“You don’t get to decide that.”
Her eyes met mine, cold and steady. “I decide everything until this is over.”
Eleanor moved to the dresser. “Any medication or essentials, grab them now. Sentimental things if they’re small.”
I stood on my toes to reach the top shelf of the closet and pulled down a worn shoebox. “This is coming.”
Kara’s eyes narrowed. “What’s in it?”
“None of your business.”
She took the box from me, gave it a quick shake, then set it in the suitcase without comment, leaving the room.
Eleanor held the dress out to me. “Pack it. Just understand, you’ll have eyes on you now. Your address is public record. They won’t need to look hard to find you.”
I zipped the suitcase. “You’re overestimating my importance.”
“Or you’re underestimating theirs,” she said. “Time’s up. We need to move.” Her gaze dipped briefly to my mouth before she extended her hand. “By the way, you can call me Ellie.”
I had questions but kept my mouth shut as I shook her hand. It wasn’t the kind of moment for answers.
4
Kara
I stepped into thehall first, keeping my body between Sabine and any angle from the corridor. Clear line both ways. The silence was good, but too much quiet could be an ambush as easily as nothing at all.
“Stay close,” I told her without turning. It was not a request, and not something I’d repeat.
Ellie took the suitcase before Sabine could argue, freeing her hands and keeping her dominant side clear. Her eyes moved past me to the stairwell.
We moved in a three-person column, my pace slow enough to control Sabine's position, fast enough to keep us from lingering in the open. I checked each doorway we passed, noting the ones that had changed since I’d walked in: a mat that was shifted slightly from its former position, a door ajar an inch farther.
At the stairwell, I gave Ellie a two-finger sweep signal. She nodded, eyes narrowing. Sabine started forward, impatient. My hand went to her hip, holding her back. Not rough, just final.
“Wait,” I said.
Below us, the stairwell was quiet. No footsteps, no echo of movement. Ellie leaned forward, scanning the lower landing. She gave me a chin lift, the go-ahead.
We descended. The air smelled faintly of old paint and cleaning chemicals. Sabine's heels were too loud on the concrete, but there was nothing to be done about that. Every corner and landing got a quick glance before I moved on.
The Bellantes liked choke points like this. Two men at the bottom, one above to drive you down into them. I’d seen them do it in Philadelphia with a politician’s son. That boy had thought his name would protect him. It hadn’t.
At the last landing, I stopped again, listening. Traffic outside, a delivery truck idling, nothing moving too close. I signaled Ellie.
She adjusted her grip on the suitcase, her other hand near her jacket hem. Clear.
I pushed the door open and stepped into the lobby. Afternoon light flooded through the glass front doors. The street outside looked normal, which meant nothing. The Bellantes’ strength was hiding the threat until it was already on top of you.
I checked left and right before holding the door for them. Ellie brought her through, her hand brushing Sabine's arm to guide her angle toward the curb. I followed them out into the bright afternoon, the shift from dim hallway to open street forcing my eyes to adjust fast.
First scan was wide: storefronts, parked cars, both ends of the block. Second scan was tighter, looking for movement that didn’t fit the pace of the street. A delivery truck idled ten yards down, driver leaning against the door with a phone in his hand. Across the street, a woman wrestled with a dog on a short leash, her voice carrying as she spoke into a headset. Normal on the surface. I still kept them in my peripheral vision.
“Move,” I said, low but clear.
Ellie stayed close to Sabine’s side. I took point toward the SUV, adjusting my angle to keep her behind my shoulder and in the shadow of the vehicle when possible.
A car door slammed somewhere down the block. I turned my head just enough to catch the source: a man getting out of a compact sedan, no visible interest in us. I looked forward again.
