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Tank: Don’t even mention it.
He hesitated for a moment. Then he grunted and kept typing. His thumbs stumbled over the tiny letters as he typed out perhaps the longest string of text messages of his life. He was done playing it cool. There was something between them, and he was going to see where it went.
Tank: I’ll never complain about finding Sleeping Beauty on my couch. Are you feeling better?
CHAPTER
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.
