Chapter Five
Penny
I carried the plate of Christmas cookies through Haven’s common room, the warm cinnamon, sweet aroma wrapping around me like a comfort I’d almost forgotten.
For a brief moment, I allowed myself to savor this slice of normal life we’d carved out here.
I knew it was only temporary, but Violet had promised I could stay as long as I needed.
She said to not even think about leaving until my lawyer, Lana Thompson, said it was safe to do so.
Violet said Ms. Thompson had helped her and Caleb when she’d left her own abusive husband.
It had taken us a while, but I thought we were all feeling better about the situation.
I glanced out the window… My heart stuttered, my chest constricting painfully.
A silver BMW crawled past the building, moving slowly, deliberately.
Andy’s car. My husband had found us. The plate trembled in my hands.
My lungs seized, each breath a conscious effort as the car rolled past the shelter a second time.
I set the cookies down on the nearest surface, my fingers suddenly numb and clumsy.
Crumbs scattered across the tabletop as the plate clattered louder than I’d intended.
A woman reading nearby glanced up, her eyebrows drawing together in concern, but I was already moving, my body operating on instinct honed through years of danger.
The girls. I needed to find my girls.
I hurried through the common room, scanning each corner frantically. The familiar weight of dread settled in my stomach, heavy and cold. Three weeks. We’d had three weeks of safety. I should have known it wouldn’t last.
I spotted the girls by the back window, sunlight catching in their hair as they hunched over a board game with Caleb.
Laughter bubbled from Kira, actual unguarded laughter that sent a jagged pain through my chest. Zelda was smiling, her perpetual wariness momentarily set aside as she moved a game piece across the board.
The sound of their happiness was a cruel counterpoint to the terror clawing at my throat.
“Mom?” Zelda looked up, her smile fading as she registered my expression. She could always read me.
I forced my voice to stay steady. “Time to head back to our room for a bit.”
Caleb glanced between us, his young face showing wisdom beyond his years. “We can finish the game later,” he said easily, already standing as if he, too, sensed my fear.
My hand shook as I fumbled with my phone, turning slightly away from the children as I pulled up Violet’s number. The device felt slippery in my sweating palm.
“Penny? Everything OK?” Violet’s voice came through clear, concerned.
I turned farther away, dropping my voice to an urgent whisper. “He’s here. Andy found us.” The words burned my throat like acid.
The silence on the other end lasted only a heartbeat. “Where are you right now?”
“Common room. With the girls and Caleb. I was going to go up to our room.”
“Good. Stay inside Haven. You’ll be safe as long as you stay inside the building.
I’m contacting Knight at the compound right now.
” Her voice shifted, becoming brisk, professional.
“Don’t go near the windows. Keep the kids away from them too.
I’ll be there in five.” I ended the call, tucking the phone into my back pocket where I could feel it vibrate if necessary.
“Mom?” Kira’s small voice pulled at me. “What’s happening?”
I knelt before them, checking the nearest window with a quick peripheral glance. “We need to go up to our room. Just for a while.” I gave them a smile I knew had no hope of being reassuring because tears burned my eyes.
Zelda’s studied me for a long moment. “Is it him?” she whispered, and I hated that my twelve-year-old daughter knew to ask that question.
I didn’t answer directly. “Caleb, do you think maybe you could move the game upstairs to keep us company?” My gaze met his and I saw understanding flash across his features.
“Absolutely, Ms. Penny.” He guided Kira back toward the game and two of them returned the game to its box. Zelda hesitated instead, her gaze never leaving my face.
I squeezed her shoulder gently. “It’s going to be fine. Violet’s calling for help and I’m not letting anyone get to you or your sister.”
She nodded once, jaw set in a determined line too adult for her young face, then followed her sister and Caleb to the lift.
I wanted to follow them but couldn’t seem to make myself move forward.
I heard the lift close and start upward but I still couldn’t make myself follow.
I needed to know what happened, if Andy stopped or if he kept going.
True to her word, five minutes later Violet entered the building, Riot close behind her. Her face was composed, but I recognized the tightness around her eyes. She’d been through this before with other women who’d come to Haven. She’d also been through it herself.
