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“Maybe…I should try talking to him?” she says absently, and I can tell she’s starting to lose it.
My fist is wound tight around the remote—so hard I could break it. Tossing it on the other side of the couch, I choose my words carefully. I choose not to shout because I know where my anger is coming from.
Fear.
Pepper is in some deep trouble if this man is willing to pay for her return. Especially after she told him she wanted out.
“Pepper.”
“We met waiting for an elevator at the Freedom Tower in Manhattan. I was there for a job interview and he was there for a meeting. I was so annoyed that the damn thing wasn’t coming and I was so nervous about my interview that I never even pushed the freaking button. Anyway, I was muttering to myself when he came up behind me, reaching for the button and said, “It helps when you push these things.” She laughs and swipes a tear.
I put my hands in my pockets. It’s the only movement I make. I don’t sit next to her. I don’t take her hand. I barely want to breathe at the risk of her stopping.
“I told him how nervous I was and that elevators aren’t really my thing—in fact I hate them—but when the office is on the fortieth floor, you make an exception.”
My lip quirks.
“He offered to take the ride up with me. But when my interview was over…he was there. Waiting by the elevator so I wouldn’t ride it alone when it was time to head down.”
I release a breath.
“He bailed on his meeting and took me for coffee. I think he was smitten that I didn’t know who he was. All the while, I was thinking the same. By that point, I’d already started going by Penelope Walker. I gave him the same “born and raised on the Upper East Side” background I had prepared for interviews so no one would connect me to my father.”
I give it a minute before I speak. “Can I ask a question?”
“The answer is probably because I’m an idiot.”
“I don’t think it is. I was going to ask, did you always want to move to the big city? I mean before your parents. Was it a dream of yours or something? Or did you just want to get far away from…everyone here?”
“I wanted to start fresh. I didn’t want to be the girl whose father committed fraud and then died in a car accident with my mother the night before his sentencing. I was living with a new name. A new identity.” She lifts her hair. “I even went blonde.”
“Did you love him?”
There’s a beat before she answers and I’m not sure I’m getting the response she was thinking of. “I loved the idea of him. He was my new…adventure.”
“Pepper. We need to talk to Noah again. This is a development he needs to know about.”
“You’ve all done enough and…I can’t afford a lawyer.”
“No one in my family will ever ask you for money.”
She stands, pacing. Her panic starting to surface. “No. I don’t want anyone’s help. I didn’t come here for that—I just wanted...to hide.” She glances around then looks at me in horror. “This was a mistake…everyone knows me here,” she whispers.
“Just calm down. I’m going to make a call and we’ll figure something out.”
Pepper watches me cautiously. Like I’m just another threat.
“I’m calling the Inn. We need to talk to my dad and my brothers. I’ve…” I take a breath and swallow. “I’ve got a plan. I think. I just need to talk it through with people I know. People I trust. And that’s not many in this town.”
“What if someone’s already spotted me here? What if they’re on their way here now?”
“Calm down. I can’t think with you freaking out,” I shout.
Shit.
That couldn’t have helped. But she’s really starting to test me.
She stares at me, but her breathing seems to calm. “Just give me a minute. I need to make a call. Maybe two.”
