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Then I could go back to the cottage.
And try not to leave it for a while.
Unless there was a threat leading directly to Seth’s house, and there wasn’t, he would give up and move on, try looking somewhere else.
Then it would be over.
For the time being.
I wasn’t ready for him to find us yet.
I knew he would, eventually. There was simply no way around that.
That was why I was learning to shoot.
It was why I had other steps in my plan.
Ones I needed to work through before he found us.
Taking a deep breath, trying to pull myself together, I walked down the hall toward Miss Patricia’s door, and knocked gently.
It wasn’t long before the door was opening, and Patricia was standing there with all three kids ready to go. Which meant they must have been a nightmare for her as well, because she usually wanted me to come in and relax for a minute or two.
“I think you left some toys on the floor,” she said to Hazel and Isaac. Who, I must proudly admit, both took the cue and walked over to look.
But then Patricia was grabbing me in a vice-like grip, and pulling me into the hall.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, eyes wide as her fingers bruised into my skin.
“Listen to me, you need to take these babies and go,” she said. “Wherever you are staying now, no one knows, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, heart starting to hammer again.
“There was a man looking for you when you were gone,” she said. “Talked to Carl and other neighbors. Luckily, you kept to yourself,” she added, releasing me to hold the door closed when Isaac tried to open it.
“One second, baby,” I called.
“You didn’t talk to him?” I asked.
“I did,” she said, nodding. “Told the kids to go get some candy out of my nightstand, put the baby in the closet, and walked out into the hall. Told him that I’d never heard of an Alana, that the lady who lived here was a Svetlana and had a Russian accent and three blond children.”
“Oh, Patricia,” I said, pressing a hand to my heart. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.”
“Don’t be. I know bad men when I see them. And I know a good mama wants to keep those kinds of men away from her babies. Which means…” she said, looking back toward her apartment, regretful.
“It’s okay,” I assured her, nodding. “I don’t want to let them out of my sight for a while,” I added.
“Smart. Now get going in case they come back. They’re driving a black sedan with dark windows,” she told me, giving me the heads-up I needed to look around from them. “You can see the whole lot from the stairwell,” she added, nodding toward it.
“You are a saint, Patricia,” I said, reaching out to wrap an arm around her.
“Hardly. But I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you or these babies. Now go,” she said, releasing the doorknob, then handing Clara’s carseat to me.
“Hey guys! Sorry about that. Miss Patricia and I had to talk about some grown-up stuff. You ready to go?” I asked, tone overly bright, and I knew I was overdoing it when Isaac’s brows drew low.
We said our goodbyes. If not for good, at least for a while, then made our way down the hall.
“Why can’t we take the elevator?” Hazel whined as I pushed her a bit into the stairwell.
“It’s broken,” I lied.
She didn’t know any better.
But Isaac was standing right next to me as the elevator doors slid open, and other tenants moved out.
Sensing something was off, he rushed forward, his little eyes looking guarded, and I hated that a kid his age even knew how to feel guarded. He moved forward, grabbing Hazel’s hand, and leading her down as I followed with the baby and their bags of activities.
“Just one second,” I called, keeping that false note in my voice as I stopped at the big windows. Patricia was right. You could see not only the entire lot, but the street running along it.
There were no shady black sedans idling, waiting for us.
“Okay, let’s run to the car,” I suggested, getting a better grip on the carseat. “First one there gets to pick what we’re having for dinner,” I added, knowing there had to be an incentive for such a weird activity in this unyielding heat.
Again, I knew I wasn’t fooling Isaac, but Hazel was none the wiser as she tore down the path that would lead to the car. Isaac hung back, deliberately letting her win, but staying close enough that he grabbed her before she would go into the lot.
“Hazel wins!” I cheered, rushing to the car, jabbing Clara’s seat into it’s nest, then helping Hazel buckle as Isaac did his himself. “Okay,” I said when I was in the driver’s seat, cranking up the air that magically worked like new since Repo had taken my car for the night and returned it the next day. “What are we eating?” I asked, whipping out of our spot, then onto the street.
