by Nora Flite
Quickly I glance behind me—I don't see Annie yet. “Kara, we need to get out of here. Annie, she's . . . she's gone crazy. She wants to hurt me by hurting you!”
My sister stares, her grip on me going slack. Pulling away, she scans the area. She's all business. “Then let's do it. I've wanted to get out of here for forever.”
Sucking in a bigger breath of air, I grasp her wrist and tug her towards the driveway. She digs her heels in, stopping me. “We can't waste time!” I hiss.
“I know that, but what the hell is your plan? Walk out the damn gates?”
Shaking my head, I tug on her desperately. “Dominic will help us.”
Her eyes narrow fiercely. “Excuse me?”
“Kara, don't do this. Not now. You have to trust him!”
“I can't!”
“Then trust me!” I cry, whirling on her, rattling her by her shoulders. “Please,” I whisper, my voice tight and tiny from my fear. “I can't let anything happen to you. I just can't.”
Straightening up, Kara holds my hand. “I get it. Let's go.”
My relief gives me strength. Together we sprint up the grass, keeping close to the side of the house. As long as Annie says nothing, warns no one, I don't expect any trouble from the guards or staff. All we have to do is find Dominic.
I'm sure if we do, everything will be okay.
He'll keep us safe.
He promised.
Jogging through the front door, I never once let go of my sister. My eyes search the room frantically. Where is he, where is he, where is he? Chanting in my head, I pull us towards the hall, praying the string between Dominic's heart and my own will lead us to him.
He's just exiting his father's study. As he shuts the door, his eyes track my way, locking on me. There are no words needed. He knows something is wrong.
On long legs he strides towards us, his voice low and hot. “What happened?” he asks.
“Your mother,” I say, my adrenaline starting to melt. It leaves my limbs heavy as sand bags. “She was in the preserve, drunk, and she threatened Kara. Dominic, she wasn't kidding around—she's going to hurt her!”
The depths in his ebony pupils expand. I could sink into them and swim, but I worry that all his anger would consume me, drowning me. He's not trying to disguise how upset he is. “She what?” he whispers. It's not a question. He’s not asking me to convince him. Looking us over, he moves his head as if he's confirming something to himself. “I have to get you both out of here.”
“But how?” Kara asks.
Sweeping past us, he marches towards the front of the house. “Follow me and do everything I say.”
Chasing after him, I keep my hold on Kara. She clings back, our fingers wrapped so tight that nothing can pry us apart. Before I second-guess myself I grab Dominic's hand with my free one. He doesn't look at me, he just squeezes.
All three of us exit into the night air. There's still no sign of his mother, but I shoot my eyes around nervously, expecting her to jump out of the shadows any second. The guards patrolling around give us cursory glances. Their attention doesn't focus until they see us heading towards Dominic's car.
“Hey!” Miles yells, hurrying over. His voice carries and several more men move our way. Theo is among them—I haven't spoken to him since what happened at Franklin's.
Dominic ignores them all, his keys jingling as he unlocks his driver-side door.
“What are you doing?” Miles asks, getting into our space. He waits a second, and when no one speaks, he scowls. “Dominic, sir, I haven't heard anything about you leaving with either of these girls. Didn't you only get back half an hour ago?” When Dominic opens the door, Miles makes a decision—he puts his palm out and slams it shut. “Okay, enough,” he says. “Back away from your car, Dominic.”
Theo and the other guards glance around; no one knows what to do. But the tension is growing, and my fear that someone will raise an alarm is turning my guts into water. “Do something,” I hiss under my breath. “Hurry!”
Dominic whirls on Miles, shrugging his hand out of mine. He curls his fingers, chest puffing up, his visage rippling with intimidation. “Stand down,” he growls. “This has nothing to do with you. Don't make me ask you a second time.”
Miles shakes his head, reaching for something in his pocket. I never find out if it's a gun or a walkie-talkie, because Dominic strikes so suddenly I don't see him wind up. The punch sends Miles flat to the pavement, eyes shut, mouth jutting at an odd angle—he's out cold.
