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“Oh, now you want to play by the rules?” Vincent asked. “You never seemed very concerned about that before.”
“Nonsense.” Agent Cerone pushed Vincent’s hands away, shoving the notebook into his chest in return. “Let us act like real men, shall we? Use our words and not our hands? Or is that too difficult for the likes of you?”
Vincent glared at him in the darkness as he took a step back, putting necessary space between them. “Leave my family alone.”
“Family?” Agent Cerone let out a bitter laugh. “Strange choice of word given the circumstances, isn’t it?”
“She’s a part of my family—always has been and always will be,” Vincent said. “Just because you can’t comprehend that, because you can’t get it through your thick skull that we actually care about her, doesn’t mean we’re wrong.”
Agent Cerone scoffed. “The fact that you actually think you’re right—that you think this situation is okay—astounds me.”
“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”
“Oh, I know plenty. I read the journal, remember?”
“You invaded her privacy! You stole her thoughts!”
“So?” he replied. “It doesn’t make any of it less true.”
“Maybe,” Vincent countered, “but tell me something, Agent Cerone. Do you have any deep, dark secrets that you’d do anything to keep the world from finding out? Even kill to keep it from being exposed?”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No,” Vincent said. “I’m just trying to make you understand.”
“Understand what?”
“That you have to leave her alone,” Vincent said, taking a step forward again, getting right in the special agent’s face. “You won’t get her. You can’t have her.”
“Why not?”
“Because . . .” Vincent’s eyes instinctively darted toward the dirt path. “. . . Because if you do, she’ll die.”
Agent Cerone stared at him blankly. “Now that’s a threat.”
“No, it’s not.” Vincent shook his head as he turned away from the man, wiping the stray raindrops from his face. “But it is a guarantee.”
* * *
“You really want to do this?”
Haven stood beside the Mazda later that week, staring down at the faded lines of the parking lot. She could feel Corrado’s piercing eyes from the other side of the car, stabbing through her with his doubt. He looked exhausted, but judgment was clear in his tone. He didn’t believe she could do it.
“Yes,” she replied. “I do.”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I can make alternate plans if you’re not sure about this. I have the resources to keep you hidden away.”
“No, I’m sure.” She shook her head. The last thing she wanted was to drop out of civilization again. There was no point going forward if she couldn’t live. “I want to go. It’s my choice, right?”
“Right,” he said, still staring at her with skeptical eyes. “I guess we’ll be leaving then.”
Haven avoided his gaze as she climbed into the passenger side of the car. All of her belongings were in boxes stacked along the back seat, her entire life once again packed up in the car. She had left a note on the kitchen table for Dia whenever she got home, saying her good-byes. She didn’t say where she was going, no other explanation except she thought it was time for her to set out on her own. She promised to stay in touch but as Corrado pulled the car out on the road, heading toward the highway to leave Charlotte, she wondered just how plausible their friendship could be.
“You might want to get comfortable,” Corrado said. “It’s a long drive.”
“How long?”
“Twelve hours, maybe.”
