Chapter 15
Fifteen
Kiki breathed out a long breath and wrapped both hands around the mug again, her fingers still trembling from the memory of her mother’s death. She took another sip of tea, letting the warmth anchor her before she dared continue.
She didn’t look at Nikos—couldn’t yet. Just like when I’d told Father Bishop.
The steady, silent way Nikos stayed beside her… gave her the courage to continue.
“I was at the orphanage for four months before they found me,” she whispered, her voice thin but steady.
“Father Bishop tried to protect me. But I think… I think they knew where I was but were unsure of how to capture me. Either that or they were afraid of Father Bishop.” She released a curt snort devoid of amusement.
“It doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is they came after me again—and I killed them. ”
Her throat tightened.
“Sister Maryna had come for me. She said Father Bishop wanted to see me. I didn’t want to go.
I-I knew sometimes kids were sent away. Deep down, I think I was hoping my mama would come back for me.
If they sent me away, she wouldn’t be able to find me.
” She shook her head, her eyes dropping back to her cup.
“Sister Maryna was pulling me toward the office when the screaming started. Those came first, along with the sound of children crying. Then came the gunshots.”
She closed her eyes, trying not to see it all again.
“Father Bishop told me to go with Sister Anne. There was a car waiting in the alley, and we ran. He must have known what was going to happen.”
A long breath escaped her. She opened her eyes and stared down at the ripples in her tea caused by her hand trembling.
“We traveled for years—always running. Always staying one step ahead of the bad men searching for us—for me. Sometimes we crossed borders with fake names, other times we slept in shelters or with strangers. I think we lived in fifteen countries before I turned ten. Maybe more. It all blurred together. Days into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into years.”
Nikos’s hand slid across the table, palm up. Kiki looked at it for a moment—then placed her hand in his.
His thumb brushed lightly across her knuckles.
“When I was ten, we settled in Bern, Switzerland,” she continued, her voice quieter now.
“It was the longest we ever stayed anywhere. Anne told me to call her Mama. We made up a story… said we’d come to live with an elderly aunt who had just passed away.
No one questioned it. We lived in a cottage just outside of town, near the Rhone River. ”
Kiki’s lips twitched faintly. “It had blue shutters with flower boxes that were overflowing with brilliant colors. I loved it there. I used to lie on the roof at night and stare at the stars. It was the first time I felt… almost normal.”
She paused. The ache in her chest spread again, slow and familiar.
“That’s probably why they found us.”
She lifted her cup again and took a long drink. When she lowered it, her eyes had gone distant—pulled into the gravity of a memory too strong to resist.
“They came on a Tuesday. It’s funny the stupid, little details you sometimes remember,” she murmured as the room faded into memory of a distant life.
Kiki breathed deeply, trying to calm her heartbeat. It was pounding after her run down the path to the river.
She looked up at the sky. It was impossibly blue today—one of those crisp Swiss mornings where the air smelled of pine and river water.
She paused and picked up several stones before she pulled her arm back and skipped them along the edge of the river.
She watched them bounce once, twice, before sinking.
“You’re getting better. At least it hopped this time,” Anne teased.
Kiki stuck her tongue out in response. “It’s easier in a lake,” she replied.
Anne pulled her shawl tight against the wind, a rare smile softening her tired face. “True.”
Kiki walked along the path, searching for more rocks, when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The smile on her lips died at the same time as she heard Anne’s quiet hiss of warning.
“Kiki! Run!”
Kiki froze for half a heartbeat—then Anne grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the cottage. The older woman’s face had gone pale.
“Go! Now!”
Kiki fled, not turning back around. Behind her, she heard the sounds of a struggle, but years of training had taught her to focus on her surroundings. Where there was one, there would be more.
“Keep going!”
Kiki’s heart hammered when she heard Anne’s voice behind her. She burst out of the narrow path and onto the road. Across from her was their quaint cottage tucked behind a waist-high rock wall covered in wildflowers.
She slammed into the front door, remembering to test the door to make sure it was still locked before she pressed in the code.
“Grab your bag,” Anne ordered.
Kiki’s breath hitched in her throat when she noticed the blood soaking Anne’s right arm. Anne pushed past her with a shake of her head.
“How-how many?” Kiki asked, her voice not quite steady.
“There was only one—so far,” Anne said. “Get your bag.”
