Nate.
No. He couldn’t be here. Not when everything was going so well. Our lives were finally getting on track. Fingers fumbling, I picked up my cell phone and logged in to Becca’s social media account, clicking on Nate’s page. It had been three days since he’d been tagged in anything.
Three days.
The drive from Silver City was ten hours.
The flight was an hour.
I couldn’t breathe.
I read the note again, willing it to change. Willing it to not encompass me in this bone-chilling dread. Why would Nate follow me all the way to Seattle? We’d been friends. He’d protected me. Why was he destroying my life?
A strangled gasp escaped from my tight throat.
I had to be wrong. Swallowing back my panic, I tried to keep my voice level as I held up the paper. “Um. Trent. Where did you get this?”
His brow furrowed as he took in my expression before looking at the paper. “Oh. Sorry, Mom, I forgot to give that to you.”
He knew about it. Another wave of panic swept over me. “That’s okay. But where did you get it?”
“The man at the Y.”
Shit.
My mind spun as I thought back to every face I’d seen at the Y. Had Nate been there? Surely, I would have recognized him. He couldn’t have talked to Trent without me seeing him. Then again, I didn’t even remember putting my Chapstick in Trent’s bag. The security I’d felt with Wasp had made me sloppy.
Still, I needed more details.
“What man at the Y?” I asked.
“The one that gave me the paper.”
Not helpful. “When did he give you the paper?”
“After we swam. I’m ready to brush my teeth.” He plopped his bowl down on the table and spun around, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was mentally climbing the walls.
“Where was I when he gave you the paper?”
“In the bathroom.”
“What did he look like?”
Trent’s expression turned thoughtful. “He was big. Brown hair.”
Fuck.He could be describing half of Seattle, but deep in my bones, Iknewit was Nate. Call it a mother’s intuition or maybe just this fucked up note that nobody sane would give to a kid, but Nate was here. I’d bet money on it. “Did he say anything?”
“Just ‘Give this to your mom,’ then he handed me the paper. I put it in my bag, so I wouldn’t lose it. I didn’t mean to forget.”
“That’s okay, buddy.”
“Mom, we’re gonna be late if we don’t brush teeth.”
I couldn’t think about teeth brushing. I could barely even breathe. We needed to get out of there. Nate had approached my kid in a public place, giving him something to scare the crap out of me. He wanted me to know he was coming. That we couldn’t get away.
I stared at the note, picking it apart, looking for some sort of clue as to what his next move was. How had he found us at the Y? He must have followed us. From the apartment. More ice filled my veins.
He knows where we live.
