Chapter 18:

ELENA

Julia joined me in my room shortly after dinner.

“We should talk about what comes next. You don’t have to decide tonight but I’d like you to consider staying.”

I pressed my palms between my thighs to keep from fidgeting. “Stay,” I echoed, the word tasting both like a promise and a warning.

“Yes,” she said. “You've seen this place. We can keep you safe.”

I swallowed hard.

“I saw something I wasn't supposed to see,” I said finally, each word dragging its own weight. “Safety isn't possible for me anywhere where Brad can reach me.”

Julia didn’t say anything.

“He’ll never stop looking for me.” My voice cracked. “I should get as far away from here as possible. I can’t let him find us.”

“Brad?” Julia exhaled, leaning forward slightly. “That's… his name?”

I nodded.

“Why didn't you go to the police? We can contact-”

“He is the police, Julia.”

I shook my head.

“I can’t,” I said more quietly. “I don't trust them. I won’t gamble with my baby’s life.”

Julia’s eyes held mine. “Your baby matters. So do you. We can protect you here.”

I looked away, blinking against the sting in my eyes then murmured, “You've already done more than enough. If he finds me here, he'll-” I paused for a beat. “He'll hurt you for even helping me.”

“Where's your phone?” she asked as if she didn't hear me.

“I dumped it at Lawrence.”

She nodded.

“You said earlier that you walked to the cemetery.”

“Yes.”

She rose, taking me with her.

“Come with me.”

We stepped outside.

“Look around you,” she whispered. “Really look.”

And I did.

Except for the chirping of crickets and rustling of leaves, the night was still.

It took a moment before I saw what she wanted me to see - the security.

Like air, it was constant, yet unseen. It was felt only in the quiet glide of staff and the faint hum of hidden cameras, never disturbing the warmth.

“You did well to dump your phone. You just might have saved your lives.” she said. “And before Brad reaches you here, we'll smell him from miles away.”

She paused before continuing.

“The Family Center was established for children, however, I won't turn a blind eye when someone truly needs the help I know we can provide. Let me help you save that baby.”

Before I realized what I was doing, I drew the sonogram from my pocket and showed it to her.

“Oh dear,” she gushed quietly.

“Give me your word, and I'll stay. No police,” I said at last.

“And at the first sign of trouble, I’m gone. No arguments.”

Julia squeezed my hand, a quiet promise in her touch. "We'll watch for those signs together. And have your escape plan mapped out in advance.”

The night drew in around us like a fragile truce.

I let out a slow breath, letting the moment settle over me like a cloak.

Just tonight, I let myself believe that this place would keep its promises.

~~~~~

Third Person POV

“Harley, huh?” Julia said to Ary over the phone.

“I missed one dinner, and you ditched me for Harley?” she asked in feigned annoyance.

“It's something I have to do for him,” Ary replied. “I'll be back before you know it.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Julia,” he hesitated a beat before continuing, “Dina came by that night.”

Julia blinked.

“What? By the house?”

“Mm.”

Julia let out a quiet breath.

“I should've been there.”

“No,” he corrected.

“Whatever kept you away, kept the situation from becoming something more than it was.”

A knowing pause stretched between them. Dina had never bothered to hide her dislike for Julia.

“What did she say?” Julia asked.

“She didn't.”

Julia's voice softened.

“Didn't or couldn't, Ary? Did you send her away?”

Silence.

The kind that meant he wouldn’t talk about it.

When he finally spoke, all he said was, “Take care of yourself, Julia.”

Then, the line went dead.

Julia lowered her phone slowly, her chest tight with a familiar ache - the kind that came from caring too much for a man who’d spent most of his life building walls no one was able to climb.

~~~~~

Back in Everett, Brad has just told the Morano brothers that Elena had left with the file he made to blackmail them.

At first, the room fell silent. Then Alexi exploded.

“You let your woman take off with evidence you gathered against us?”

“You sent her running off,” Brad fired back.

“Yeah?” Alexi scoffed. “You mean we helped her pack that lil’ bag with the cash and passport to go with, huh? She was already set to leave your sorry ass when we got there.”

That stung Brad’s pride.

“Shut the hell up,” Brad huffed.

His voice cracked with a sharp, angry edge.

“She panicked. That’s all. She won’t get far. But we need to work together. That's why I'm here.”

“Unbelievable,” Alexi croaked and began pacing.

Toni, who had been quiet, finally spoke.

“Enough.”

His voice landed soft but final, slicing through Alexi’s pacing and Brad’s anger alike.

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His eyes hardened.

“Where is she?”

Brad hesitated.

“I'm not sure.”

Alexi threw both hands in the air and dropped into a chair with a frustrated groan.

Toni blinked slowly.

“You walk in here to tell me that bullshit?”

He rose from his chair, the movement quiet but heavy.

“You lose the girl. You lose the evidence. And now you lose your damn tongue when I ask you a question?”

He stepped closer, voice turning soft and lethal.

“You better start talking. Because if you don’t know where she is, I need a damn good reason to keep you alive long enough to find out.”

“She took a train to Boston,” Brad spilled finally. “I'm just coming from there. And I didn’t find her.

Toni’s jaw tightened.

“Does she have family there?”

“She has no one and no money,” Brad insisted. He stepped toward Toni, almost desperate.

“She's scared and confused. If I have help, I'll find her soon.”

“Scared and confused women go to the police,” Toni countered.

“Nothing there. I checked.” Brad half-snapped. “She doesn't trust the cops.”

Alexi snorted.

“Surprise, surprise.”

“Or,” Toni murmured, standing face-to-face with Brad until their breaths mingled, “she's bidding her time.”

He let the words sink in before speaking again.

“She’s not coming out of this alive. And as for you, I have a tombstone with your name on it. If you fuck this up any further, you’ll learn what a slow death really feels like.”

Brad didn’t flinch, but the threat slid under his skin like a blade.

Toni stepped back, dismissing him with a glance, but Brad held still for a heartbeat longer, forcing his breath steady.

He’d dealt with violent men his whole career. Men who threatened. Men who barked.

But Toni Morano wasn’t doing any of that.

No matter the outcome, he was a dead man.

That was why he intended to find Elena before the Moranos did because his life depended on it.

He straightened, masking the churn behind his ribs with a practiced, empty calm.