Kiki nodded and disappeared up the narrow staircase. Less than a minute later, she stepped into the kitchen. The room smelled of cinnamon and wood smoke—ordinary things that would never feel ordinary again.
Kiki clutched the small canvas bag containing a meager but vital lifeline to her survival. Passports. Cash. The worn photo of them standing in some country she couldn’t remember now. A single change of clothes.
Anne’s voice shook. “Out the window.”
Kiki climbed through, scraping her knee on the sill. The world tilted into chaos—men in black uniforms, masks covering their faces, moving through the garden like shadows.
Anne dropped beside her. “Stay behind me.”
They ran, cutting through a wooded area to a logging road where Anne had hidden an old, dark blue four-wheel-drive SUV. Kiki scrambled into the passenger side as Anne rounded the vehicle and slid into the driver’s seat.
Seconds later, Anne was driving along a narrow, winding path through fields that glowed in the early morning light before she slid off of it onto the main paved road.
Kiki clung to the door handle to keep from being thrown about even with her seatbelt on. She glanced behind them. Three black SUVs had appeared.
Anne glanced in the rearview mirror. “Stay down!”
“I can stop them,” Kiki said, her voice barely audible over the noise of the engine.
“No! Not unless you absolutely have to.” Anne’s voice was fierce.
They both winced when the back window of the SUV suddenly blew out. Anne swerved back and forth along the narrow road. An oncoming delivery truck driver honked at her and gave her a rude gesture as he passed.
The three vehicles behind them sped up. Anne turned onto the road running along the river. Kiki smothered her cry of dismay when one SUV sped beside them, ramming them closer to the edge.
She bit her lip to keep from distracting Anne.
They sped along the mountain road, tires skidding on the pavement.
Kiki pressed her hands to her mouth when metal-on-metal screeched as the car next to them pushed them into the guardrail.
She tried not to look at the steep drop and the river churning far below.
“Look out!” she cried when the man in the car beside them lifted a gun.
Over the noise of the chase, she heard the pop-pop-pop as the man fired at them. The first bullet shattered the driver’s window, sending a cascade of glass over Anne and her. Anne winced while Kiki shrank down in her seat.
The second bullet blew out the passenger window next to her. It was the third bullet that scared her the most. Blood, dark and red, was blooming across the front of Anne’s blouse. Memories of her mother rose, threatening to choke Kiki.
“Anne!”
Anne’s grip faltered—dangerously. The car veered sharply as the vehicle behind them suddenly sped up and slammed into the back of them as they came to an opening in the road. Kiki screamed as the world spun—a blur of trees, sky, and shattering glass—before everything went black.
When she came to, the car was on its top. The smell of gasoline filled the air. She was lying halfway out the broken door, the metal biting into her leg. Anne wasn’t moving.
Kiki reached for her—but a sharp sting hit her neck. She wrapped her fingers around a cold metal cylinder and ripped the needle free. She was too dazed to feel any pain, but there was enough awareness to know that this time she wouldn’t escape.
This time, they had caught her—and she had no one there to protect her.
Then, the world went dark again.
Kiki woke to silence—and cold.
The same icy chill she’d felt the day her mother died. She gazed around her slowly, taking in every detail and cataloging it, searching for an escape.
Concrete walls. No windows. A cot was bolted to the floor. A metal drain in the corner.
Her neck ached. When she lifted her trembling hand, she felt a rough bandage there—something hard beneath the skin. Panic clawed up her throat.
The door hissed open.
A man and a woman entered, their footsteps echoing. They were dressed in clinical white, their smiles smooth, calm, insincere.
“Hello, Kiki,” the woman said in a voice that sounded rehearsed. “My name is Diana. This is Oscar. We’re going to take care of you from now on.”
Kiki backed into the corner, her eyes wide with fear. “Where’s Anne?”
Oscar’s expression didn’t change. “You’ll be safe here, as long as you follow the rules.”
“What did you do to me?” she asked, her voice rising as desperation clawed at her.
Diana looked down, tilting her head with almost gentle curiosity. “It’s just a precaution, darling. You’re very special. We can’t have anyone getting hurt.”
Kiki’s hand flew to her neck again.
“There’s a device under your skin,” Oscar said. “If you try to harm anyone… it will detonate. So be careful.”
Kiki’s vision blurred. The air thickened until it felt unbreathable.