“And Ric?”
“Will remain here. The temporary restraining order will go through. I can guarantee that, but I can’t guarantee a permanent one. You provided more than enough evidence for this, Ava, but we’ll have to face the rest as it happens. Everything is going to be okay.” She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “When you get to New York, your friend will be waiting for you and Elsie.”
“Thank you,” I choke out. “For everything.”
“I watched my mom go through this situation growing up. I only wish she’d had the strength that you have right now.” Her eyes flick up to the mirror to look at Elsie. “She’s going to remember your bravery.”
Tears well in my eyes, but I blink them away quickly. I have to be strong right now. I can’t break down, not yet.
I only breathe properly once we’re on the plane. And when the sun rises in New York instead of back in San Diego, a weight falls away.
He won’t find us here.
He won’t chase us.
“Let’s go see our new home,” I tell Elsie as we step out of the airport. “You’re going to love it, Els. I promise.”
One
Ava
One Year Later
Standing on the sidewalk, I stare up at the private school building in front of me. The stone architecture is old, speaking of a different era, but the science-centered curriculum inside is exactly what Elsie needs. She loves school and she’s been eager to get back to what she loves, but changing so much has been hard. She’d disappeared inside those doors barely thirty seconds ago, and I’m already panicking.
Tonya, my best friend, stands beside me, a gentle smile on her lips. “It’s a new start,” she says as I stand tense on the sidewalk.
“I know,” I murmur as Elsie waves at me from the top of the steps. I blow her a kiss in return. “But my anxiety is eating away at me.”
“This is a big step,” Tonya nods. “You’ve moved around to different areas for the past year, constantly changing and I understand why, but this is your chance at normalcy. Elsie wants to be in school and stay at just one. She’s desperate for it. And Ric hasn’t turned up. He hasn’t even tried to find you despite the temporary restraining order being dropped. Your lawyer said he hasn’t reached out.”
“But he never signed the divorce papers,” I point out, grimacing. “He won’t let this go.”
“I think he has,” Tonya argues. “A man knows when he’s lost. You made sure your escape was flawless.”
But the niggling worry sits heavy on my chest. Ric isn’t the kind to let this sort of betrayal go, and honestly, he only accepted the restraining order to save face. His friends in the police department made sure it didn’t stick and no matter what my lawyer did, the permanent one was never allowed to be filed. She’d filed complaint after complaint, but to no avail. I can’t imagine Ric’s embarrassment right now over that going in front of his friends. He’ll never forgive that slight. He’ll never forgive our midnight escape while he was sleeping. He would have signed the divorce papers otherwise and found a new victim already. Instead, he remains unattached and in the same position he’d been when we left.
“You’ll be here to pick up, Elsie, right?” I ask, glancing at her.
“Of course,” she replies. “You go to work and don’t worry about a thing. Everything is set up and when you get home, we’ll be there waiting.”
“Doors locked?”
“Always,” Tonya promises. “This is a fresh start. Everything is going to be better now.”
But something doesn’t feel right. I don’t feel safe. My therapist says it’s just paranoia, remnants of my fight or flight mode being in constant overdrive, but this doesn’t feel like that. It feels as if we’re just bidding time until Ric finds a way to track us down. We’d done what we could to stay incognito. We’ve skipped through the state, and though Tonya lives in New York City, Elsie and I hadn’t stayed here until now. We’ve spent the last year moving around smaller cities and trying to keep from attracting attention. Every time we moved, Elsie had to change schools, which has been hard on her. Maybe Tonya is right and this is the correct move, but it doesn’t feel safe. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe again.
I turn, feeling as if there are eyes on me, but I see nothing. Cars line the street, parked along the curb, a red Toyota, a black sedan, and a silver Nissan. No one is in any of the cars. Nothing sticks out. But I still can’t shake the feeling. My therapist would claim it’s paranoia again. My instincts tell me otherwise.
My eyes lock on the black sedan. There’s no one in the driver’s seat, but the back of it is tinted so dark, I can’t see inside even if I wanted to.
“Ava,” Tonya says, startling me out of my perusal. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Yeah,” I say, nodding and biting my lip. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Turning away, I take her hand and squeeze. “I’ll be back at five. Don’t forget to lock the doors please.”
“Of course,” she says again, nodding in reassurance. “Be careful and knock ‘em dead at work today.”
