It’s time to do that again. I’m done making excuses.
Feeling a renewed sense of certainty, I eat my dinner before allowing myself to give in to my curiosity. A new door lock wasn’t the only thing I bought earlier today. I gave in to a rare impulse and bought a nanny cam. Is it an invasion of privacy? Sure, assuming someone has a right to privacy. Danika signed away those rights the minute she broke into my home. Besides, if she won’t give me answers, she’s giving me no choice but to go in search of information.
I open my laptop in my office and launch the software I installed right after placing a tiny camera in the fake floral arrangement on her dresser. It was the only viable option given the short notice and my minimalistic decor preferences. Regardless, it works perfectly.
The second she appears on my computer screen, something primitive deep inside me uncoils. Danika sits on the side of her bed looking at a phone. She’s texting someone.
The darkness lurking within me bristles.
Who is she texting? If she’s protecting a man, could she be texting him?
There goes any semblance of a good mood. I want to snap that phone in half, then hunt down this asshole to punish him for putting her in so much danger. What kind of worthless sack of shit would hide and let his woman act as a shield for him? The sort who doesn’t deserve that woman in the first place.
She eventually sets aside the phone and stands at the window at the edge of the camera’s reach. I glance at the wall of windows nearby and see that the sun’s departure has left tangerine ripples across a sapphire sky. I wonder if that’s what she’s looking at or if she has her sights and thoughts focused elsewhere. What I wouldn’t give to know what she’s thinking. Rather than assuage my curiosity, the camera seems to be making it worse.
I didn’t think I could sleep knowing she was free to roam my house. Now IknowI won’t be able to rest until she’s already fast asleep. I don’t want to miss a moment of her movements. How could I possibly sever the one tenuous connection I have to her?
I can’t, which is why I end up with soap in my eyes while showering with the laptop on my bathroom vanity. Probably serves me right for watching her. I still don’t fucking care.
CHAPTER 12
DANIKA
My door is still lockedwhen I wake in the morning. It’s early, but not too early to call Sachi. I think it’s time to tell her what’s happened since we parted.
“I know you said for emergencies only, but you gotta keep a girl in the loop!” My best friend jumps right into a lighthearted scolding.
“I know, Sach. That’s why I’m calling.”
“How are you? Is everything okay?”
I scrunch my nose, though she can’t see me. “I’m good, but things are … complicated.” I launch into the crazy story that has been my life over the past two days. Sachi listens raptly, occasionally inserting a gasp or a single word of disbelief.
“You are going to make afortunewhen you sell the movie rights to your life,” she says when I’m done.
I have to laugh because the outlandishness of it all is truly astounding. “Assuming I make it out of here,” I add, sobering both of us.
“What are you going to do?” she asks in a hushed, worried voice.
“I can’t stay here, Sach. It’s too risky for everyone involved. Even if Tommy is truly intent on helping me, this is so muchbigger than he knows, and he could end up getting himself killed. I’m not okay with that. And if I make the wrong call and stay, and they end up turning me over, I’ll wish I was dead.”
“No, Dani. Don’t say that.”
My body wilts with a weary sigh. “The point is, I’ve got to run.”
“Okay, then let’s make a plan.”
“I’ve been thinking … he’s got a lock on my bedroom door, and the lock picks were gone from my bag when he gave it back to me, but I have a ton of bobby pins. Knowing what I do now about how locks work, I think I can use those to get free.”
“Do you know where you’d go from there?”
“That’s the biggest problem, and I’ve been afraid to look online for ideas since I’m stuck using his internet connection. Can he use that to see my search history?”
“I’m not sure, but it sounds like something that would happen in the movies, so it's probably best to avoid it. How about this? When you leave, go to a nearby hotel and text me where to find you. In the meantime, I’ll look into ideas. We could set you up at a women’s shelter outside the city somewhere just until you can sort something else out.”
“That sounds more appealing than a homeless shelter.”
“For sure. Okay, do we have a plan, then?”
