Chapter 56 The Wait
CAITLYN’S POV
I sat on the metal folding chair in the warehouse watching Corvin talk to his men. He was standing at the front of the room near the long table and all the criminals were listening to him like he was some kind of king. Everyone was nodding and agreeing with whatever he said.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I jumped. I looked around to see if anyone noticed but everyone was focused on Corvin. I slowly pulled my phone out and checked the screen.
It was a text from a number I did not recognize. Just two words and a time. "Green. Tomorrow dawn."
My heart started beating faster. Green was the code word Rourke told me months ago. The signal meant the extraction was happening. Tomorrow at dawn he was coming to get me.
I deleted the text immediately and put my phone back in my pocket. My hands were shaking. Tomorrow morning, I will finally be free. I just had to survive tonight first.
Corvin was still talking about territory and money and other business things I did not care about. I tried to look interested but my mind was racing. That meant I had maybe ten hours to wait. Ten hours until Rourke came for me.
But I needed to be ready. I needed to have everything packed and prepared so when he arrived I could leave immediately, no delays, no second chances.
I thought about the address Rourke had given me weeks ago. The safe house where I was supposed to go if something went wrong. He made me memorize it and repeat it back to him three times to make sure I had it right.
1247 Riverside Drive. Apartment 3B. The door code was 5829. I repeated it in my head over and over so I would not forget.
Corvin looked over at me and I quickly smiled at him. He smiled back but it did not reach his eyes. He knew I was planning something, but he just did not know what or when.
The meeting went on forever. Person after person stood up to talk about their operations and their problems and their plans. I stopped paying attention after the first hour. I just sat there with my hands on my stomach, feeling the baby kick.
"We will take care of you," I whispered to my belly when no one was looking. "Tomorrow we will be safe."
Finally, after what felt like days, Corvin wrapped up the meeting. Everyone started standing and talking to each other. Some men came over to shake Corvin's hand and congratulate him on something. I did not know what and I did not care.
"Ready to go home?" Corvin asked me.
"Yes," I said.
We walked back to the car and got in. The driver started driving and I looked out the window at the dark streets. Tomorrow morning these streets would lead me to freedom. I just had to make it through the night.
When we got home Corvin walked me to my bedroom door. "Get some rest," he said. "You look exhausted."
"I am," I said.
"Good night Caitlyn," he said and kissed my forehead. It made my skin crawl.
"Good night," I said.
I went into my room and locked the door. Then I went straight to my closet and pulled out a small backpack I had hidden behind some boxes. It was empty, but I was going to fill it tonight.
I needed to pack light. Just the essentials, things I could not leave without.
I started with documents. My birth certificate that I had hidden in a book on my shelf. Some cash I had been saving from the allowance Corvin gave me. About three hundred dollars total, it was not much but better than nothing.
Then clothes, just a few changes. Underwear and socks. A pair of jeans and two shirts, a sweater in case it was cold. I rolled everything tight so it would fit in the bag.
I added my toothbrush and some basic toiletries from the bathroom, deodorant, and a hairbrush. Nothing that would be missed if Corvin checked my bathroom.
What else did I need? I looked around my room trying to think. My eyes landed on the photo album on my dresser. The one with pictures of my parents before they died. Before Corvin killed them.
I could not leave without it. I opened the album and took out a few photos. One of my mom's smiles. One of my dads was holding me when I was little. One of the three of us is at the beach. I put them in a ziplock bag to keep them safe and added them to the backpack.
That was it. Everything important fits in one small bag. My entire life reduced to a backpack that weighed maybe five pounds.
I hid the bag back in the closet under the boxes where it had been before. Then I got ready for bed even though I knew I would not sleep.
I lay in the dark staring at the ceiling. The baby was moving a lot tonight. Kicking and turning like it knew something big was happening tomorrow.
"I know you are scared," I whispered. "I am scared too but tomorrow we are leaving. Tomorrow we start our new life."
I thought about what that new life would look like. Where would I go? What would I do? Rourke said he would help me disappear but I did not know any details. Maybe he would send me to another city. Maybe another state, somewhere Corvin could never find me.
And what about Jason? Would he come with me? Would he want to be part of the baby's life? I did not know. We had not talked about that. Everything had been so focused on just surviving that we never discussed what came after.
I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was midnight. Dawn was about six hours away, six hours until my life changed forever.
I tried to sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw Corvin's face, I heard his voice threatening me, and I felt his hand grabbing my wrist. My body would not relax no matter how tired I was.
Around two in the morning, I gave up trying to sleep. I got out of bed and went to the window, the guards were still outside walking the perimeter. They were still watching and making sure I did not escape.
But tomorrow they would not be able to stop me. Tomorrow, Rourke would come, and whatever he had planned would work. It had to work. There was no other option.
I thought about Rourke's plan. He never told me the details, but he said that when I got the green signal, I should be ready to move fast. He said there might be danger, that I should stay calm and do exactly what he told me.
I could do that. I could stay calm. I had been staying calm for months while living with
a murderer. This was just one more day of pretending everything was fine.