The other security guards start to grab their weapons, but Theo lifts a hand. “No one do anything! Don't forget who you work for, we're supposed to obey Dominic. If he says to get out of his way, then fucking do it.”
A ripple of low voices spreads through the group. One by one, they move away from the car. There's nothing stopping us from getting inside now. Theo's eyes track towards me. I give him a grateful smile. The look he returns is strange—his mouth tightens, his chin tilting higher. His hand comes up, like he's scratching his right eyebrow. It's covert but I swear he just saluted me. What the hell?
Dominic crowds next to me, opening the car door and ducking in. First he taps something near the rear-view mirror. The gates at the end of the drive split open for us. “Here, Wyatt's address.” He types on the GPS screen. “He can keep you safe until I talk sense into my father.”
Wyatt? It's not a bad idea, but my issue is with the implication that he isn't coming with us. “Why do you need to talk to Silas? I thought—”
“I told you to do as I said!” he yells. “Get in the car and drive!”
“But I don't know how,” I say, my voice high pitched from panic.
Kara shoves around me, snatching the keys. “I do.”
“How do you know how to drive?” I ask her in amazement.
She revs the engine. “Bernard taught me.”
There's no time to ask her to elaborate; a firm hand snatches my wrist, Dominic forces me to follow him around to the passenger side. “In!” he demands, ripping the door open. “My parents could be out here any second, and the security won't hold back if they utter a word about not letting you two escape.”
“Leave with us,” I beg, gripping the top of the car so he can't push me inside. He shakes his head, pupils lost in how black his eyes are. “Please! You can do this! We can escape together! Start our whole lives over!”
“Laiken, no.”
“Nothing is stopping this but you!” I argue, unable to stay quiet. I know my sister, the guards . . . everyone is hearing my pleas. “You promised you'd protect me!”
He presses his lips to mine. It's a kiss worth savoring, and on the edge of it, I taste a sorrow that's bottomless. Tears slide down my cheeks when it's over with. I'm disarmed; it's easy for him to guide me into the car seat.
Shutting the door, he leans through the open window and cups my chin. “I am protecting you.” He's on the verge of breaking down and I don't know how he can manage a smile, even such a sad one. “Goodbye, Laiken. It's time for you to go home.”
- Chapter 21 -
Laiken
We drive for several minutes through the long dark roads that extend away from the estate. Kara's eyes stick to everything our headlights illuminate. She's singularly focused on our escape.
Watching her clutch the steering wheel, taking us around the turns expertly, I think about what she said as we got in the car. Bernard taught her how to drive. How close were they? I haven't thought about it before, but if she lived with him all that time, could they have been friends? Maybe something even more?
“Kara,” I say.
She guns it as we hit a stretch of straight road. “We're not going back,” she spits.
I wasn't going to ask us to, but when she says it, I realize that it was in my subconscious. I hate that we're leaving Dominic behind, I hate that he didn't come with us. How can he keep me safe if he's somewhere else?
The GPS tells us to take one more turn. At the end of it is a small house t
he color of rust. Kara jams on the brakes until they squeal, then puts the Jaguar in park. “This man,” she says, turning to face me in the car. “Wyatt. Will he actually help us?”
“He will,” I answer confidently. “He told me once how much he wanted to, and how awful it made him feel that he didn't know how.”
We both watch a light flick on over the porch. My sister pockets the keys then steps out in the night air. I get my feet on the gravel just as the front door of the house bursts open. Wyatt is wearing a long sleeved pajama shirt and a pair of plaid pants. He doesn't have any shoes on, and it's such a strange sight that I smile. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asks, squinting at me.
“Dominic sent us,” I say, rushing towards him. “Annie threatened Kara! I didn't know what else to do but get out of there!” My foot touches the porch; he opens his arms wide, and without a second thought I throw myself into his embrace. He pats my back, holding me as I start to shake. All my courage has worn away and all I'm left with is the terrible hole in my heart where Dominic once was.
