Chapter 31
SCARLETT
I TAKE GAbrIEL’S PHONE and head to the other side of town. The bus ride feels longer than it should, and every stop makes my pulse spike. I clutch the phone in my pocket, hyper-aware of it.
A woman sits across from me with a sleeping toddler in her lap, and an older man reads a newspaper near the front. Normal people are living their normal lives, and they have no idea what kind of mess I’m in.
Maybe I should call my parents and say goodbye to them or something, just in case. They already lost one daughter and probably couldn’t handle losing another. The last thing I want is to upset them, so let’s hope they never find out what I’m dealing with right now.
When I finally get off the bus, I walk several blocks until I find a quiet spot behind a convenience store.
The alley stinks like hell, and I pull out the phone and open the video one more time.
Gabriel is tied to the chair, gagged, and his eyes are wide with panic. It’s convincing enough. It has to be.
I navigate to the message Gabriel showed me earlier. The number has no name attached. It’s just a string of digits that belongs to a man who’s been controlling Gabriel’s life.
I attach the video and hit send.
The message goes through immediately.
Delivered.
I stare at the screen for a moment, then pop out the SIM card and snap it in half. I drop the pieces in a dumpster, burying them under a pile of trash bags.
The bus ride back lasts forever. My mind races through every possible outcome. What if they don’t believe it? What if they figure out it’s fake? What if they come after Gabriel anyway? What if they come after me?
I force myself to breathe slowly, but it does nothing to calm me. By the time I get back to my dorm, Gabriel is already there and pacing. When he sees me, he stops, his eyes wide.
“Did you do it?”
“Yeah. I sent the video and got rid of the SIM card.”
He nods and resumes pacing, his movements anxious. Every few seconds, he glances at the door as if he’s expecting someone to burst through it.
“If they figure out what we’re doing, we’re screwed,” he says.
“Yeah, but you said the guy wasn’t very smart. And we can always say someone else told us to do it or threatened us. It’s not like they’re going to know. They think you’re too afraid to make a move against them because of your parents, and you’ve always done whatever they asked.”
He nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. His jaw is tight, his shoulders tense, and he keeps flexing his hands at his sides.
“If anyone comes to the door, hide in the closet under my things,” I say.
“Okay.”
Minutes stretch into an hour, and nothing happens. No texts to my phone, no calls, and no pounding on the door. But maybe they’re looking for Gabriel and not for me, or maybe they’ll come looking after they check some other places where they think he might be.
“They didn’t take it seriously.” Gabriel stops pacing and stares at the wall. “They would’ve tried to contact you by now to ask about me.”
“Just give them some more time.”
“I’ll have to miss practice. They’re probably waiting to see if I show up.”
“It’s fine. I’ll go tell the team you came down with something and that you texted me because you’re super sick and don’t want to spread it to anyone.”
His brow furrows, and he opens his mouth like he wants to argue, then closes it again. “What if the mafia approaches you?”
“Nothing. I’ll show them the text and tell them the same thing. I know nothing.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his hands clench into fists at his sides. He sits down on my bed and lowers his head into his hands. His elbows rest on his knees, and his whole body curves inward.
I settle next to him and put my hand on his shoulder.
“It’s all going to work out,” I say.
“You can’t know that.”
“No, but we had to do something. We can’t just let them control us forever.”
He lifts his head and looks at me. “You could’ve left.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I’m not leaving you to deal with this alone.”
“Why not?”
“Because I care about you.” I can’t say the dreaded L-word just yet, but I hope he can understand how much he means to me.
He stares at me for a long moment. Then he reaches for me, pulling me into his arms. I wrap my arms around him and hold him close.
We stay like that for a while, without speaking. I can feel the tension in his body slowly starting to ease, but it doesn’t disappear completely.
We’ll figure this out. I have to believe it, or I’m going to fall apart.