We were definitely working on this “being temporary friends” thing.
Reality was though: I didn’t trust him, and he didn’t trust me, but we really were all each other had. He was my best shot of getting the hell out of here, so one of us had to start somewhere. I could… I could give an inch. Everything I had tried to prevent had come to fruition anyway. But my voice still sounded funny and a little high as I said, “My real name is Altagracia, but no one has ever called me that.” It hit me then that he might be the last person to ever know my full, real name. My heart pounded a little bit; I was never supposed to tell anyone what it was, but I kept going anyway. “You can call me Gracie,” I whispered.
Not even my students knew me by my name. Packages showed up to the house under the name Esther. When we’d lived in Texas, I ordered things under Lenore Castro. I was so many people, and yet no one at the same time.
It was all those damn lies after all.
“I don’t… remember asking,” the man across the room said.
Andthere he was.
I rolled my eyes and didn’t even try to be discreet about it. He had his closed anyway.
I tried to take his comment about how we would get out of here to heart, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath.
Not until we got the hell out of here.Ifwe did.
I did the sign of the cross.
CHAPTERNINE
I triedmy hardest to ignore my grumbling stomach, but it was like ignoring someone tapping on your forehead with a fingernail for hours nonstop.
But I couldn’t complain, not when I knew I wasn’t the only one hungry. Neither one of us had gotten breakfast. I’d finished eating dinner about fifteen minutes after he had.
I would have done some sketchy shit for a Klondike bar right about then.
On the other side of the room, the man-being had been asleep, or at least pretending to be, for hours. I’d tried my best to sit there quietly the whole time. Mostly because he needed to rest to get better, and our best chance of getting out of here was for that to happen, so it only made sense to do everything possible to accommodate him. That included creating the least stressful environment as possible, considering the circumstances. Whining wasn’t going to help.
The problem was that my thoughts had been running in a circle of hope and despair, revolving around all the ways this couldn’t end well.
Neither of us were beacons of hope, I guess.
If anything, I’d gotten angrier and more hopeless with every passing minute that really felt like a fucking hour. I was bored to death, worried to death, nervous, scared, and a whole lot of hangry.
He suddenly glared over at me. “I’m trying to rest… and your stomach won’t quit making noise.”
I just looked at him. “It didn’t get my memo that it needed to be quiet. I’ll let it know,” I mumbled, dryly.
Oh, he didn’t like that.
I didn’t care.
Figuring I couldn’t wake him up more than he already was, I got up and walked over to the sink, cupping my hands under the tap, to take enough sips to quench my thirst. I dreaded having to go pee in front of him—or pass gas—but it was going to have to happen sooner or later.
So was going number two, but I was going to cross that road when I came to it. It wasn’t like I had his bowel system. If he had one of those.
“What did your family do to make a cartel come after you?”
I wasn’t surprised he was asking again. How he knew I wasn’t the one who did something was beyond me though. Plus, at this point, did being secretive even matter anymore? We were here. If our roles had been reversed, I would want to know too. I’d told him it didn’t matter but…
One peek at The Defender’s face told me he wasn’t going to drop this.
Pressing my palms together, I tucked them into my lap and sucked in a breath I instantly regrettedfrom the way it made my ribs and back feel. I hated every single one of those bastards who had brought us here. Those damn beanbag rounds had been unnecessary.
“I deserve to know,” his rich, low voice reminded me.
Him deserving it didn’t make it any easier though. It still felt wrong. It felt like writing with my left hand when I’d been a righty my whole life.Tell no one. Keep your head down. Don’t get too close to anyone.Don’t do this, don’t do that.