How could he let me leave without him?
“You must be Kara,” Wyatt says over my head. I pull away, stepping back to watch him stare at my sister. The resemblance between us is obvious. I think he would've known it was her even if I hadn't said so.
Kara comes closer, casting furtive looks over her shoulder.
“Are you being followed?” Wyatt asks.
“We don't know,” my sister says.
He runs his hands over his head, sighing. “Come inside and tell me all the details.”
The lights are on in his downstairs living room, I wonder if he turned them on when he heard our car approaching, or if he just sleeps with the lights on. The walls are covered in photos of Wyatt and a young boy. I'm sure it's him and his son, Pat.
I inspect the rugs; they're a warm, hot cocoa brown, his furniture mismatched and worn on the corners. It smells like maple and my stomach rumbles. I didn't realize I was hungry.
Wyatt motions for us to sit down on the couch. “Get comfortable,” he says. I'll fetch you both something to eat, then you can explain all the details about what happened.”
Kara and I sat on the couch, wordlessly pressing our shoulders together, my head resting on hers. Thinking back over how quickly things went out of control, a fresh shudder rocks my muscles. “She really was going to do something terrible to you,” I whisper.
“I believe you.”
“She wanted to hurt me,” I continue, closing my eyes. Because causing others pain is all she has left. “Kara, Annie was in love with Dad.”
She tightens up next to me. “What? She told you that?”
“She was rambling all over the place. I think when she heard about the message I found at the cabin, she got depressed, realizing that dad was never going to—”
“Wait,” Kara stops me. “What message?”
Of course, she doesn't know about the bridge. How could she? I didn't tell her, his parents wouldn't tell her. That means I have to.
Sitting up, I face her, looping my fingers through hers. She looks me in the eye expectantly. “I went back to our cabin with Dominic yesterday. I was looking for clues that Dad might have left for us, things that only we would find to show us where he'd gone. I thought there had to be something.” I laugh sarcastically. “I was right, there was something. He carved a message into the underside of the bridge we all worked on together.”
“What did it say?” she asks under her breath.
“He told me to stop looking for him.” I lower my eyes, shrugging and shaking my head. “Kara, he's gone. I don't think he ever planned to help us. He took a bunch of money from the Bradleys, and then he slipped away with Mom and Dean. That was it. That is it,” I add firmly.
My sister is quiet. We sit there, saying nothing as the clock on the wall clicks louder and louder. It's the only sound until something clutters in the kitchen. Wyatt walks into the room holding a small tray. “Here,” he says, putting it on the table in front of us. “It's quick and sloppy, but it should do.”
On the tray is a plate of lumpy oatmeal cookies studded with what seems to be bits of cranberry. There are also two steaming mugs, and when I pick one up, Wyatt points and says, “Green tea. It'll warm you up.”
“Thank you,” I say, taking a long sip. It sticks to my tongue, creating a coating of sweet and bitter. Kara lifts a cookie, sniffing it. I go one step further and take a bite. The flavor explodes in my mouth - bright fruit and decadent maple.
As we eat and drink, I bring Wyatt up to speed. I tell him about Annie, watching as his face crumples from the disturbing news. He turns solemn after hearing about Dominic fighting off the guards so he could give us his car and flee.
“So he told you to come here,” he mumbles. “But what happens next?”
“Can't you get in touch with him?” I ask.
Wyatt lifts a small cell phone. I've never seen him with one before. “Not sure how. He probably has my number in some employee file somewhere. But I don't have a clue what Dominic's number is.”
“I do,” Kara says.
My eyes widen. She gives me a quick glance, then an unapologetic shrug. Taking the phone from Wyatt, she taps into it with both of her thumbs, then hands it back. Wyatt squints, then starts to type something out. “I'll text him a message. Ask him what he wants me to do now that you guys are here.”
