Chapter 50: FREEDOM… I think

MIA

12:15

The alarm was the loudest sound I'd ever heard.

Dante bolted upright immediately, already moving to assess what was going on and I wasn't even sure he was fully awake.

"Fire. We need to go." He was already reaching for his phone, his jacket, moving

through the room in the dark.

I grabbed my jacket instantly then pretended to get my camera bag because it would be suspicious if I didn't.

"Leave that," he said, nodding at the bag.

"My equipment—"

"Leave it. Come on."

I still stubbornly slung it over my shoulder then followed him out. He didn't argue because there wasn’t time for that as we joined the stream of residents coming out of their doors,

some half-dressed, some carrying things, all moving toward the stairwell Still looking sleepy but moving with urgency.

The lobby was chaotic.

As it was cramped with so many people. Some were trying to figure out if it was real or just a drill, the security were on their comms, a woman was trying to stop her dog from barking, oen other man was furiously typing on his laptop like work couldn't wait. Dante's hand was on my back steering me through it and his attention was forward, already scanning the place for an exit but I couldn't let that happen.

I saw my chance .

"I need the bathroom." I said, already half-turning. "It'll just take two seconds."

"Mia—"

"I'll be right back." I was already moving, using the crowd to slip away.

I heard him say my name but he quickly got distracted by trying to find the exit and by the time he turned back, I was already going through the door leading to the maintenance corridor which security always left open then I broke into a sprint.

I went down the service stairs two at a time, camera bag bouncing against my hip, keys already in my hand which I stole while he slept, then I burst through the side door and into the cold night.

I ran three blocks. Left, right then straight until I crossed the streets. I ran with everything I had, jacket flapping, bag clutched tight and I didn't dare look back out of fear and I refused to slow down or stop until I was in that car and moving.

The red car soon came into view, exactly where Lin had said it would be.

I wrenched open the passenger door and threw myself in.

"Go," I said.

Lin pulled out without a word.

We drove in silence for five minutes.

I watched the city move past the window, trying to calm my racing heart but I couldn't stop it as I felt a mixture of relief, terror, grief and freedom.

But the grief was the loudest.

My phone suddenly ran and I saw Dante's name flags on the screen. I watched it ring until it stopped. Lin glanced at me but said nothing as she kept going.

He called again but I declined it.

A text appeared: Where are you?

Then: Mia. Answer your phone.

Then: I'm coming to find you. Tell me where you are.

Then nothing, for thirty seconds, which was somehow worse than the messages.

I turned the phone off in my lap and watched the buildings change from sky scrapers to suburbs. I couldn't help but think about him standing in the lobby and realizing I wasn't coming back from the bathroom and grow frantic.

The guilt was eating away at me, so I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe to tell myself this was for the better even though I almost didn't believe it.

I appreciated the fact that lin didn't ask how I was doing because I couldn't bear holding a conversation right now.

I turned on my phone and a text came in form an unknown number after I blocked his and the stalker number.

“I know you're scared. Come home. Whatever you think you found, let me explain. You're not safe without me.”

I turned the phone face down on my lap. He'd found another way to reach me already. Of course he had.

I looked out the window and watched the streetlights pass.

The safehouse was a townhouse in a neighborhood I didn't recognize. The building was unremarkable like the rest around it which would easily be forgotten. Lin parked on the street, turned off the engine and sat for a moment with her hands still on the wheel.

Then she turned to look at me.

"You need to know something," she said.

Her voice was different from every conversation we'd had before.

"I didn't do this out of kindness."

I looked at her.

"I did it because Dante killed my brother." She held my gaze without flinching. "Three years ago during a disagreement about territory and money that Dante decided to resolve permanently. He made sure he left no body, no evidence and no case the police could build." Grief and anger flooded her eyes. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to destroy him ever since and you walked into it when you moved into that building."

My stomach sank as it all made sense. I thought she was doing it out of guilt for what her cousin did but it all a revenge plot.

"You used me," I said.

"Yes." She didn't even try to apologize. "I also got you out of an apartment where you were living with someone who had surveilled you for months, isolated you from everyone you knew, and would have eventually done something worse when the obsession stopped feeling enough." She paused. "Both things are true."

I took a moment to take it all in.

"What do you want from me?"

"Your testimony. What you've seen, what you've found, documented and given to the right people." She reached into the back seat and produced a folder. "I have everything else. The photos, the financial records, two witnesses who are finally willing to talk. I just need someone on the inside who can confirm the pattern."

"I'm not law enforcement."

"No. But you lived with him. You found the phone and can testify to how crazy he is." She set the folder on the dashboard between us. "I'm not asking you to go back. I'm asking you to tell the truth about what you saw."

I looked at the folder.

"My best friend," I said. "You said you would get her out but I haven't heard anything yet.”

"I know. She's on the list of people we need to talk to."

"She has to be safe first."

"That's already in the works."

I picked up the folder.

"Tell me what you need," I said.