“Is he fixed? Did he fix himself?”
I shook my head. “No, but he’s working on it. He’s no longer putting the responsibility on me to do the work. He also knows what it means to no longer have me, and that was his rock bottom. Do you remember rock bottom?”
Nate nodded. “I was alone. I had no one… nothing.” I gave Nate a knowing look, and he closed his eyes and let out a steadying breath. “Okay, I get it now.”
“You don’t need to be his friend, but can you try to be cordial… for me?” I asked.
Nate rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. “You could really get away with murder, you know? But yes, I can be cordial, and I’ll support you fully.”
“Thank you. Now skedaddle; I have another appointment,” I motioned him away.
He laughed but listened, standing and opening the door.
“Mark?” he called into my office waiting room. I reached down to grab a new notebook as Mark entered and took a seat across from me, the soft clicks of his shoes echoing on the tiled floor.
“You’re early today. Is Vanessa with Harold—” My question was cut off as I sat upright, my new notebook in hand, and was met with the barrel of a gun pointed at me. I followed the gun up the arm holding it toward me and to his face.
Gabriel.
I opened my mouth to yell for Nate, but Gabriel cocked the gun, shutting me up before I could get a word out. “Let’s not do that, shall we?”
I took a deep breath, and then another. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought it was obvious. I’m here for you.”
“And who are you today?” I asked calmly.
He tilted his head to the side and contemplated.
“Everyone… no one. Whatever you would prefer.”
He was different today than I’d seen him before. He was well and truly himself—not that I knew who that was. “What’s your real name, then?”
He took a deep breath, a sickly smile stretching across his features, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Levi.”
I had no way to know if it was true, but my mind flashed back to the old notebook in his office back at the cabin.
L. S.
Levi Silvia.
I wanted to believe him, but doubt lingered, sharp and unshakable. There was always the chance he was lying again. Or worse… that he believed it himself. That this ‘Levi’ was just another mask, another name he’d slipped into so completely it had begun to feel real.
My mind spiraled through every possible outcome—every escape route, every risk. How could I get away from him without anyone getting hurt? How could I warn Nate without tipping Levi off? How could I reach anyone at all… before it was too late?
“Is Mark okay?” I asked, suddenly remembering the patient I should have been meeting, terrified for his fate.
“He’s okay,” Levi answered calmly. “A flat tire, but nothing else. I just needed to delay him for a while.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing at least someone was okay.
“You need to let me go,” I insisted.
Levi shook his head, the gun still pointed at me. “You know I can’t, Sarah. We have business to discuss. In fact… it’s better we don’t discuss it here,” he explained, motioning toward one of the windows in the office that led to the courtyard. “You had me go through a window; it’s time I return the favor.”
“I won’t go with you,” I said suddenly, resolutely.
“If you value your life, you will,” Levi sneered, his cool demeanor beginning to disappear.