“Knight’s on his way with some equipment,” she said quietly as she reached for me, pulling me into a brief, fierce hug. “Tiny’s with him. Everyone here will protect you.”
Something in my chest loosened marginally at the mention of Tiny’s name. I hadn’t realized how badly I’d wanted to hear that until she said it.
“Has he tried to come in?” Violet asked.
I shook my head. “Just driving by. Slowly. Like he’s casing the place.”
“He probably is,” Riot said, his voice low. “Testing our security, seeing who’s around.”
“How many times did he pass by?” Violet asked.
“Twice that I saw.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears, too calm for the storm of panic inside me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Andy: I see you found some new friends. They won’t help you. They’re using you and the girls. We need to talk.
My hand tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. How had he gotten my number? Andy always knew exactly how to get under my skin, how to plant seeds of doubt when I was most vulnerable. But this time was different. This time, I wasn’t alone.
I heard the rumble of motorcycles approaching as several more members of Kiss of Death rolled into the parking lot.
The thunder of motorcycles was more comforting than I’d ever thought possible.
Looking out the window separating the lobby and the common room, I watched as Tiny’s massive frame approached the double doors from the parking lot to the lobby.
The woman at the desk pressed a button as Tiny reached for the door handle. The door unlocked and Tiny strode inside. He went straight to the inner door separating the common room from the lobby. There was a click, and the door opened.
The sight of him as he entered, his broad shoulders nearly brushing both sides of the door frame made a weight lift from my chest. Relief crashed through me so powerfully my knees almost buckled.
Knight followed close behind, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, his face set in grim determination.
Tiny’s gaze swept the room, finding mine immediately across the space.
Something in his expression shifted when he saw me.
I thought I saw relief followed quickly by concern.
He gave me a slow nod, and I saw a quiet resolve fill his expression as he registered my rigid posture.
I watched Tiny conferring quietly with Violet and Riot near the entrance.
His presence seemed to expand beyond his physical form, somehow making the room feel both smaller and safer at the same time.
I couldn’t hear their conversation, but I saw Tiny’s shoulders stiffen at something Violet said, his massive hands curling into fists before deliberately relaxing.
Knight moved with purpose, setting his duffel bag on a nearby table and unzipping it to reveal an arsenal of technical equipment.
Cameras, monitors, cables spilled out as he organized them with practiced precision.
“I checked the feeds on the way over,” Knight said, his voice carrying across the now quiet common room.
“I can patch the blind spots today. Add a few more cameras, upgrade the motion sensors.” His tattooed fingers worked deftly with the equipment as he spoke.
“We’ll have overlapping coverage everywhere outside this place within a couple hours. ”
Tiny broke away from Violet and made his way toward me.
“Andy definitely knows where you are,” he said quietly when he reached me, his deep voice pitched low enough that only I could hear.
“Me and Knight did a quick scan of the video footage. That same car got flagged from our security system’s AI.
Knight had been keeping tabs on him so he’s pretty sure Andy has been watching for a few days. ”
My throat constricted. “He texted me. Just now.”
Tiny’s eyes darkened, but his voice remained steady. “What did he say?”
I swallowed hard, showing Tiny my phone. I hated how Andy’s words could still worm their way inside me. “He wants to talk. How did he even get this number?”
“If he knows anyone with any kind of skills, he could find you by process of elimination once he knew which building you were in.”
“But how did he find me?” I knew I sounded on the verge of a full breakdown, but I kind of was.
“Honey, a decent hacker who knew an approximate time you left and what you looked like could easily track you through public service cameras.”
“I wasn’t careful enough.” I could feel panic rising inside me. I absolutely could not let him take my daughters.
“He’s not getting near you or the girls,” Tiny said. For the first time since meeting the big man, the gentleness he always showed us here was gone. Steel would have looked softer than this man’s expression right now. “Not while I’m here.”
The rest of the afternoon stretched on, every minute pulled taut by the memory of Andy’s car circling the block. Kira asked if we could stay up late and watch a movie. I agreed before realizing it was an avoidance tactic -- she didn’t want to be alone, even in our own room. Neither did I.