As I approach the entrance to the courtyard of our apartment, I turn and see the car is still sitting there. We’re going to have to go sooner than we wanted. Maybe we should just leave tomorrow. We could reach out to Fury and see what he knows or has seen. He’s monitoring the boards to see if Andrus comes back online looking for me.
I step through, walking past the empty pool and to the end of the complex, where I climb the stairs. The metal creaks, and I cringe with worry, just like I do every time. These stairs have made me nervous since we moved in. Before I head to our door, I stop and look out over the courtyard. I don’t see anyone below, but the hair on the back of my neck is still standing on end, and fear still grips me. When I open the door, Gurgi prances over and brushes his big body against mine. It calms me only slightly.
Maisy is stretched out on the sofa, dozing in and out. She’s been missing Cronus as much as I miss Atlas. She won’t admit it, but we share a bed, and I hear her saying his name in her sleep when she does sleep. Something about their meeting brought up something from her past, and she won’t talk about it.
Moving to the small kitchenette, I unload the groceries and start meal prepping. I was excited to get a walk in and some exercise, but now I regret not driving. That car sitting at the end of the block still bothers me. It could just be someone visiting one of the local dealers, but it feels too coincidental.
After I put away enough lunches and dinners in the fridge for the next couple of days, I warm up some for us to eat now. I walk over to the sofa with both plates and set them down on the coffee table.
“Maisy, I have food.”
“I’m not hungry,” she grumbles and buries herself deeper into the edge of the sofa.
“Come on, you didn’t eat earlier.”
She huffs, then rolls over and sits up, making space for me on the only sitting furniture we have in the room.
“I think we’re going to have to make a run for LA sooner than we would have liked.” I start the conversation. “When I was walking home from the store, there was a car parked down the block. I could feel someone watching me.”
“Okay. Want to go now?”
“We’ll go tomorrow after our shift. It’s payday.”
“Okay. Are you sure about LA? They have a lot of cameras too.”
“I’m not sure anymore. I’m just trying to avoid small towns, where we’ll stick out. Hopefully, the bigger the city, the better we can blend in. I’ve never been on the run before.”
“I have.” She takes a bite and nods her approval of the meal. “When I ran, all I could think about was getting away. I didn’t trust anyone until I finally made it to Montana. Tink and Shadow helped me get across the border so I could stay with my aunt.”
“Didn’t your aunt have to tell your family where you were?”
“No. She’s my aunt by marriage. I only met her when she messaged me one day online. Jovie has been hiding out from her half brothers for years.” She pauses, and I know there’s more, but she won’t tell me. “When I got to Jovie, she helped me. For all intents and purposes, she was like my big sister or mom. I finished school. She gave me her last name so the family couldn’t find me.”
“If Ritchie is her last name, isn’t it the family’s too?”
“No, it’s her mother’s last name. Her biological mother was a Canadian citizen. She left Jovie her business when she passed. I worked there and lived under the radar until I turned eighteen, then I knew I had to help the Handmaidens rescue women and girls from men like Jovie and I were raised with.”
“Holy shit! Were you trafficked?”
“Not exactly, but that’s for another time. My point is that we can keep running. We can hide in plain sight.”
“I don’t think Atlas is going to give up on me.”
“I know Brock won’t give up on me, but I can’t be near him. It would destroy him if he knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“I can’t tell you. The fewer people that know, the better.”
“Okay, so after we eat, we’ll get packed up.”
We don’t have much. Just the seven or so outfits we had in our go bags. After having everything taken away from me when I was in captivity, I can’t stand losing anything. Then we had to leave all of our stuff back in Tennessee. Now I just have a few clothes and Gurgi. I won’t leave without him.
The next day, Maisy and I are dressed in our work uniforms and making the rounds around the tables. The black, fake leather outfits are skimpy short jumpsuits with halter necklines that plunge low, so when we bend over the tables, the guys usually get an eyeful.
The manager and the owner pay us under the table, just like they do with most of the serving staff here. This casino isn’t exactly like the ones on the Strip. Things aren’t always on the up-and-up. At least here we don’t have to worry about being forced to strip.
When my break comes, I walk outside and check on Gurgi, who is in the truck. I take him for a walk, and again that feeling of being watched overtakes me. I look around, and even Gurgi has his head up, as if he senses it too.
