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Were there six, or seven?
I didn’t remember.
Most days it was Erik, Paulette, and I.
Different men watched the outside of the house, but I didn’t pay too much attention, usually enraptured by whatever Crystal was doing.
I regretted that now; I felt like I should have known absolutely everything that happened in my house.
But there was no time to linger on that regret.
Instead, I followed behind Davit, headed to the back of the house.
He moved quickly, but quietly, taking in seemingly everything.
The guest bedroom was empty, no one there, nothing out of place.
He went to the next room, Crystal’s nursery, and I thought I would faint or throw up from the nerves.
The door was partially closed, and he pushed it open slowly, avoiding a creak that might give us away.
At first, I couldn’t look, but I forced myself to look in.
Saw the happy elephants that I had put on the wall. The crib that Davit had gotten. Her rocker. Changing table.
All of it was in place.
But there was one thing, one person, I didn’t see.
I told myself to be calm. Said that maybe Erik had sensed trouble, gotten Paulette and Crystal out.
Yes. That was what happened.
Davit had said he was the best, and I knew that.
Erik had heard trouble and acted.
They were fine.
He had gotten them out, gone to some safe house, maybe called Elias.
My mind jumped from possibility to possibility, refusing to consider the unthinkable.
I didn’t look at Davit, didn’t want to risk it.
I doubted his expression would give anything away, but if it did, I didn’t know if I could handle it.
So instead, I clasped his hand tighter as we walked down the hall.
One room left.
The bedroom door was standing wide open.
My stomach dropped, my eyes wanting to reject what I saw.
A pair of loafers. Slacks. Black sweater.
Erik, lying there, still.
