by Harlan Coben
Wilde turned to Naomi. “When did Ava tell you the truth?”
“That she was my real mother?”
“Yes.”
“After I came back from the Challenge,” Naomi said. “At first, I thought she was making it up or like it was a dream come true, you know? Do you remember our talk in my basement? How I wanted to change everything?”
Wilde nodded.
“It wasn’t just at school. It was everything. My father…”
Her voice just faded out. Bernard Pine would not come out of this unscathed either. Rola was working up a way to make him pay for what he’d done.
“So you two decided to run away,” Wilde said.
“I didn’t want that,” Ava said. “I wanted to do it legally.”
“Which is why you went to Laila.”
“Yes. I told her how awful Naomi’s adoptive parents were, but I still had no rights. Laila said it would take months or years to prove neglect or abuse, and even then, winning was unlikely.”
“So that’s when you hatched this plan,” Wilde said. “You’d run away and hide. You”—he looked at Ava—“you’d get Naomi a fake ID while finishing out the school year. If you left your teaching post right away, that would draw suspicion. So you two waited. And now it’s time to flee the country together.”
Ava just looked at him with her big brown eyes.
The boarding line was clear. The gate agent made another announcement.
Naomi stepped forward and put her hand on his arm. “Please, Wilde, if we’re caught, I’ll have to go back to him. Ava might go to jail.”
“She’s my daughter,” Ava said, her tone never steadier. “I love her with all my heart.”
They both stood together and faced him.
“I know,” Wilde said.
“So…?”
“I just came to make sure you were all right,” Wilde said. “And to say goodbye.”
Naomi threw her arms around him so hard she almost knocked him over. Wilde usually recoiled from this sort of embrace. But he didn’t. Not this time. He let the girl hold him, and it felt right.
“Thank you,” Naomi whispered.
Wilde nodded. “If you ever need anything…”
The boarding agent was back on the loudspeaker. “Final call for Flight 374 with service to Liberia, Costa Rica.”
“You guys better get on board,” Wilde said.
Naomi looked at Ava. Ava looked back. Then Ava turned and took Wilde’s hand and said something that caught him totally off guard: “Come with us, Wilde.”
“What?”
Naomi put her hands together. “Please?”
Wilde shook his head. “I can’t.”
Ava held on to his hand and said it again: “Come with us, Wilde.”
“No,” he said.
“Why not?” Ava asked.
“It’s crazy,” Wilde said.
“So?” Ava gave him a smile that dazzled and stunned. “Everything about this is crazy.”
Wilde shook his head again, even as he felt something in his chest crack open. “You guys need to get on board.”
“Come with us, Wilde,” Ava said again. “Naomi needs you. Maybe I need you too, I don’t know. If it doesn’t work out, you just come back.”
“I can’t,” Wilde said.
The gate agent came over, cleared her throat, and said, “I’m closing the door in thirty seconds.”
“They’re boarding now,” Wilde said in a tone that left no room for debate.
Naomi’s eyes were wet with tears when she threw her arms around him one more time. Then Ava handed the gate agent their tickets to scan. Wilde watched them start down the jet bridge. Naomi turned and waved. Wilde waved back.
Ava’s eyes lingered on his a little longer. When she broke eye contact and turned away, Wilde felt his chest crack open a little more.
He watched them disappear from view.
The gate agent reached for the door. As she was about to close it, Wilde asked, “Is there any room on this flight?”
“What, you want to buy a ticket?”
“Yes.”
The gate agent squinted at her computer screen.
“Well, what do you know?” she said. “There’s one more ticket available.”
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About the Author
With more than seventy million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous suspense novels, including Run Away, Don’t Let Go, Home, and Fool Me Once, as well as the multiaward-winning Myron Bolitar series. His books are published in forty-three languages around the globe and have been number one bestsellers in more than a dozen countries. His Netflix series include Safe, starring Michael C. Hall, and his adaptation of his novel The Stranger, headlined by Richard Armitage. He lives in New Jersey.
For more information you can visit:
HarlanCoben.com
Netflix.com/HarlanCoben
Twitter: @HarlanCoben
Facebook.com/HarlanCobenBooks
Also by Harlan Coben
Play Dead
Miracle Cure
Deal Breaker
Drop Shot
Fade Away
Back Spin
One False Move
The Final Detail
Darkest Fear
Tell No One
Gone for Good
No Second Chance
Just One Look
The Innocent
Promise Me
The Woods
Hold Tight
Long Lost
Caught
Live Wire
Shelter
Stay Close
Seconds Away
Six Years
Missing You
Found
The Stranger
Fool Me Once
Home
Don’t Let Go
Run Away
