His apartment building looks exactly the way it always does—kinda cool, hip, but a little on the messy side. Hey, I’m in no place to judge. There’s way more important things afoot right now.
I drop my backpack and sink onto the sofa. Todd locks the door behind us, then crosses to the kitchenette and opens the fridge. He pulls out two bottles of orange juice, twists off the caps, and hands me one.
“Drink,” he says. “You look like you haven’t eaten in days either. Shall I order in?”
I take a long swallow. The cold sweetness helps ground me.
“No time,” I say, in between gulps.
Todd sits beside me, knees drawn up, studying my face.
“Talk,” he says. “Now.”
I take a deep breath.
“I’m in real danger,” I tell him. “I can’t explain everything. Not yet. But I need cash. Only cash. As much as you can getquickly. I can’t use cards, can’t go to an ATM myself. They’ll be watching.”
He doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t ask whotheyare. Part of me suspects that Todd knows, but is wise enough to not push things and retain a degree of plausible deniability that might come in useful later down the line.
“How much?” Todd asks.
“As much as you can pull without triggering any flags. A few thousand if possible.”
He nods once. “We’ll go to my bank. You stay out of sight in case of cameras. I’ve got a high-limit ATM card. We can take out the daily max, then hit another branch later if we need more.”
Relief floods me so fast my eyes sting.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “You’re a real friend.”
He reaches over and squeezes my hand. “You’re mybestfriend. Of course I’m helping.Durrr.”
We both laugh for a moment and then I look down at our joined fingers.
“There’s…someone,” I say. “A man. I thought he could be… I don’t know. My Daddy. The real kind. I trusted him. I let him in. And then I found out he was supposed to…” My voice breaks. “He was supposed to kill me. For his boss. I ran before he could.”
Todd’s grip tightens.
“Oh, what the actual hell,” Todd says, unable to keep his composure momentarily. “A killer Daddy.Great. That’s just what we need in our lives.”
Another moment of much needed levity passes between us before I let it all flow out of me. It’s a relief to talk, that much is true.
“I don’t know what was real,” I admit. “The way he looked at me. The way he held me. The way he called me his good boy. I thought maybe… maybe he felt it too. But then I saw the message. And I ran.”
Todd doesn’t speak for a long moment.
When he does, his voice is steady.
“We’ll talk about all of it,” he says. “Every detail. Once this is over. Once you’re safe. But right now we focus on getting you money, getting you somewhere they can’t find you, and getting you breathing room. Okay?”
I nod. Tears slip down my cheeks anyway.
“Okay.”
He pulls me into a hug—tight, fierce, the way only Todd hugs.
“We’re going to fix this,” Todd murmurs into my hair. “I promise.”
I cling to him. Deep down, I’m not sure I believe him though.
