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“Dream of me.”
She laughed.
“Goodnight.”
“Night.” Jewel hung up.
Kross had made his first move. She had no intentions of going to sleep.
At least not here.
She rolled out of bed and padded to her suitcase. It was time to stop putting the people she cared about in danger.
It was time to be bold and stand up for herself.
She packed her things quickly, grateful that she owned very little. Made it much easier to steal away in the middle of the night.
Jewel paused for a few minutes to spread the bed and make sure the room was in order. She couldn’t return the Gregory’s hospitality with a rumpled bed.
Or a visit from a homicidal maniac.
Heart thudding, Jewel tiptoed to the door and eased it open. The hallway was empty and dark. Joana and her parents were sleeping upstairs. They wouldn’t hear her slip out, but she still needed to be careful.
Jewel closed the door behind her and moved stealthily to the alarm system that was on the wall by the light switch.
Fingers trembling, she poked the buttons slowly, recalling the numbers that Jo had her memorize before they separated to their own rooms.
The answering beep of the machine disarming made her sigh in relief.
She was free.
Jewel ran for the door and opened it with the keys hanging by the foyer. She locked the front door behind her and slipped the key beneath the welcome mat so Jo would be able to find it.
Turning, she faced the dark street.
The affluent neighborhood was quiet. Not even a dog barked in the distance. The moon hid behind gloomy, grey clouds. Stars struggled to pierce through the veil. The green lawn shimmered with dew.
Jewel stumbled down the stairs and shot across the street, heading for the south exits. She threw her backpack over the wall and scaled it. It took over ten minutes, but she made it to the top and propelled herself off, landing hard on her feet.
She pushed herself up, ignoring the pain and limped down the street.
The walk from this side of the city to where she lived took thirty minutes.
Belize seemed like a ghost town at this hour. No soul dared to walk the streets, not even the gangbangers.
Jewel kept an eye on the handful of cars that passed by, but no one harassed her.
As she crossed over from the north side to the south, she passed a bar that was in full swing. The lights in front of the squatting wooden building illuminated posters of scantily clad women advertising the latest beer.
She ducked her head and tried to fast-walk past the rowdy establishment. Before she could get too far, she heard someone whistling behind her.
Panic clutched her throat.
She started running.
“Hey, miss!” Footsteps clattered behind her. “You dropped something.”
Jewel pretended not to hear and kept going.
