by Linzi Baxter
I pulled out my phone, clicked the Find Friend app, and watched as they drove away. It would be the only thing I had that let me know where they were. It wasn’t right. I was spying on her, but she didn’t give me a choice when she walked out the door, not trusting me to take care of her.
Abe walked out a few minutes later.
“She left.”
“Women.” Abe slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Does Tommy still have his phone? Lily isn’t used to him having it, so it will take her a while to figure out. I’m going to follow them and stay close. If anything happens, you will be my first call.”
I reached out and shook the man’s hand. “Please take care of them.”
“They’ll be back. Just give her time. She was attacked today, and this is the first time she has stood up on her own and left.”
“She didn’t trust me to take care of her.”
The words hung in the air.
19
Lily
“You need to finish your breakfast.” Tommy didn’t say anything but grabbed his spoon and took a bite of the cereal I put in front of him. He barley said a word since the day we drove away from Jacob. It broke my heart, seeing him angry with me. But as long as we were away from danger, I was okay with my son being mad.
I looked at the date on my burner phone. Thirty-six days before, I left the man I loved at a police station. I didn’t think he would ever forgive me for what I did. An hour out of town, I wanted to turn around, throw myself into his arms, and tell him to fix everything. Instead, I kept the car pointed north and drove. I finally stopped when we reached a town called Broken Bow in Oklahoma. The town was small, and as we were driving through, I saw a help-wanted sign in the window of a local diner.
The next morning, I walked in and asked for a job. I must’ve looked desperate because the older lady hired me on the spot and told me Tommy could sit in the far booth while I worked. When I asked if I could only work for tips, she knew I was on the run and offered us a little room behind the restaurant for free.
Betsy, the owner of the diner, sat down across from me and patted Tommy on the back. “When are you going to stop running?”
It was the first time she had brought up our situation since our arrival.
Tommy looked up from his cereal, and his blue eyes blinked back tears. I hated breaking my son’s heart. “I want to see Jacob.” They were the first words he’d spoken since we left the station.
I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths. “It’s not that easy. My ex, well, he’s an evil man.”
Betsy ran her cloth over the table. “Is staying here going to fix your issues?”
“No, but it’s keeping Tommy out of danger.”
I had done everything to keep us off the radar. Every night, my fingers hovered over my phone to call Jacob and ask him how his day was. We stuck close to Houston the first night so Tommy could watch the rocket launch. Instead, my son closed his eyes.
“Sometimes, running is easier than staying. Are you sure you’re still in danger?”
Broken Bow was so different from anywhere I had lived. Everyone knew everyone, and they wanted to know my business. Each morning, Earl would show up to get the gossip of the town while he had a cup of coffee. Then he would take breakfast home to his wife, who was bedridden from a horse accident. Betsy told me she would normally show up each morning with Earl.
With each day that passed, the town felt less like home. Movement out the window caught my eye. I thought I saw a man, but when I looked again, he was gone. I searched the parking lot, but I didn’t see anything suspicious. The little things set me on edge.
Betsy cleared her throat. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“My ex keeps getting away with everything. I highly doubt anything’s changed.”
Betsy looked where I saw the person standing. When I glanced back outside, the parking lot was still empty. “Why don’t you call and find out?”
I turned the phone over in my hand. “Please, Mommy.” Tommy’s plea was enough for me to take a verbal lashing from Kat.
“Okay.”
“Hey, Tommy, why don’t you come help me while your mom uses the phone.”
Tommy followed Betsy out of the booth and over to the counter, where Earl was sipping on his coffee, looking in our direction every few minutes. He said something to Tommy that made him smile. Tommy climbed up on the stool next to him.
I glanced out the window one more time before calling Kat. She answered on the first ring. “About time you called.”
I couldn’t hold back the smile. “How do you even know who it is? I could be someone calling to sell you something.”
