Chapter 48: COUNTDOWN

MIA

I waited until three in the morning before getting up.

I was sure he was deep asleep at this point. Like very very deep. Then I slowly raised his arm which was on my waist then slipped out from underneath, cursing in my head at how much nose the beddings were making. Thankfully, he didn't move as I placed his hand down then tiptoed into the bathroom, phone in hand then shut the door behind me.

I looked at Lin's message again then typed, “how do you know I looked?”

At this point, I was wary of everyone since I had been watched for so long and didn't even realize.

Three dots appeared almost immediately, which meant she'd been awake waiting.

“Because you're smart.” A pause then. “I also know that you wouldn't pass up the opportunity to prove me wrong but now, I am right.”

I stared at the message for a moment then typed. “What now?”

I held my breath as I waited for her response, also listening to hear if Dante was up but thankfully, the apartment was still silent.

“First of all, I am happy you now know everything. I wouldn't want a repeat of my cousin to happen to you. Now, you need to wake up tomorrow as exactly who you were yesterday. No change. I don't want you to pack anything, move any money or change even the slightest bit of your routine. You must stay normal.”

I bit my lip then typed, “for how long?”

“Until I tell you it's time. I'm arranging somewhere safe and that will take a few days.” she replied.

A few days. I looked at the bathroom door and thought about sleeping in that bed for a few more days and took a deep breath because I had no other choice.

“Where?” I texted back.

“Outside the city. Somewhere he doesn't have reach. I can't tell you more than that right now because the less you know the less there is to accidentally show.”

Okay she was smart and I admired that even though at the back of my mind I was trying to work out my own plans to get away from her. No one could be trusted but first, I needed her to get me out of here then I would escape from her. One problem then another.

“What do I take with me when it's time?”

There was a pause like she was thinking and then three dots appeared and a few seconds later the message popped up. “Nothing he would notice missing. Wallet, phone, whatever fits in your pockets. Walk out like you're going to get coffee.”

“My cameras?” I typed. “My work. I have hard drives and other things too.”

“Leave them.”

I stared at that for a moment.

“That's years of work.”

“I know. I'm sorry.” A pause, then: “Your life matters more than your hard drives. Equipment can be replaced. You cannot.”

I thought about my favorite camera which had all the pictures I had taken of him when I thought he was a dream come through. That camera held the piece of him I still loved and didn't want to leave but I had no choice.

Deep in my heart I still didn't want to go.

“Okay,” I typed.

“We need a code word. Something you can send me in a normal context that means things have changed and you need to move faster than planned.”

I thought for a moment.

“Peony.” I typed.

“Why that?”

“Personal reasons.”

“Okay. If you send me that word I'll have a car somewhere nearby within an hour. Keep my number memorized but not saved. Delete these messages when we're done.”

That confirmed that he checks my phone too.

“I know. I’ll delete them now, while we're talking so I won't let them accumulate.”

I deleted each message as I read it, watching them disappear one by one, and there was something about the act that felt liberating as I was finally controlling one thing in my life.

“One more thing,” Lin typed. “Don't be a hero. Don't confront him, don't try to record him, don't try to gather more evidence. You already have everything you need to understand the situation. Your job now is to stay invisible until it's time.”

“What happens after?”

A longer pause.

“That depends on what you want to happen. There are people who can help you with the legal things if you want to go that route. Or you can just be somewhere safe, far away and let it be someone else's problem. Both are valid.”

My mind flashed to Yuna and her last message which said, “It's not safe.”

Was she talking about him? I also remembered how she had looked at Dante that day outside her home, knuckles white on the frame.

I had been so foolish not to see it.

“There's someone he hurt to keep me isolated,” I typed. “My best friend. Can she be helped too?”

“If she's willing to talk, yes.”

I deleted that too.

“Okay,” I typed. “I'll wait.”

“You're doing the right thing. Just stay calm and normal for a few days. Now, delete this conversation and the number.”

I did it immediately after memorizing the number. I flushed the toilet for noise, washed my hands then went back to bed.

Dante hadn't moved thankfully.

I lay down beside him and he shifted in his sleep, his arm coming back across my waist without him waking while I stared at the ceiling and thought about how things had changed in my life.

I had four days at most. Maybe three.

I had survived eight months without knowing the truth. I could survive three days knowing it.

He was already up when I woke, coffee made, reading something on his laptop at the kitchen counter completely at ease.

"Morning," he said, and his voice was warm.

"Morning." I poured coffee, leaning against the counter completely at ease like usual. “Got anything on your mind?”

"Not really." He closed the laptop. "I was thinking actually." He set down his cup and turned to face me with a determined look and my stomach dropped because I was familiar with that look and whatever was coming was probably a suggestion I couldn't decline.

"We should get away this weekend. Just us. Somewhere remote."

I kept my face neutral.

"How remote?"

"Hudson Valley, maybe. I found a place, it’s private property, no neighbors and good light for you if you wanted to shoot. We'd stay for just two days in case you’re worried it would affect your work.”

No neighbors and private property kept playing in my head. A remote place often meant no signal and no exit that didn't require him to drive me there and back.

He wiggled his eyebrows. “And, you can scream as lod as you want. I wnat to try something new with you.”

Two things went through my body. Stupid fucking need to see what he had planned and also dread because those words could also mean something bad. I looked at him. He had never hurt me and I knew he never would.

"That sounds perfect," I said, and smiled, and lifted my coffee.

His face lit up in happiness.

I had three days before the weekend.

I needed to leave before Friday.