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“What happened to Ryley?” Anna asked. Diaz hadn’t heard from him since, and Anna hadn’t either, despite her attempts to contact him.
“He underwent surgery and is in protective custody. He’s not cooperating, unfortunately, but I’m working on it,” Jackson said.
She shook her head, not knowing what to believe about Ryley.
They were silent all the way back to his house, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. They were a few blocks from the rental car she’d picked up earlier and parked at the mall. She didn’t know if Diaz had a tracking device on her car, so to play it safe she was going to keep switching cars and make it harder for him to follow her. Anna directed him to pull over and let her out there. She’d go the rest of the way on foot to be sure.
“Anna,” he said, and her hand stopped on the door handle at the hesitation in his voice.
“If you ever need me, call me,” he said. “Or send me a message and use the code word. I will come for you, and I will find you. Our story doesn’t end like Alex’s,” he said, with a firm shake of his head.
But there was noour. This was not a romance story; this was a partnership—Anna and Jackson—that had to be successful for them to survive, but their stories would always end differently.
She nodded and looked away, refusing to let herself dream of anything else.
She was on her own, she’d always been on her own, and she was so close to freedom. She would work with Jackson to take Diaz down, and then she’d disappear before starting over with the freedom she’d earned.
Freedom she’d killed for.
Freedom that felt like a breath away.
It was time to take hold of it and never let go.
It was time to burn it all to the ground.
ANNA
As Anna closed the car door, she knew nothing would ever be the same.
She had a sense for things like that. She’d known when Olivia went missing; she’d known, when police had told her to wait for her to come home, that Olivia would never come home.
She’d known in her gut something was wrong.
And she felt that now.
She inhaled a deep breath, calming her nerves.
She needed to focus. She had a job to do.
Anna jogged through the dark park, her feet squishing in the wet grass. She paused at the first fence and listened for any movement, but the night was silent.
She scaled the fence and landed softly on her feet on the other side—like Miss Casino would.
Anna scaled three more fences, then ran to where her rental car was parked.
She unlocked it when she was a few steps away then climbed in. It purred to life like a gentle butterfly awakening with none of the grunt and growl of her car.
She lowered her foot on the accelerator and drove to the shopping mall, where her car was parked. Looking over her shoulder before turning off the ignition, she didn’t see shadows where there shouldn’t be any.
Still, she sensed something wasn’t right. She grabbed the bag from the passenger seat—her props for the evening—and got out of the rental car, locking it behind her. Walking slowly, casually, so as not to raise any attention, her eyes bounced around, looking for other eyes watching her.
Satisfied she didn’t see any, she slid into the driver’s seat of her car and awakened the beast. It roared to life and some of the tension left her body.
Anna’s eyes bounced between the mirrors and the road as she drove home; no one seemed to be following her. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling.
When she arrived home, there were no cars on the street. The lights in her house were off. Everything seemed as it should be.
She activated the garage door and drove in, deactivating the alarm, but didn’t get out. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something wasn’t right.
