Chapter 25 Moving Foward
The threatening text message changed everything and nothing at the same time.
The next morning, Nora woke to find Noah already up, sitting at their small kitchen table with both their phones in front of him. His laptop, which they’d bought at a secondhand electronics store, was open beside him.
“What are you doing?” Nora asked, padding over to him.
“Making sure we’re untraceable.” Noah’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “That text means he has at least one of our numbers. Maybe both. Which means we need to take every precaution.”
He picked up her phone first, navigating through the settings. “Location services. We need to turn them completely off. Not just for specific apps, but system-wide. No GPS tracking whatsoever.”
Nora watched as he disabled location tracking on her device, then did the same to his own.
“What else?” she asked.
“We change our SIM cards. These numbers are compromised. We get new ones, new numbers that aren’t connected to anything from our past.” Noah looked up at her. “And we need to be careful about what we search for online, what we connect to. The Mafia King has resources. If we’re not careful, he can track our digital footprint.”
They spent the morning at a phone store, purchasing new SIM cards with cash. The clerk looked mildly curious about why they needed to change numbers so urgently but didn’t ask questions. Cash transactions had a way of encouraging discretion.
Back at the apartment, Noah installed the new SIMs and made sure all their old data was backed up and then wiped from the previous numbers. They updated their emergency contacts, which was a short list considering they had no one left from their old lives.
“There,” Noah said finally, leaning back in his chair. “New numbers. No location tracking. We’re as invisible as we can be digitally.”
“Do you think it’ll be enough?”
“I don’t know. But it’s better than doing nothing.”
Nora sat down across from him, reality settling over her like a cold blanket. “Noah, we need to talk about money.”
Noah closed his laptop and gave her his full attention. “How much do we have left?”
Nora had been keeping track, counting every dollar they spent. “We started with fifty thousand from the escape. The apartment deposit and first month’s rent took eight thousand. Clothes, phones, laptops, food, the bus tickets across the border, furnishing this place with basics.” She paused. “We’re down to about twenty-two thousand.”
“That’s not bad. We can make that last a while if we’re careful.”
“Not if we’re just living off it.” Nora’s voice was firm. “Noah, we can’t just sit here and wait for the money to run out. We need income. Real, sustainable income. We need jobs.”
Noah was quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful. “You’re right. I’ve been so focused on staying hidden, I didn’t think about the practical reality. We can’t live off our savings forever. Eventually, we’ll run out. And then what?”
“Exactly. And besides, just sitting here waiting for the Mafia King to find us? That’s not living. That’s just surviving. We didn’t escape Shadowveil to sit in an apartment and be afraid.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I’m suggesting we do what normal people do. We find jobs. We work. We build a life here in Toronto.” Nora leaned forward. “I want to go back to banking.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Banking?”
“It’s what I know. What I’m good at. I have a degree in finance. Years of experience before Shadowveil. I can do this, Noah. I can get a legitimate job and earn legitimate money.”
“But won’t they do background checks? Won’t they ask questions about the five-year gap in your employment?”
“I’ll figure it out. I’ll say I was caring for a sick relative. That I took time off for personal reasons. People do that all the time. And my work history before the kidnapping was solid. Good references, good performance reviews. That has to count for something.”
Noah considered this. “What about your real identity? If you apply under your actual name, Nora Carter, won’t that create a trail back to us?”
“Maybe. But I can’t live under a fake identity forever. And honestly, Nora Carter has been legally dead for years according to Ben. Maybe that works in my favor. I can claim I was held against my will, that I escaped, that I’m trying to rebuild my life. None of that is a lie.”
“It’s risky.”
“Everything is risky. But the alternative is slowly burning through our money until we’re broke and desperate. That’s not the life I want. Is it the life you want?”
Noah shook his head slowly. “No. You’re right.”
“What about you? What do you want to do?”
Noah ran his hand through his hair, thinking. “Tech work. Software development, maybe. IT support. Something that uses my skills but isn’t illegal. I taught myself programming during my time at Shadowveil. The Mafia King needed someone who could handle the technical side of operations. I can use those skills for good instead.”
“Can you get a job without formal credentials?”
“Maybe. Lots of tech companies care more about what you can do than what degrees you have. I can build a portfolio, show them actual projects. Prove I know what I’m doing.”
Nora reached across the table and took his hand. “So we do this. We both go out there and get ourselves a job. A real job. We become real people again.”
“We become real people again,” Noah echoed. “I like the sound of that.”