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I had an entire six hours to do anything I wanted, so why did I find it so hard to just walk away from Reed’s daycare? Something in my stomach swirled, my gut trying to tell me something, but I had no idea what. I’d learned from a young age to listen to my gut, so I had no idea why I pushed it aside—just like I had with Travis—as I walked out of the daycare and back to the parking lot to my car.
Rolling my shoulders to ease some building tension, I switched the ignition on and drove out of the lot and the ten minutes to the grocery store. It was boring, but I kind of liked boring. It meant that I was leading a normal life. One that wasn’t full of turmoil and upset.
I was at peace. For the first time in years, I wasn’t worried about what was going to happen if I bought the wrong kind of pasta, or the wrong cut of meat. I could do what I wanted, when I wanted.
Grinning, I strutted around the grocery store, so proud that I was just like all of the other parents in here, running errands while their kids were at school, wondering what to cook for dinner and what chores needed doing when I got home.
It was a novelty, one that I hoped would never wear off.
But as I got to the parking lot and loaded up my car, then closed my trunk, it was gone within seconds at the sight of a familiar car.
My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at the license plate, reading the letters and numbers. My instinct knew before my brain could catch up, but by that time everything was blurry, my world tilting on its axis, threatening to knock me over.
It couldn’t be.
How?
What?
My hand landed on my chest as my breaths came faster and harder, panic setting in.
I had to get out of here. I had to—
The driver’s door cracked open. I didn’t think, I just darted for my own door and dove into my car, my gaze glued to my rearview mirror as I watched my husband get out of his car.
Travis was wearing his usual slacks and shirt, designer sunglasses on his face as he stepped out of his shiny black sports car. My throat dried up as I watched him glance around, taking stock of the place, then he turned, heading right for the store I’d just come out of.
Why was he here?
Had he found me?
Shit. Fuck.
I had to get out of here.
I didn’t hesitate as I started the engine and peeled out of there, my shaking hands trying to grip the steering wheel. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, trying to figure out what had just happened and what I had to do from here.
If I would have been thirty seconds later, he would have seen me, he would have walked right by me. Fuck. It didn’t bear thinking about what could have happened—how he would have reacted.
By the time I’d pulled up into the driveway of my house, I hadn’t had one clear thought. I was a mess. I wouldn’t deny it. The fright of what this meant was too much to bear, so I just sat there, leaving my engine running, my hands gripped onto the steering wheel as I stared straight ahead.
What was I supposed to do now?
Did I need to leave?
Had he finally found me?
It had been five months since I’d disappeared in the middle of the night. And there was no doubt in my mind that he would have been looking for me. But how…how had he found me? I’d taken every single precaution that I knew to take.
A knock echoed off my driver’s side window and I panicked, jumping in my seat, a scream leaving my mouth as I whipped my head around to see who it was.
Had he followed me? Had I been so inside my own head that I hadn’t noticed Travis’s car behind me?
Rafael’s frowning face screwed up as my gaze latched on to his, his eyes scanning my face. I wasn’t sure what was reflected back at him, but it was enough for him to yank my door open.
“Peyton?” He tilted his head to the side, staring at me with such intent that it should have made me squirm, but it didn’t. It…comforted me. “What’s happened?”
I shook my head, my mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. I gripped the steering wheel harder, feeling the lump in my throat get so big that I could barely swallow.