“Nah, telemarketers normally use their own phone number or one with the same area code. Since I know you’re in Oklahoma, it was a fair guess.”
My hand gripped the phone harder. She knew what state I was in. “How do you know what state I’m in?”
“Don’t get mad.”
Once I figured out what I did wrong, I would correct it before we leave. When we first arrived in Broken Bow, I’d hidden the car, and Tommy and I walked everywhere we went. “Tell me.” I wasn’t going to promise not to be angry with her.
She let out a sigh. “We tracked the phone Tommy has.”
“He doesn’t ha—” Fuck. Jacob had bought Tommy a phone the night he stayed at Archer’s house. I’d completely forgotten. If they’re tracking it, my son has been keeping it charged. “Does Greg know where we are again?”
“Greg’s taken care of.”
“He’s dead?”
Kat laughed on the other end. “No, Antonio wouldn’t let me kill him after Jacob spoke with him.”
“Wait, did you say Jacob spoke to Greg?” My heart pounded faster. So many questions ran through my head.
“Yes. See, this is what happens when you run and don’t stick around for the fun stuff.”
There was no point in listing the reasons I had to leave. Kat would poke holes in my plan, which was the main reason I hadn’t called her since I left. Tommy glanced over his shoulder at me, and I waved. He didn’t wave back. He didn’t smile. I kept telling myself I was doing it for our own good. “Just tell me.”
“When you decided it was better to go on the run, Jacob worked to make sure Greg never bothered you again. He called me from the police station and asked me to work harder to find Greg. We were monitoring traffic cameras and airlines. He hadn’t left Ft. Lauderdale. Neal is working on a new technology to scan faces, and he and Jacob teamed together to use one of the satellites. We were able to find Greg within an hour of the scan. Neal is excited about how great the technology worked and he and Jacob are meeting with some government big wigs to discuss selling it to them.”
“Where is Greg?”
The diner was starting to fill up, and I would need to help Betsy soon. Tommy still sat on the stool next to Earl. The older gentleman was chatting his ear off.
I could hear muffled voices on the phone as I waited for Kat to answer my question, “Sorry, Antonio was telling me something. You asked where Greg is. Well, after we found him, Jared and Jacob caught the first flight out and paid your ex a visit. Boy, do those two have a different side. Off with the suits and down to business. I’m sure Greg peed his pants, and it wasn’t from Jared. Jacob has a really nice right hook.”
Jacob had told me stories about the fights in his neighborhood growing up, saying that not joining a gang meant no backup from friends and becoming an easier target. But the three brothers stuck together as long as they could before the foster system split them up.
“Is Greg in jail?” She wasn’t getting to the point.
“Yes. Right before Greg attacked you last time, he started working with a cartel. They had him running drugs. When he was arrested, he had stashed the stuff somewhere the cartel couldn’t find. That’s why they got him out. Now, he’s been trying to hide because some of the drugs are missing. He agreed to go back to jail and cooperate with the police.”
; I let out a sigh. Hope started to blossom in my chest. Would Jacob even want us to come back? “Why did he send that man after me?”
“He said he didn’t send them, so we took a different look at who would attack you and figured the only other option was Jacob’s ex. Rachele was trying to scare you away, and it worked. Well, kind of. Jacob set a trap for her, and the cops arrested her a couple weeks ago. She’ll be going away for a long time. She held him at gunpoint twice, and she embezzled a lot of money from the foundation. Come home.”
“I can’t.” Not to Ft. Lauderdale, my home wasn’t there anymore. Home was in Houston. “I need to talk with Jacob first.”
“Yes! Antonio owes me a hundred dollars.”
A smile broke my lips for the first time. “You bet on my relationship.”
“Maybe. You need to get back to Houston soon. Jacob’s been an asshole since you left. Jared called and complained to Antonio the other day about how his brother was acting. He’s making Jared look like the golden child.”
