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Astrid sees me and calls out, waving energetically.
I hurry over to them, breaking into a jog, with Joshua following.
Astrid throws her arms around me and hugs me hard, and her daughters crowd around to get in on the action.
“You’re in our club!” Darlie says to me with a huge smile, bouncing on her heels with excitement. At my puzzled look, she explains. “Mom says we’re the survivors club. And you’re part of our club.” Tears fill my eyes, and she looks alarmed. “Did I say something bad?” she asks, worried.
“No, I’m crying because I’m happy.” I hug her, then let her go so I can swipe at my cheeks with my sleeve. My heart is pounding in my chest. “I think that’s one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me.”
Astrid introduces me to her two sons. They look at Joshua with hero worship shining in their pale blue eyes. He doesn’t seem to notice. He’s standing back, watching us, and I feel a sudden pang of pity for him. He’s on the outside looking in. He can’t help himself. He’s built that invisible wall between himself and everyone else, even me, and I worry he’ll always be trapped on the outside, alone. That’s a terrible way to go through life.
“You guys go ahead and play,” Astrid says to Robin. “I want to talk to Tamara for a minute.”
“If you can call it playing,” Robin says, winking at her brother Fletcher. “It’s more like a massacre.”
“Hey, Garrett!” Fletcher cries out happily to one of the bodyguards on his team, a handsome man with a shaved head. He’s built like a freaking tank. He looks like bullets would bounce off him. Joshua isn’t taking any chances. “Are we going to let her get away with that?”
“Hell no.” He glances at Astrid with a grin. “Sorry, heck no. Let’s show them how it’s done.” And they go back to playing.
I’m so relieved to see them alive and happy and joking around that I almost start crying all over again.
Astrid leads me aside. Joshua watches us go but doesn’t try to follow.
“You know he escaped, of course,” she says when we’re out of earshot of the others. And I don’t need to ask her who.
“Yes,” I say. “That’s why Joshua came to get me.” I don’t tell her that my being here isn’t voluntary. Why stress her out? She’s been through enough.
“It’s all right,” she tells me. “Micah can’t get to us. Joshua will keep us safe here.”
“Yes. Joshua.” She glances at me. “You two seem like you’re…together. Like everything’s fine. When the police talked to me, though, they told me that he kidnapped you and held you against your will for months.” She looks at me questioningly. “But you would have had him arrested if that were true. He wouldn’t be out here, he wouldn’t be free. And you never said a word about anything like that to me.”
She’s searching my face. She needs reassurance. She needs to know she didn’t just deliver herself and her children into the hands of another monster.
“You and your children are in the safest place on Earth right now,” I tell her, not really answering her question. “If you hadn’t come here, you’d have been at Micah’s mercy. I don’t know whether he’d go after you guys or not, but you’d have been looking over your shoulder every second of the day.”
“He has a grudge against my soon-to-be ex-husband, and hewoulduse us to hurt him,” she says quietly. “And when I called William this morning to warn him that Micah was out, there was no answer. I called the police and told them, but what can they do? They won’t find him in time. The children don’t know yet. They’re furious at their father for getting us involved in this situation, and they don’t want to talk to him, but he is still their father. And I think Micah has him. I don’t even want to think about what’s happening to Reggie right now. I just hope it’s fast.”
Reggie. First time I’ve heard Dr. Barnard’s first name.
I shiver at the thought of what Micah would be doing to a man who held him captive in a mental institution for five and a half years. He doesn’t need to keep Dr. Barnard alive anymore. I pray that he makes things quick, but I don’t think he will.
“Yes,” she says, nodding at the look on my face. “But I’m putting on a happy face for them.”
“I won’t say a word.”
“That Sergeant Carter, he was very kind to us. Right after Joshua called to tell me about Micah, he called me as well. Offered to sleep in our guest bedroom and stay with us 24/7 until Micah’s caught. I thanked him, but it wouldn’t have been enough. Not with Micah.”
“No,” I agree, with a shudder. “It wouldn’t. This was the right choice.”
“He wanted to know where we’d be going, but I didn’t tell him, because I know how he feels about Joshua. He seems to think he’s some kind of serial killer.” She shook her head. “He was really worried, so I’m calling him every day to check in. Joshua’s got a blocked line I’ll be calling him from.”
“Sergeant Carter is a good man.” I glance at the kids playing basketball. “Let’s go join them, shall we?”
She puts her hand on my arm. “Everything is okay between you and Joshua? Are you…together?”
It’s a mother’s fear speaking. There are too many unanswered questions here for her comfort.
“We have a complicated relationship,” I say, picking my words carefully. “Joshua and Micah had a horrendous childhood, as I’m sure you gathered from Micah’s reaction every time I mentioned their father. It makes Joshua difficult to live with, but…we’re seeing where things go.” None of that was a lie, and it seems to satisfy her. I’ll never tell her the whole truth, because it would just terrify her, and Joshua’s perversity is reserved for me and me alone. She’s in no danger from him.
