When our contact with the department went from weekly updates to being basically non-existent, I started asking questions. Keifer handled my first few inquiries in the manner Tobias always used: "When I know something, you'll know something."
It was only when my father’s wedding ring slipped off my thumb did I discover the horrifying truth. A rummage down the side of a leather recliner unearthed a withdrawal slip from a local bank. Usually, that stuff wouldn’t interest me, but it wasn’t just the excessive amount on the withdrawal that had me choking back spit, it was my name attached to one I had not previously used: Keifer’s surname.
The first time Keifer struck me was when I revealed what I found. I was astounded. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But there was one thing I did know—I wasn't going to put up with his abuse.
But I was as naïve as I was young.
Members of Keifer's family thwarted my first and second attempts to flee. My third, fourth, and fifth endeavors were ruined by associates of his. By my six attempt, Keifer was no longer pleased by the challenge.
Could you imagine wishing to die mere hours before being informed you're carrying a life? I taunted Keifer that night as I wanted him to kill me. I didn't want to suffer anymore. He answered my pleas with the accuracy of a deranged man. I nearly lost my life that night, only to discover I was three months pregnant with Rylee the next morning.
Everything changed in an instant.
Inearly killed my daughter—me.
That hurt me more than Keifer’s fists.
I scribbled my escape plan on a mini notepad a student nurse gave me at the hospital. She was the same nurse who delivered Rylee six months later.
I don’t even know her name, but I owe her my life.
The first few months on the run were tough, but my dad's quote kept me thriving. There are days where I feel like I’ve been running for decades, and other days feel like I only fled yesterday. Then there are days like today, where one glance into a pair of blue eyes makes me forget all the horrible things that have happened to me.
I want to pretend I used Abby’s name as it was my last resort, but that would be a lie. I was sick of running; I was tired of looking over my shoulder. It was time for Rylee and me to live instead of just surviving. My baby girl deserves the world, and with Ryan’s help, I think we can give her that.
The brush of a thumb over my midsection returns my focus to the present. Ryan is glancing down at me, his heavy-hooded gaze as honest as the words he just spoke. Is it possible to fall in love in less than a nanosecond? Because I swear that's what happened when my eyes first landed on Ryan over twenty-five years ago.
It was only the quickestboom-boomof my heart before he somersaulted over his handlebars and broke his arm in two places, but it’s never thumped in the same rhythm since that day. I didn’t think any man could outshine my dad. Ryan did, and he was only a boy at the time.
While my teeth graze my bottom lip, I lock my eyes with Ryan. “Promise me, Ry—”
“I promise,” he interrupts, stealing the rest of my words.
I frown, pretending I’m not loving his eagerness. “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
He cocks his dark brow into his glossy locks. “I know, Savannah. Believe me,I know.” He runs his index finger down the crinkle in my nose before adding on, “And I won’t. I learned my lesson. I won’t break your heart. . .”
I attempt to interrupt him, encouraging him to speak faster, “And I also won’t change. . .ifyou promise to do the same.”
“I promise,” I reply as eagerly as he did.
I grin like a loon when he holds out his pinkie for us to seal our pledge. A simple curl of fingers might not seem like much to an outsider, but to me, it’s the world. Just like me, when Ryan issues you his promise, you have it for life.
Before I can show Ryan my gratitude for his pledge, a knock sounds at my apartment door. Ryan stops my steps with a quick tug of my arm before lifting his finger to his mouth, signaling for me to be quiet.
“Who knows you live here?” he whispers while removing his gun from the top of my fridge.
My heart rate skyrockets. “Other than Regina, no one. Could it be Regina?”
Ryan nods, but the anxiety in his eyes is nowhere near as confident. I can understand his hesitation. Regina knows I’m cautious about security, so she usually calls before arriving.
Just as Ryan crouches down to gain Rylee’s attention, a loud bang rockets through my eardrums. The sound of wood splintering is closely followed by a silver canister rolling across the floor of my living room.
Ryan swings his head to me in sickening slow motion. “Get down!” he screams before charging for Rylee.
The blast from the canister knocks me on my ass, causing my head to hit the dining table on my way down. I cradle my throbbing skull in my hands as blinding lights and smoke fill my apartment. I sit, stunned, for barely ten seconds, but it is long enough for guilt to set in. My daughter is in another room being protected by a man she only met thirty minutes ago.
Fighting through nauseating wooziness, I crawl into the living room on my hands and knees. My ears are ringing from the blast, and smoke is burning my eyes, but it doesn't encumber my senses enough to miss the terrifying visual in front of me. Even with his midsection rounder than the last time I saw him and a sprinkling of grays on his temples, I have no trouble recognizing the man standing in my living room. It is Keifer—the monster from my dreams.
