Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Kaylie stared at her phone,her heart pounding in her chest as she read Anthony”s text. A soft smile tugged at her lips, warmed by the memory of a few days ago when he had found her on the couch, sick and miserable. She wanted to flirt back, to let him know that she appreciated his caring nature and the fact that he had taken care of both her and her daughter, but her fingers hesitated over the screen.
There was still this line she knew she couldn’t cross. She sighed, realizing that her reply needed to be cautious. Despite the warmth in his message, she couldn”t afford to let her guard down completely.
Kaylie: Much better, thanks to a knight in shining armor. Lia can’t stop talking about your pancakes. I thought you couldn’t cook? Maybe you don’t need me after all.
Kaylie pressed send, a small thrill running through her as she waited for his reply. Maybe she was pushing too far, but she liked this casual banter. For whatever reason, Anthony made her feel something she hadn’t ever before.
He was her client. But with every little interaction, he was also becoming her friend. And she hadn’t had one of those in a very long time.
Anthony: Pancakes from a box isn’t cooking. Don’t leave me. I’ll never survive!
A giggle escaped at the image he sent of a man begging on his knees with his hands clasped above his head.
After reassuring Anthony that he paid her far too well for her to leave him high and dry–leaving out the fact that she’d nearly done exactly that last week–she helped Lia put on her raincoat. They were headed to one more house for the afternoon and it wasn’t far from Anthony’s neighborhood. They’d be walking, despite the cool autumn drizzle and dreary gray sky.
She was still tired after her bout of the flu. Lia caught it too, but she only got a minor fever and bounced back quickly. A brief glimmer of worry made her wonder if Anthony had caught the virus that knocked her out so hard. He hadn’t mentioned it, but would he?
Kaylie scrubbed and wiped every surface of Mr. and Mrs. Prior’s house that afternoon, but after nearly three days in bed, her stamina was nonexistent. She collapsed into bed that night next to Lia and fell into a blessedly dreamless sleep.
In the morning, the buzzing of her phone woke her. She rolled over with a muffled groan, careful not to disturb her still-sleeping daughter as she grabbed the device off the floor and tugged the charging cable loose so she could bring it closer.
A voicemail notification flashed at the top, above a series of missed calls. Every single one was from Drew. Her chest seized with anxiety. Frowning, she tapped the voicemail and lifted the phone to her ear.
The brief, cut-off message was disjointed, with portions of the call muffled and Drew’s breathing heavy, like he was running. Panic settled in as she heard the urgency in his voice. ”Kaylie, you need to listen to me. Paulie knows.” The sound of a crash came through the line and Drew grunted and swore. “Run, Kaylie. He knows about Lia.”
A strangled gasp slipped through the fingers covering Kaylie’s mouth as she listened to Drew yelling and the sound of a struggle. “You need a new ID–”
Drew’s voice cut off with a garbled cry before the voicemail ended. Tears rolled down Kaylie’s face. Her heart raced, and her mind whirred with thoughts of escape. She glanced around the small trailer. She had no idea where to run, and the walls felt like they were closing in.
Paul Moreno was not a man to be underestimated. He had a violent streak, and the idea of him finding Lia terrified her. It was almost seven in the morning, and the voicemail had just come through. What had happened to Drew last night?
Kaylie pushed away the thought, unable to let herself fall down the rabbit hole of grief. Drew had said she needed a new identity. Which meant Paul knew about Kaylie Richards, the persona she’d crafted after leaving. Her carefully constructed facade was crumbling, and now she and Lia were going to have to run for their lives.
Her hands trembled as she considered her options. The thought of turning to Anthony for help crossed her mind, but she hesitated. They were friends, and he was her employer, but this was a mess she didn”t want to drag him into. Yet, the urgency of Drew”s message and the fear for Lia”s safety pushed her to make a decision.
As she packed their things, memories of the past haunted her – the fights with Paul, the fear that had become a constant companion. She thought she left that life behind when she ran, but now it seemed that her past had caught up with her.
She had to run, right? There wasn’t another option. She tugged on shoes and roused Lia from bed. “Let’s go, sweetie. I need you to go to the bathroom, and then we need to leave.”
“No, I don’t want to go, Mommy!” Lia protested sleepily.
A lump formed in her throat. “I know, sweetie, but we have to.”
By eight, Kaylie and Lia were on the city bus on the way to the Greyhound station they’d visited before. Kaylie fingered the phone, knowing she should ditch it, but unable to do it. She was so tired of running, so tired of being afraid. She glanced at Lia, still sulking as she stared out the window of the bus. For a four-year-old, her ability to hold a grudge was impressive. Her heart squeezed painfully, the claws of guilt tightening again.
What kind of a life would her daughter have, running forever? What would happen when she was older and Kaylie was ripping her away from friendships and schools she loved? It was hard enough now. Her daughter didn’t deserve this. Lia deserved to laugh and play. She deserved to be treated like a princess. The way Anthony treated her.
The easy, gentle way the man interacted with Lia had been completely unexpected. And the way Lia opened up around him? Kaylie couldn’t bring herself to actively discourage the connection. She had a sneaking suspicion that much of her daughter’s reluctance to leave was because of her attachment to Anthony.
Then there were all the times he’d offered to help to consider. Could he truly mean it? Kaylie shook her head, dismissing the thought. She couldn’t ask him to help. This wasn’t his fight.
Look what had happened to Drew for trying to help her. Tears threatened to spill over as she thought of her foster brother being hurt for keeping her hidden. Knowing Paul, he might have even been tortured. She couldn’t do that to Anthony.
She found Lia’s hand and pulled it into her own, needing the contact. She was so small and vulnerable. The urge to protect her daughter flooded her again. But for the first time, she was unsure of her ability to do so. Without Drew, she was completely alone.
She knew the faith she claimed would argue that it wasn’t true, and that she was never truly alone. But it sure felt that way right now. Praying felt like a waste of precious time when she was on the run, but she tried anyway. They had another ten minutes on the bus before the depot.
As she prayed, her mind kept coming back to Anthony. Was he the answer? Could she really turn to him and ask him to protect them? Could she really pull him into this web of danger?
He was a good man. He seemed to want to help, and everything she knew about him made it clear that he had skills she didn’t know about. Maybe he could help. Was it worth a shot, before leaving everything behind here and starting over? It was a risk involving him, but she didn”t see any other way out of this mess. Drew could no longer help her. Not if he’d been discovered. Her mind raced with thoughts of what she would say, how she would explain the danger they were in. The weight of her past and the uncertainty of the future pressed on her shoulders.
She took another deep breath, determined to face whatever lay ahead.
Kaylie prayed one last time, hoping for a different answer. But each time she asked the Lord what to do, a picture of Lia in Anthony’s arms flashed in her mind. Her daughter snuggled against his broad chest. The smallest hint of a smile played on his lips and he held out a hand, like he was reaching for her, too.
She had certainly imagined turning to Anthony for more than friendship and employment, unable to resist the daydreams of living in his house and greeting him with a kiss at the door each evening. But now he seemed like the only potential anchor in the storm. The only way to save Lia.
Before she could lose her courage, she pulled his number up and hit the call button.