Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 732(@200wpm)___ 586(@250wpm)___ 488(@300wpm)
Maybe she would stop and grab some pizza. Ezra had texted her with updates on her son’s rapid recovery. They’d both been eating today, and perhaps if she fed them they wouldn’t have to talk too much.
She needed time to figure out what she wanted to do.
She wished she could call Ariel.
Why shouldn’t she? She could buy a burner phone, call up The Garden, and hope Ari was still living there. Or she could use a computer and bounce the signal around. There were programs that could mask her location.
Did Ariel ever think about her? Or was Ari glad she didn’t have to deal with all the crazy that came with being friends with her.
There was a knock on her office door and then Anna was standing there, a harried look on her face.
“I’m so sorry. I got a call from the school and Leni is sick,” Anna said. “She threw up in the middle of class.”
It really was going around. “No problem. Go on and I’ll close up when it’s time.”
“We only have a few customers.” Anna already had her purse in hand. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Roman is getting over it. It’s only bad for about twenty-four hours. Lots of fluids and she’ll be fine in a couple of days,” Kim advised.
“Thanks so much.” Anna started out the door. “A courier delivered a letter, but I think it was a mistake. I didn’t recognize the name. I’ll check into it tomorrow.”
Anna thanked her again and Kim walked out to the front register. The shop was quiet, but she could hear the murmurs of customers wandering through the back shelves. At least it wasn’t a cruise ship day where she would be bombarded with tourists. She glanced out and it looked like a storm was moving in. The afternoon had turned cloudy.
Did she have an umbrella?
She sold a couple some postcards and a book on the underground tunnels of Valletta and then opened her laptop. She could check the CCTV files from here.
A package caught her eye. It was in one of the courier services flat-rate envelopes and covered in plastic. The markings were in German and claimed it was an overnight guaranteed envelope.
She sighed. It was likely legal papers, and someone was going to be pissed. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d gotten someone else’s mail. She turned it over and then the room seemed to go cold.
K. Solomon
The reason Anna hadn’t recognized the name was because Kim had never told the woman her real name. She went by Kay Bruno.
No one outside of her family knew what her real name was.
Her heart started to race, and she had to force herself to breathe.
Seven years. She’d been all right for seven years. How had they found her?
She tore the letter open and inside was a single slip of paper.
Remember, remember the fifth of November. The People know Reva. Find her.
What the hell did that mean? It didn’t matter because someone knew her real name.
She shoved the letter and packaging in her bag and dragged it over her head, securing the crossbody against her hip. She couldn’t stay. “I’m sorry. I need to close the shop. My son is ill, and I have to pick him up.”
The few patrons in the front of the store walked out without an argument, though she heard a few curse as the rain started.
It didn’t matter. The CCTV tapes didn’t matter either. The letter was all that mattered. That and getting to her son. Her mind raced as she walked the store to make sure she wasn’t about to lock anyone in.
She would need two new passports, but she would take the ferry to Sicily tonight. She would pack up Roman and they could be in Rome by tomorrow. They would rent a room and figure out how to make their way to Australia. Yes. That would be a good start. She had a small flat in Sydney no one should know about.
But then no one was supposed to know she was here in Malta.
She turned down the last aisle and there was a man in a black trench coat, his back turned as he looked up at the books in her biography and memoir section. “Sir, I’m sorry. I’ve got to close the store. I have to pick up my son.”
It wasn’t a lie. She was probably going to pick up her son and take him to an entirely different continent.
God, she wanted Beck. It was right there. She wanted to call him and ask him to help her and not be in this all alone. She wanted him to care about Roman, to know Roman’s dad would do anything to save him.
“Your son?” That voice sent a chill down her spine. The man turned and he was staring at her, his gaze burning every bit as much as it had seven years before. “I hope you’re lying because there’s no room for a child in my plans. Hello, Solo. Long time no see.”