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“This is Knight.”
“Mr. Knight, I’m so happy to catch you. I have some additional paperwork that we forgot to transfer to you during the reading of the will.”
“What paperwork?”
“Your marriage certificate.”
“My what?”
“After your father’s death, we were entrusted by your grandfather to keep the certificate in our possession. Of course, now that you’ve inherited from him, the certificate can be transferred to your possession if you wish.” I could tell by his tone that he found it all strange, but it wasn’t his job to ask questions beyond legal necessity. “I assume you were aware of this?”
I was ready to tell him it was a mistake, that I couldn’t be married. The only girl I ever intended to marry disappeared three years ago until she’d broken into my father’s home and forced me to kidnap her son. But just as the words formed, I quickly pieced the puzzle together and realized what my father had done.
There could only be one name next to mine on that certificate.Chapter EightMIANRUNNING WAS EXHAUSTING, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Two weeks have passed since I took Joey’s ’96 Caprice and left my friends at the mercy of my monsters in order to save them.
I didn’t know which direction was safe or how far to go. I just ran. For the first three days, when I couldn’t reach Anna or Joey, I considered turning back around and shoving Z’s deal down his throat.
Somewhere in Kentucky, I finally learned from Anna that Angel had let them go after threatening to cut Joey’s tongue out if he told anyone. I didn’t want to be grateful to Angel for anything, but I was glad he hadn’t hurt them. I had warned Anna that letting them go didn’t mean he wasn’t watching. I learned that the hard way when he took my son.
Paranoia forced me to hide in a different town every day for a week until I mentally collapsed in Mosset, North Carolina. The town had a population of four hundred and thirty-eight people in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but swamp and woodlands surrounding three sides of the small town and only one road in and out. It wasn’t big enough to get lost in, so I could only hope it was small enough to keep us under the radar.
I’ve also found that the people you meet in small towns are the friendliest I’ve ever met… even if they do ask a lot of questions. The first day of asking around, Caylen and I were offered a room above a small diner in the center of town. The room wasn’t able to fit more than a bed, armoire, and chair. There was a small bathroom attached and a window overlooking the gas station across the street. Overall, it was clean, warm, and cheaper than a hotel.
Since I had waitressing experience, and the owners, Rebecca and Sam, needed help, they offered me the place in exchange for working a few nights in the diner. Without much being said, they also agreed to keep my employment and tenancy under the table. It was unsettling to think they knew I was running from something.
Mid-afternoon of my third day in town, Rebecca had demanded I stop looking over my shoulder. “Don’t you worry about anything, missy. If he comes walking through that door…” she had pulled a huge shotgun from under the counter, “I’ll blow him right back through it.”
Rebecca Donaldson reminded me of a little dainty fairy… with claws and sharp teeth. The top of her head, covered with auburn hair, came only to my chin. She was curvy everywhere and had a commanding personality that she wielded on everyone in her path. Her husband, Sam, was a gentle giant and her complete opposite. Where Becky was small and plump, he was tall and hard. He was also the meeker and quieter of the two. I found it fascinating that, even though Becky was domineering and wild, with one shared look between the two, Sam could tame her.
He also hadn’t seemed at all surprised by his wife’s threats to murder a man on my behalf.
“I didn’t say—”
“Oh, missy, you didn’t have to. You don’t get to me by age without learning a few things. Hell, every time that door opens you look ready to bolt. With that babe in your arm, it’s obvious you’re on the run from your man.”
I’d started to argue, but Sam’s gentle pat on my hand stopped me. “Don’t bother arguing with my Becky. She’s stubborn and is always right.”
I had the feeling he was laying it on for her benefit. When she walked away triumphant, and he winked, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Becky had given me a few days to get settled before showing me the ropes and putting me to work. The diner closed at nine every night and opened at six every morning. Their rush, which wasn’t nearly as heavy as the diners in Chicago were, only came during the lunch hour. I was more than able to handle it with my hands tied. Rebecca called me a godsend. I didn’t know about that, but the work kept my mind off what waited for me in Chicago. Samantha, their twelve-year-old daughter, happily agreed to watch over Caylen whenever I worked dinner shifts. She said it was a better deal than working in the diner. When Samantha was in school, I’d keep Caylen on the far end of the bar away from the customers, although most of the women in town couldn’t seem to stay away from him. I’ve had countless offers to babysit already.