I hardly believed Jacob could ever make Jared look like the perfect brother. “Don’t tell Jacob I’m coming. I need to work things out with my job first. I can’t leave her empty-handed. Betsy has done a lot for me.”
Kat and I said our goodbyes, and I walked over to my son. My feet stumbled for a second as I watched the man sitting next to my son. Tommy was talking a mile a minute to Abe. He must’ve been the man I saw for a flash in the parking lot. How long has he been in Broken Bow? I took the seat next to him, and Betsy came over and poured me a cup of coffee.
“I need to start work.”
Betsy gave me a sad smile. “I have a feeling you’re leaving.”
Abe reached over and pulled me in for a hug.
“I’m not going to leave you short-staffed. When you find someone, we’ll be leaving.”
The older woman pressed her hand to mine. “Go. If you wait for me to find someone, you’ll never leave.”
Tommy looked at me with his gleaming eyes. “Can we go home, Mommy?”
“Yes,” I told my son before I turned to Abe. “How long have you been here?”
His lips twitched. “I followed you the day you left. Jacob wanted to make sure you were safe. You really need to go back to that man. He’s turned into”—he paused for a second and placed his hands over Tommy’s ears—“an asshole.”
“Can we go now, Mommy?”
I looked at Betsy, and she nodded. Tommy jumped off the chair then ran around and gave Betsy a hug. “Thanks for everything.” Then he grabbed my hand and tugged. “Come on, let’s go.”
I was happy to see my son so happy again. I didn’t know how excited Jacob would be to see us. I left him because I hadn’t trusted him to protect us, and he proved me wrong by getting Greg back in jail and catching Rachele. I still couldn’t believe she hired someone to scare me away, her plan had worked. The second Tommy was in danger, I left.
Abe followed Tommy and me back to the small room we had been staying in. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Abe had been there the whole time. No one said anything after everything was cleaned up.
“Why didn’t you tell me the second things were clear?” I asked Abe.
“We wanted you to want to go back. But Jacob has become such a bear to be around that we thought we would speed up the process of you returning home. I thought it would take more convincing from Betsy to change your mind. If I had known it would be that easy, I would’ve done it a couple weeks ago.”
Every day I was away from Jacob, it was harder. “I miss him, but Tommy and I will be going back to our place. It’s too early to move in with him.”
“But I want to stay with Jacob.”
“You will, little guy, but we need to take things slow. We have a thirteen-hour drive ahead of us. We’ll stay at the place we first moved into. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Jacob and see how things go.”
The thirteen hour drive became a fifteen hour drive after stopping for food and the endless traffic into Houston. We arrived well after midnight and even though I was exhausted, my mind wouldn’t turn off after I went to bed.
20
Lily
After I reenrolled Tommy in school, I headed to NSS. I would have to start looking for a new job. There was no way NSS had kept my position open after I skipped town.
I dressed in a black wraparound dress and spent a little extra time on my hair and makeup, but the makeup didn’t help the bags under my eyes. Since walking out on Jacob, I hadn’t had much sleep. Tommy and I shared a bed, and he tossed and turned all night. Sometimes, he would kick me in the side.
I reached into my purse and pulled out my lipstick. Abe promised Jacob would be excited to see me. With the danger out of the way, Abe was heading to the airport this morning. He was no longer going to be my bodyguard. I was a terrible observer—I didn’t even notice him following me for the past month. I gave him a hug and promised to visit him in Ft. Lauderdale. I planned to go back when Kat had her baby.
All the parking spots on the main floor of the parking garage were taken, so I had to park on the top floor. Taking a couple deep breaths, I tugged open the car door. My heels clicked against the pavement. The Houston heat beat down. I felt the faint tickle of sweat on my back. Houston summers matched Florida’s—the second I stepped outside, I always wanted to go back in and take a shower. I raised my hand to shield myself from the bright sun.
