Chapter Twenty-Three Ella
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ella
“Do you hear that?” Claudette asks, her breath coming out in short pants, each one forming a pale puff that hangs in the air before dissolving.
We’re stacking firewood along the side of the cabin, the logs knocking softly together as we build the pile higher. Thank goodness it’s already split. I wouldn’t know where to start with an ax.
Still, I eye the handle leaning against the wall. I want to learn. I don’t want to be the woman who always needs someone else to do the hard things. But is this safe to do when you’re pregnant?
“It sounds like your phone is ringing,” she says, tilting her head.
I pause, a log half raised, and listen. There’s a distant creak of branches shifting under their own weight. Wind threading through the trees. Nothing else.
“I don’t hear anything,” I say.
“It stopped now.” Claudette shrugs, as if my phone ringing out of the blue is nothing worth noting.
It is, though.
“Freemont checked in yesterday,” I say, more to myself than to her. “And Rhia won’t call until she’s back from London.”
Claudette doesn’t look convinced.
“Go check,” she says. “I’ll come with you.”
Is she sensing something?
The log slips from my hands and hits the ground with a dull thud. I wince at the sound. It’s because I’ve got cold fingers that it fell, nothing more. I tug my gloves off slowly, working each stiff finger free, then tuck them into my jacket pocket.
My thoughts race ahead of my feet.
What if it was Freemont calling to warn me that Tiero worked out where I am, and I need to pack up as quickly as possible and go on the run again?
I reach for the door. Claudette follows close behind, her arms brushing my back as we step inside together.
The cabin heat envelops us at once, the scent of pine and wood fire comfortingly familiar now. The door shuts with a solid click that echoes just a little too loudly in the quiet.
My boots leave damp prints on the floor as I move toward the small table where the satellite phone usually lives.
It’s there, face down and innocent-looking.
I flip it over, and the screen lights up.
A missed call.
No name.
Just a number I don’t recognize.
Claudette comes to a stop beside me, her gaze moving from my face to the screen and back again, weighing what she sees.
“Hmm. I’m not sure what to make of this,” she says softly.
Chewing the inside of my cheek, my fingers hover above the screen.
I don’t touch it yet.
“Nobody but Freemont and Rhia knows about this phone,” I say. “Maybe one of them is using a different number than usual.”
The words sound reasonable. Sensible.
Still, my gut churns.
“This isn’t Tiero calling me, is it?” I ask.
I glance toward the window, half expecting movement between the trees. Are Tiero’s men hiding behind them, waiting for me to come out again?
But it is only the forest looking back. Tall. Still. Unmoved. The trees stand exactly as they always do, indifferent to my fear.
Claudette huffs a quiet laugh, more breath than sound.
“I don’t think he’d call to warn you he’s on the way,” she says. “He’d count on the element of surprise.”
I nod once. I don’t trust my voice right now.
Of course she is right. Tiero would never risk giving me time to run again. He wouldn’t announce himself. He’d simply show up.
“Can you sense him?” Claudette asks.
Argh, why didn’t I think of that? I feel into myself, but there is no heat, no tingling. My heart is beating faster, but it’s not because Tiero is near.
Relieved, I shake my head. And because it’s nighttime in London and Rhia should be fast asleep, it leaves only one truly viable option.
Freemont.
I strip off my jacket, folding it with more care than necessary, as if order might steady whatever is starting to tilt inside me.
Drawing a slow breath, I lower my thumb to the screen.
“I’m nervous,” I admit as I unlock the phone.
“It will be okay,” Claudette says, trying to reassure me.
I glance at her. “Is that your inner psychic talking, or does this fall into the twenty percent when you’re wrong?”
She groans. “I should never have told you about that.”
A smile tugs at my mouth, even if it’s a little forced.
“Whoever rang left a voicemail.”
I press the icon and put the phone on speaker.