Crouched in the bushes, Abigail peeked around the corner of the house. The black SUV she’d followed here reversed out of the reprieved man’s driveway and—thank you, God—went in the opposite direction of the Mercedes.
As soon as the bright red taillights vanished around the curve at the end of the block, Abigail took off in a dead sprint. Her leg muscles burned, but she didn’t dare stop. She did, however, manage to press the panic button on the fob while still running, putting an end to the incessant honking that had annoyed more than a few neighbors.
With a quick wave and apology to the owners of the house she’d parked in front of, Abigail threw the car in drive, flipped a U-turn in the middle of the street, and got the hell out of there.
Lucky for her, her new school was only a few blocks away, so she knew a shortcut home.
Twelve minutes and a hell of a lot of prayers later, the ‘borrowed’ Mercedes was parked back in its rightful place and the garage door was shut. Knowing she had less than a handful of minutes before Uncle Tony and Luca came back, Abigail tore through the house to Tony’s office.
She picked the lock in record time and had the keys back in place, exactly as she’d found them less than an hour before. Making sure to lock the door behind her, she exited the room before running the opposite direction down the hall and taking the back stairs.
Once inside her room, she stripped her clothes off, threw on her shorts and tank-top PJ set, and climbed into her queen-sized, four-poster bed. As she lay there, Abigail worked to slow her heart rate and control her heavy breathing. Not an easy task when the image of that man begging for his life continued to fill her vision
When she heard her bedroom door open a few minutes later, Abigail pulled upon a strength hidden deep within to pretend she was fast asleep. She could hear her uncle’s soft footfalls on her carpeted floor as they came closer and closer to where she lay.
It was only by the grace of God she was able to remain still. Keep her breathing shallow and steady.
Though she couldn’t see him, Abigail felt her uncle’s presence hovering over her. Minutes later, she finally heard him move slowly away, followed by the softsnickof her bedroom door closing.
Afraid it was some sort of trick, that he’d come right back in, she continued to lay like that. Unmoving and barely breathing—until sleep finally,finallypulled her under.
The next morning at breakfast, it was as if nothing had happened. At least where her uncle was concerned. Abigail, however, was a nervous wreck as she tried to act normal while also attempting to figure out what the hell she was going to do now.
“Are you finished? You didn’t eat much.” Tony glanced down at her plate full of food.
She shrugged. “I guess I’m not that hungry.”
“Well”—he wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin—"if you’re finished, we need to get going.”
“Already?” Abigail looked at her watch. “It’s barely seven. School doesn’t start for another—”
“You’re not going to school today.”
Uh…okay. “I’m not?”
He smiled. “I have something special planned.”
“You’re letting me skip school?” she asked suspiciously.
“You’re an excellent student and your grades are top notch. It won’t kill you to miss one day. Besides…” He stood and pushed his chair in. “You only turn sixteen once, yes? I thought we could go look at some cars.”
Her birthday. She’d completely forgotten.
“Really?” She didn’t have to feign her excitement. A car of her own would make her escape even easier when the time came. “I’ll go get my jacket.”
Twenty minutes later, she and her uncle pulled into a small, used car lot on the outskirts of the city. The guy could afford to buy the entire freaking lot, but Abigail wasn’t about to complain about getting a used car. Any means of transportation would be a godsend.
She followed him inside where he’d told her the owner—apparently one of his close friends—was waiting. Said the man had agreed to meet them early, before opening hours, so they could have the VIP treatment.
As they walked through the front portion of the small building, she couldn’t help but wonder how good the treatment from a musty, dingy place like this could be.
“Come on.” Her uncle put a hand on the small of her back. “The office is back here.”
They entered a short hallway and then turned a corner. Her uncle opened a door for her, her heart leaping into her throat the second she walked through it.
Instead of an office, she found herself in a garage. And rather than a car salesman, Abigail and her uncle were greeted by Luca. Beside him, down on his knees, was the same man she’d seen the night before.
Her stomach fell.