“Stop, bitch.” The sun was so bright I couldn’t see the person until he stepped to the side. I squinted my eyes to take a better look. It was the same man who’d attacked me a month before in front of Jacob’s building. With each step he took forward, I took one back, until my ass hit my car and I was boxed in. He reached up and scratched the side of his face. It was the gesture I saw Rachele do the day she held a gun to Jacob in the office.
“Here. Take my purse.”
I threw my purse at the thug and he kicked it to the side. “Because of you, I didn’t get paid.”
Clearly, it was my fault I hadn’t let him kidnap me. “There’s a thousand dollars in my purse.” I held my hands up and tried to sidestep to the left. Abe was on his way back to Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacob had no clue I was coming to work. Nobody would know I was dead until they found my body. I was sick of people thinking they could walk all over me.
I slipped my fingers into the pocket on my dress and pulled out the burner phone.
“Rachele was supposed to pay me, but instead the bitch got herself arrested. I was about to give up on you showing your face again. It must’ve been my lucky day when I saw you stop at the same school my son goes to. Now I came to collect from you, either you can give me the money Rachele owes me or I can find another way for you to work it off.”
A chill ran down my spine. The man was strung out. I had to wonder if the guy was one of Rachele’s dealers. At the same time, my heart broke for his child. He didn’t look like he was hurting for money. He wore a long, diamond-encrusted chain around his neck, and when he sneered, I could see that his teeth were silver with more diamonds. “There are cameras out here. You’re going to get caught.” I hoped they had cameras in the garage. I wasn’t completely sure.
The thug shrugged and stepped closer. He was right next to me. I was pinned between the parking garage half wall and a car. I looked over my shoulder—the fall would kill me. Jumping over the edge wasn’t an option.
He slowly dragged the gun down my neck until he got to the edge of my dress and pulled the top back. “You’ll make a good ho.”
A loud bang sounded near the stairwell, tearing the man’s attention away from me. I used the opportunity to run, but it was hard to run in heels. When I looked over my shoulder, he had the gun pointed at me. I dove between two cars when he pulled the trigger.
The bullet missed me and shattered the car window next to me. Blood dripped from my knee, and my hands had pebbles in them from the fall. I fought through the pain and crawled around to the other side. I watched for his feet under the car, trying to stay
one step ahead of him.
“I’m gonna kill whoever walks out that door, then I’ll take care of you.” He fired a couple rounds at the door, and the banging stopped for a second. I didn’t want anyone to die, so I stood and held my hands up. “If I go with you, will you leave everyone else alone?”
He started walking toward me when the door burst open. Jared and Jacob stood at the entrance. “Leave! He has a gun!” I screamed.
Jacob and Jared didn’t make any movement to leave. Instead, they watched my every move. They walked in separate directions. Each man had a suit and tie on. They were dressed for a business meeting, not a shoot-out in the parking structure.
The thug sneered at me. “I told you I would shoot them.” He turned the gun on Jacob and pulled the trigger.
My life went in slow motion. I screamed as I watched Jacob duck to the side. Jared fired two rounds. Unlike the thug, Jared hit his intended target, and the thug dropped to the ground.
I raced over to where Jacob was. He was getting up off the ground as I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest. “I love you,” I murmured.
“Good.” Jacob pressed his lips to mine, and I lost myself in the kiss. He tangled his fingers in my hair and deepened the kiss.
Jared cleared his throat behind us.
Jacob rested his forehead against mine. “God, I’ve missed you. Never do that again, okay?”
I nodded, and he kissed the tip of my nose. “I missed you too.”
Jared cleared his throat again. “Can your reunion wait until after the police drag his ass away? He’s still alive.”
I scrambled off Jacob’s lap. “He’s still alive?”
Jared cocked his head to the side and motioned for me to come over. He still had the weapon trained on the man laying on the ground. Jared wrapped one arm around me. “Don’t leave the family like that again. You don’t understand how much of an ass Jacob was.”
I smiled and pulled back. “So, he acted like you for a month?”
