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“I wish I could tell you,” I say, and I mean it. “God, Callie, you have no idea how much I wish I could tell you. But...”
“But what?” She sounds hurt and worried. “Vivian, if you’re in trouble, I can help. Just tell me where you are.”
“I can’t,” I say, my voice cracking. “If Lucas finds out, he’ll come for me. I can’t let that happen.”
There’s a long moment of silence on the other end, and it stretches on so long I start to worry she hung up. Then Callie asks the question I knew was coming all this time. “Vivian... is he abusing you? Is that what this is about?”
I open my mouth to reply, but no sound comes out. She’s so close to the truth, and yet further from it than she can possibly imagine.
There’s a sudden intake of breath, and she drops her voice. “Vivian, was... Was he the one who shot you?”
There it is. There’s no way around it, and I can’t lie to her anymore, not about something like this. “Yes,” I whisper. “Lucas shot me.”
There’s another long pause, and then, “Oh my god. Vivian, oh my god, I am so sorry—”
“No, it’s okay,” I rush to say. “Really, Callie, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’m here, aren’t I?” I give a shaky laugh. “I’m going to be okay.”
“How can you say that?” she demands. “You’re telling me your husband shot you, Vivian. Okay, listen, how can I help? Should I call the police? Is there a help line I can connect you with? What do you need?”
“Callie,” I interrupt, my voice hard and determined, “I can’t go to the police. I...” I swallow. “I wish I could tell you why, but that’s not an option. That’s why I left. The hospital was about to discharge me and send me back to him.”
“But—”
“Listen to me, Callie,” I interrupt. “Lucas is a powerful man. You have to understand that. He has connections, big ones. It doesn’t matter what the authorities do. He will come looking for me.”
“Vivian,” Callie replies quietly, “he’s already looking for you.”
My heart damn near stops in my chest. “What?”
“Reporters have been calling the gallery all morning,” Callie says. “You’re the top story on every news network in the country. They’ve started an anonymous tip line. They’ve got volunteers combing the suburbs now, they’re monitoring your bank accounts... It’s the biggest missing persons case in years.”
“Oh my god,” I whisper, covering my mouth with my hand.
“Lucas has been going on TV to make public appeals,” she continues. “He’s acting like he’s beside himself with worry, Vivian. They...” She takes a breath. “There’s a rumor going around that your brother-in-law kidnapped you.”
I wince. Figures. I could’ve wandered off into the woods of my own accord; Lucas would still have pointed the finger straight at Theo. “Believe me, Callie, no one’s kidnapped me,” I say. “I left of my own free will, and I did it to get away from Lucas. You have to believe me.”
“I do,” Callie assures me. “I do believe you, Vivian. But your parents—”
“Callie, you cannot tell my parents about this,” I interrupt. “Do you understand?”
“Why not?” she protests. “If they knew why you were gone, maybe they could—”
“Please, Callie.” I close my eyes and take a breath. “You can’t tell anyone you’ve spoken to me, okay? No one. Not the cops, not my parents, not Craig Sterling, no one. If you do, bad things will happen. Worse than you can even imagine.”
My heart is racing, my ears ringing as I wait for her response. “Vivian,” Callie says finally, her tone fearful and quiet, “what kind of man did you marry?”
“A bad one,” I reply. “A very, very bad one.”
I can practically hear her debating on the other end, my playful, caring best friend who has always wanted the best for me despite my giving her no reasons to. Then she finally asks, “What do you want me to do, Vivian? How can I help you?”
“For starters, don’t breathe a word of this to anyone,” I say. “This conversation never happened. As far as you’re concerned, the last you heard from me was our chat yesterday, and I didn’t tell you anything about Lucas, or leaving the hospital, or where I was going. Understand?”
“Yeah,” she replies, swallowing. “Yeah, okay. I’ll keep quiet.”
“As for how you can help me...” I hesitate, mind racing, trying to find a way I can use this resource without endangering her further. And finally I settle on something. The syndicate used the Sterling Gallery to launder countless amounts of money over the years. Hell, that was the reason Craig hired me in the first place, despite my youth and complete lack of experience. I may have used my position to keep my father abreast of the Emmerico family dealings during the first tenuous stages of the alliance, but now that I’ve gone rogue, and Lucas has brainwashed my parents... Maybe that knowledge would be better off in Theo’s hands.
“Listen,” I say, “remember when you told me the Sterling Gallery has been doing business with mobsters?”
