’t believe it.”