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Zoe’s lips twist in thought. “What did he say when you refused him?”
“He got mad.”
“Mad?” Her head tilts, her expression shifting to concern once more.
I nod, glancing back down at my coffee. “He... can get kind of commanding. I think he’s just used to people obeying him without question. And when I told him I wasn’t going to go with him, he got frustrated. I might have yelled at him and called him an arrogant ass.”
Zoe snorts, and I bite my lip to stifle my smile.
“And then?”
“Well, he kind of came at me, threatened to just take me if I wouldn’t go willingly... so I slapped him.”
My friend pales visibly at my confession. “Heidi,” she breathes, her anxiety visible. “Did he...?”
“Hurt me? No. No, nothing like that. We... actually ended up having sex.”
Zoe covers her mouth with her hand, though her eyes tell me she’s trying not to laugh. “Seriously? You’re hopeless.”
“Ugh. I know!” I let my head fall back against the head of the chair momentarily. “Afterward, he tried again to get me to leave with him. But I couldn’t... I couldn’t just leave without knowing whether you or Sarah would be safe. And when I told him I wouldn’t go, he just... stormed out.”
“Oh, Heidi.” Zoe can read the sadness in my voice, and once again, she reaches across the table to take my hand.
“Maybe I should have risked telling him about Sarah. What if I’ve put us all in terrible danger by not taking the chance?”
Zoe furrows her brow, deep in thought. “I don’t think so. I still think you did the right thing by not telling him about Sarah. After how angry he got when you didn’t do as he said, I can’t imagine he’d take it well if he found out you kept that kind of information from him for weeks—years. Besides, he’s involved in something dangerous, something that goes far beyond us. You couldn’t have known how deep this rabbit hole would go, but it’s definitely not one you want Sarah going down.”
Her words provide some comfort, and I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “What do we do now, Zoe?”
She leans forward, her eyes intense. “We’ll figure it out, Heidi. If we don’t feel safe here, we can leave town. Okay? We’ll find our own way to protect Sarah, and I’m with you, always. You know that, right?”
A sense of relief washes over me. Zoe is my rock, the one who’s been with me through thick and thin, and her unwavering support gives me hope. “Thank you,” I breathe, giving her fingers a grateful squeeze.
35
HEIDI
Despite my invaluable conversation with Zoe last night, I barely got a wink of sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way things ended between me and Maks. And as many times as I told myself that it’s for the best, I couldn’t seem to get past the hollow ache his departure has left in my chest.
After hours of tossing and turning, I finally found a moment’s peace from the heartache of knowing Maks and I are over.
That’s when I started hearing bumps in the night.
I was plagued by the fear that the men who wanted to hurt Maks might follow through on their threat and come for me in the night.And what if they found Sarah? Or Zoe?
The anxiety kept me wide awake into the early-morning hours. I only managed to drift off after the first hints of sunlight graced the dark sky.
And now, as I drive Sarah to daycare, I’m afraid that my paranoia and lack of sleep might be making me see things. I grip the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I navigate the rolling hills of San Francisco’s city roads.
Sarah chatters happily in the back seat, blissfully unaware of the unease settling in the pit of my stomach. We’ve taken this route a hundred times, and nothing has ever seemed amiss. Until today.
The morning sun seems to cast ominous shadows across the asphalt, and as I glance in the rearview mirror for the twentieth time in as many seconds, my heart skips a beat. I’m pretty sure we’re being followed. A sleek black car has been trailing us for several blocks now, maybe longer.
My pulse quickens, and a cold shiver runs down my spine at the thought. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but after the fear in Maks’s eyes yesterday, I don’t really care to leave it at that.What if these are the enemies Maks wanted to protect me from?I pushed him away, and now I’m all on my own, trapped in a car, with my little girl in the back seat.
“Hey, sweetie,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady as I look at Sarah in the rearview mirror. “How about we take a little detour on our way to school today? We’ll go on a little adventure.”
“Okay!” she says brightly, always enthusiastic about trying something new.
