Eli would kill her without hesitation. A man who can threaten a child is capable of anything.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…” I tiptoe across the backyard, scanning the trees and flower beds until I catch the sound of a giggle somewhere near the hedges. “Now, where could Lev be? Could he be over here?”
I dart behind a chair and gasp dramatically.
“No…not there. Maybe he’s hiding here.”
Hurrying toward a tree, I peek around the trunk before shaking my head.
“Still nothing. Wow. Where is that little guy?”
Another giggle slips out, louder this time, and I follow the sound straight to the bush he’s crouched behind. The second I spot him, I lunge.
“I got you,” I tell him, laughing as he squirms in my arms.
I tickle him until he laughs harder, and when we both tumble onto the grass, the sound of it all feels so easy and bright that everything else falls away. It’s good to laugh like this. Freeing in a way I haven’t felt in a long time.
Then my phone vibrates in my pocket. The second it does, my whole body goes tight.
“Give me one second, bud.” I try to keep my words light as I reach into my pocket and pull it out.
The moment I find Eli’s number on the screen, nausea climbs straight up my throat.
Lev is still staring at me, his head tilted slightly like he can already tell something’s wrong.
“It’s just my friend.” I feign a smile. “Give me a minute, okay?”
He pushes himself up from the grass and heads toward the swing set, and only once he’s a few steps away do I look back down at the phone and brace myself to see what Eli wants.
Eli
Have you found the safe yet?
Sloane
I looked at one area of the house today. Will look at more tomorrow. I have to wait until he goes to work.
That is the truth, not that he would know.
Eli
So you’ve done nothing. Do you not understand that if you don’t find the fucking ledger, your kid is dead? I would hurry the hell up if I were you, instead of playing house.
Sloane
I’m doing my best.
Eli
Do better. Or I will ruin you.
My pulse pounds so hard it’s lodged in my skull. I press my fingers to my temple, trying to ease the pain, but nothing helps.
I need Eli to disappear. I need him to take his threats and all of it with him, because he’s never going to leave me alone.
Even if I do this, even if I get him what he wants, I know it won’t end there. There will always be one more thing, one more demand, one more way to keep me trapped. He’s a vulture. Nothing is ever enough.
“Are you okay?”
