LOGINRay and Dominic were still at the table working things out when Maya felt it.Not like the night before. That was soft and unsure. This was something else. Low and tight and it took her breath for a second.She sat there and didn't say anything.Marta was washing up at the sink and looked over at her. Women notice these things faster than men do."How long," Marta said quietly.Maya looked at her. "Just started," she said.Marta dried her hands slowly and came and sat next to her. Felt her stomach with both hands, firm and sure like Alice did."How far apart," Marta said."First one," Maya said. "Just now."Marta nodded. "Okay," she said. "Don't say anything to them yet."Maya looked at Ray and Dominic still talking at the other end of the table, low and serious, going back and forth about the two men."Okay," Maya said.Ten minutes later another one came. She gripped the edge of the table and breathed through it and Dominic didn't notice but Ray did and he looked at Marta and Marta g
They moved after dark.Didn't have much. Two bags between them, the coffee can with what was left of their money, Maya's packed bag for the baby that she grabbed last.Dominic checked the street from the window before they went down. Quiet out there. Nobody sitting in cars, nobody hanging around near the building.They walked the two streets to Ray's fast as Maya could manage which wasn't very fast at all at thirty six weeks but she didn't complain and Dominic didn't rush her.Marta opened the door before they even knocked.She looked at Maya first, then the bags, then stepped back without saying anything and let them in.The back room was small. Bed pushed against the wall, one window that looked out at the yard, small lamp on the floor. Clean though. Sheets fresh, towel folded on the end of the bed."Bathroom's across the hall," Marta said. "I put things in there you might need.""Thank you," Maya said.Marta looked at her the way she looked at people, straight and steady. "have You
Three days after Marcus left town things felt different.Not good exactly. Just lighter. Like the air in the room had changed a little bit.Maya noticed it in Dominic first. He came home from work and actually ate properly and sat with her after instead of going quiet in the corner with his thoughts. They watched something on his phone together, some old film she'd already seen twice before, and she fell asleep against his shoulder halfway through and he left her there.Small things. But she noticed.Friday evening Ray knocked and Dominic let him in and they sat at the table and Ray brought two beers and they drank them slow while Maya had water and listened to them talk about nothing much. Work, the weather turning, some road getting dug up two streets over.Normal talk.After Ray left Maya said, "You feel it too don't you.""Feel what," Dominic said."Like we can breathe a bit," Maya said.Dominic looked at her. "Little bit yeah," he said. "Don't want to say it too loud.""I know,"
Dominic woke up before the alarm.Lay there in the dark for a bit staring at the ceiling then got up quiet so he didn't wake Maya and got dressed and made himself a cup of tea and sat at the small table drinking it slow.Six thirty in the morning and already his stomach was off.Maya stirred around seven and looked over at him from the bed."You slept," she said."Little bit," he said.She pushed herself up slow and sat on the edge of the mattress. "Eat something before you go," she said."Not hungry," he said."Eat anyway," she said.He made toast and ate it standing at the sink and then pulled his jacket on.Maya looked at him from the bed. "You got your phone.""Yeah," he said."Call me straight after," she said."I will," he said.He went out.Pitcher Road was on the other side of town, fifteen minute walk. Dominic took it slow, hands in his pockets, head down.Small motel, eight rooms, the kind of place that rented by the week and didn't ask questions. Peeling paint on the office
Dominic was back in forty minutes.Maya heard him on the stairs before the door opened. She knew his walk by now. The way he came up heavy when something was on his mind.He came in and sat down and kept his jacket on."Ray knows him," Dominic said.Maya looked up. "Knows Marcus.""Not personally," Dominic said. "But he's seen him around. Says he's been here four days already. Staying at that motel on Pitcher Road.""Did Ray talk to him," Maya said."Marta did," Dominic said. "Ran into him at the laundromat two days back. She didn't know who he was, just talked to him the way she talks to everybody.""What did he say to her," Maya said."Said he came to see an old friend," Dominic said. "Didn't give a name. Just said an old friend who moved out this way a while back."Maya sat with that."He's here for you," she said."Yeah," Dominic said."Ray say anything else," Maya said."Said he'd been asking around," Dominic said. "Nothing too obvious. Just chatting people up. Asking how long fo
Dominic saw him first.Wednesday morning outside Chang's, two blocks from their place. Just standing there with a coffee cup staring at his phone like he had nowhere to be.Dominic walked past without changing anything. Eyes forward. Turned the corner and put his back flat against the wall.Marcus.Out of everyone. Marcus.Same street growing up. Same crowd all through their teens. Marcus knew his real name, knew his face before the beard, knew things about him that nobody in this town would ever figure out just from looking.Dominic stood there till his head settled then went the long way to work.He called Maya on his lunch."Something came up," he said.Her voice shifted straight away. "What.""Guy from back home," Dominic said. "Saw him outside Chang's this morning just standing there."Quiet for a second."You certain it was him," Maya said."No doubt," Dominic said."Did he look at you," Maya said."Don't think so," Dominic said. "I kept moving and didn't slow down.""Come strai







