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“To kill me.”
My throat tightens and my fists clench as she continues.
“They shot up my house that night while I was home. It was pure luck that I was sleeping on the floor, because I’d already gotten rid of most of the furniture. A bullet missed me by inches.”
My mother’s face flashes in front of me. I can’t imagine how it must feel to have your own mother try to take your life. Over money. “Calliope.” It’s all I can manage to say as I move to sit beside her and wrap my arms around her middle.
“I’m okay. It feels good to finally tell someone.”
“Did they get arrested?”
“No, I couldn’t prove it was them. Nobody had any cameras. Drive-by shootings in the city aren’t unheard of and it was written off as probable gang violence. I should’ve seen it coming, really. I knew she was capable of more if the stakes were high enough, and with me having no other family except for a father they probably wouldn’t be able to locate and a brother in prison, Mom would’ve inherited my money if I’d died.
“So, I left and made it to Cincinnati. New name, no way for them or anyone from my past to find me. I changed my phone number and deleted all social media. The only thing I kept was an old email address that I’d occasionally check because Dad would often use it if he couldn’t remember my number. Mom and Carl weren’t internet savvy, they wouldn’t have the first clue you could track an email or IP address, but I still made sure to check it from public WIFI spots. They weren’t dumb enough to threaten me in writing.
“I was safe, but my mind didn’t quite believe it. Anxiety has always been a part of me, but it got drastically worse, until Irarely left my apartment. It pissed me off. Here I finally had some freedom from them and from having to work all the time, but I was trappingmyself.”
“The anxiety was trapping you,” I interrupt softly. “And no fucking wonder, sweetheart. You were nearly killed.”
“I found a therapist online that worked with agoraphobia and anxiety disorders. We started with virtual visits, but she started insisting I come in more and more. For nearly two years, I worked on getting my anxiety under control. I didn’t leave very often. A few festivals with my concert friends are the highlight of those years. Until an email showed up in my box with a copy of my mother’s obituary and a request from her church for me to accept her remains. Apparently, they’d paid for her cremation, and Carl had run off without the ashes.”
She looks up at me. “I was so relieved. So thrilled she was dead. My anxiety improved overnight.” Her tone bleeds shame and guilt. “Of course, I didn’t have to take her ashes, but I wanted them. I wanted to look at them and know I was free from her forever. That’s why I haven’t been able to scatter them. I like to look at them and be reminded that she’s finally dead.” Bitterness lives in the tiny tilt of her lips. “Because I inherited some of her hateful nature, no matter how much I try to fight it.”
“No. Some people deserve that level of hatred and she more than qualifies. You aren’t anything like her.”
Calli doesn’t argue, just leans her head on my shoulder and continues. “I had them mail the remains to a PO Box. It wasn’t long after that when I found the ad for the cabin and decided to get out of the city and see if I liked living in nature. Somewhere peaceful.” She tilts her head with a small smile. “Where I met a graveyard creeper and stole his peaches.”
All I can do for a moment is hold her. Not a bit of me could’ve imagined everything she’d been through right before cominghere. “I’m sorry that’s what brought you, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“You may want to rethink that, if it’s Carl that left the threat. I still highly doubt it for a few reasons. He was never the leader when they were harassing me. It was more like he was following her orders which was par for the course. He was always the driver, always the one to wait in the car while she went psycho. Without Mom, he really has no link to me. Cops would be more likely to take him harassing me seriously. And he has to know I wasn’t going to give him any money if I wouldn’t give it to her.
“Also, I’ve moved twice now and changed my name. Even if he wanted to try, I don’t think he could find me.” She hesitates with a sigh. “But there’s one thing that bothers me and maybe it’s overthinking, but the man who took your ATV was wearing a dark denim jacket. Carl always wore one too.”
My question comes out softly. “What’s your name?”
“Hmm?” She peeks up at me.
“You said you changed your name.”
“I’ve always been Calliope, but my last name was Raines, same as my dad’s. I changed it to Barnes, and started using my nickname Calli, on anything official. Calli Barnes.”
I run my hand through her hair. “Calliope Raines. Beautiful.”
CHAPTER 28
CALLIOPE
My body is a live wire,bleeding electricity into the bed sheets while my mind races and my stomach churns. So much has happened in such a short time. My cabin has been robbed and ransacked. I’ve learned that being the anonymous artist called Nameless was far from Arlow’s only secret, and I’ve revealed my true, flawed self and past to him. Someone is trying to extort us, and we may both be in danger. My brain is chaos, filled with warring possibilities, all of them dire.
I don’t know what to do. If I thought this was Carl’s doing, I’d leave, if only to keep Arlow out of it, but it doesn’t seem likely to me. The note said we have a week. Does that mean they’ll leave us alone until then? Will things escalate after that deadline?
Am I ever going to be safe anywhere?
That last thought brings tears to my eyes, and I turn over with a harsh frustrated sigh. I’m never going to fall asleep.
“Calli.” Arlow’s voice is soft, but my body jerks, shaking the bed.
“Jesus, you scared me.”