The phone makes little swish noise as the message is sent. I scoot to the edge of the couch, anxiously waiting for Dominic to respond. Wyatt sees me looking and gives me a mild frown. “Don't obsess, eat drink and catch your breath.”
Lifting my mug in both hands, I cradle it to me and inhale the steam. It doesn't relax me, but it's nice to have something warm in my stomach—something other than this wriggling fear. I don't know what Dominic is going to say; everything that I hope feels foolish. He told me goodbye, he said it was time for me to go home. Nothing in his final words was anything ambiguous.
But I'm still praying that he'll change his mind and say that he's going to come with me.
I can't picture a world without him.
The phone beeps and all of us jump. Tea spills in my lap but it doesn't burn. I'm too excited, too focused on watching Wyatt read the message on his screen. His eyes dart side to side, and then he must be finished reading, because he blows air out of his nose. “Jesus.”
“What is it?” I ask desperately.
Wyatt eyeballs me then my sister. “Dominic struck a deal.”
A deal. I've learned to hate deals. They’ve never been good to me.
“He says you two aren't prisoners anymore. His parents will leave you alone. According to him, you're free.”
“Free,” Kara whispers.
The word free doesn't mean the same thing to me as it does to my sister. Leaping to my feet I reach for the phone. “I need to talk to him, please.”
“Laiken, isn't this what you wanted?” Wyatt asks.
I keep my face expressionless, my palm extended towards him. “I just want to talk to him. What's the harm in that?”
My sister gives a bitter chuckle. To her credit she doesn't speak, but she doesn't have to to get her point across.
I implore Wyatt with my eyes. Finally he hands me his phone. “Go ahead,” he says. “It's not up to me to stop you.”
Both of them are openly watching me. Everything I do in front of them is under a magnifying glass. I carry the phone out the front door, wanting some privacy. It's cold but I don't care. Tapping the little green symbol on the phone, I call Dominic.
Each time the phone rings it vibrates through my bones, stealing a little bit of my energy when he doesn't answer. One ring. Two. Three. I'm up to four and expecting him to ignore the call.
There's a loud click. His voice is gritty and low. “What is it? Didn't you get my message?”
“Dominic,” I wheeze.
There's a long pause. “Laiken? Why are you calling me?” He thought I was Wyatt.
Sq
ueezing the phone harder. I start pacing in front of the house. “Dominic, please, I don't want to leave without you.”
“You have to. I told you, this is the only way I can keep you safe.”
“I don't understand what that means!” I shout.
Is he walking anxiously like me? Or is he sitting with his knees spread, the way he sat on his bed the night we held each other. “My father doesn't want something to happen between Annie and you two. He recognizes that she's dangerous right now in her state of mind. And he agrees with me that there's no reason to keep you both here, anyway, since Joseph has made his position clear. But I can't be sure that my mother won't try to go after you unless I'm at her side, watching and paying attention. As long as I'm here with her, I'll know for sure that you're safe. Don't you get it? We could never be happy, Laiken. Not like this.”
“No,” I sob, and I give up fighting my tears. Standing on the side of the road with the cold wind tugging at my hair, the wetness on my cheeks burns like frostbite. The tears dry from the air before they can stick. “Please, no. I love you, we can be safe together.”
“We can't,” he says firmly. Unrelentingly. There is no room for argument here. Dominic has never been someone who buckles.
I choke on my tears, dropping to the ground and crying into the phone. Maybe if he hears my sadness, how much I truly love him, he'll do something. I don't know, I can't think straight. I'm too broken apart, my body a piece of glass that's been shattered into a million pieces.
“Do you remember what you told me before?” he asks gently. “You said you wanted to go home. That home is waiting for you, Laiken. You and your sister are free now. If the last thing I can do is give you this, then it's enough for me.”
My tongue is tied as I think of every single way to get him to reconsider.
The line goes dead. There's nothing but painful silence.
- Chapter 22 -
Laiken
“You know you can stay if you want to,” Wyatt says, standing next to me in front of the car. The sun has barely come up, but I've been awake before it showed its crest.