Flynn’s guard partner, Zeke, led the way. Flynn fell in step behind him, both scanning the hallway and patient rooms ceaselessly as they made their way through the quiet corridors. They passed nurses working at their stations and orderlies collecting dinner trays and placing them on carts. Zeke abruptly turned into the stairwell, leading them straight across the landing and to a second corridor.
Valerie stayed quiet, used to the way the two men moved with meticulous intention. Everything they did was for a reason, and Valerie trusted them to keep her safe.
They had so far.
They emerged from the stairwell, her nerves stretched tight, stomach tense, and the men led her through an unmarked door that led to the staff elevator. Narrower than the main elevators, they were shoulder to shoulder as they rode down to the parking garage. There, a plain black sedan waited with the engine running.
Flynn opened the rear door, and Ellie slid across the back seat, making room for Valerie. Flynn got in the front driver’s seat as Zeke jogged the short distance across the aisle to another sedan identical to theirs. Valerie had just clicked her seatbelt in place when Flynn drove them out of the shadows of the looming cement pillars and into a bright street full of cars.
She blinked rapidly. Even through the tint of the window, the sudden light and the warmth of the actual sun made her eyes water.
“It’s rush hour,” Flynn explained, smiling at them in the rearview mirror. “It will be harder for someone to keep track of us with so much traffic.”
Valerie’s heart rate quickened, and she turned to look out the back glass. Zeke and another man she didn’t recognize were a few car lengths back. The rest of the cars in the lanes surrounding seemed terrifyingly mundane. There was no way to know what kind of evil the tinted windows concealed.
They could be surrounded by people just like Arthur Fink and Tucker Penland, and they would have no way of knowing. Valerie’s breathing shortened, and after a few rapid breaths, she felt lightheaded. As she had many times, she fell back on the mantra that had gotten her through the worst days of her life.
Your name is Valerie Price, and you will get out of this alive.
The moment of panic passed, and with it, the overwhelming feeling of being exposed and vulnerable.
Ellie squeezed her hand and shot her a reassuring smile. “We’re not being followed. This is just a precaution.” She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope so thick the flap barely reached far enough for the adhesive to seal it shut. “Maybe it isn’t the right time for this, but my family wanted to give you something to help make the transition a little easier when this is all over.”
Valerie frowned, taking the envelope and testing the weight without opening it. “What is it?”
“Money.”
Valerie shook her head and held it back out to Ellie. “I already can’t possibly repay you for everything you’ve done. I can’t take this too. It wouldn’t be right.”
“It’s not from me. It’s from my parents.”
“Why?”
Ellie shrugged one shoulder. “Because they want to make sure you’re taken care of after this is over. When you have a new life.”
Valerie stared down at the envelope. “They don’t know me.”
“But they know your story, and people are touched by your bravery.”
Valerie scoffed. “I’m not brave. I was a victim. I did what I could to make it through.”
“You survived, and you found a way to keep your sanity through years of torture and captivity. Most of us can’t even imagine living through what you did, but you survived and came out stronger. You triumphed over the greatest evil. Never diminish that.”
Valerie’s chest grew tight, making it impossible to speak the myriad of thoughts running through her head. She cleared her throat, swiping at the tears that spilled over her cheeks. “Thank you for never giving up on me and coming after me, even when everyone else said I was probably dead. I wouldn’t be here without you.”
“I just wish I would’ve found you sooner.”
The car accelerated when it hit the freeway, taking them north, out of the city and away from the ocean. “I guess we’re not staying in town?”
“Not exactly. You have to lay low until the trial.” Ellie’s lips tightened, and she sighed. “After the trial, I’m sure you’ll be put into witness protection, so you can start a new life away from all this.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, but until then, it will be unnerving; you won’t know where you are.”
“What about now? The district attorney said something about protective custody, but I thought that was two cops and a hotel room.”
Ellie laughed. “It is, which is why I told them no.” Her smile slipped. “Well, not the only reason.”
“Do you think the D.A. can be trusted?”
“Yes, I do. But not beyond convicting Arthur Fink for buying you and holding you captive in his basement. Do I trust the D.A. to keep you safe until you can testify? Absolutely not.”
“And we can’t trust anyone at Charleston PD,” Valerie offered.
Ellie shook her head. “I can’t believe that Jones was the only dirty cop on the payroll. The only way to keep you safe is to do it myself.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Ellie’s skin flushed a soft pink, but she waved her hand and changed the subject, clearly uncomfortable being the hero. “Until we know who is involved, it’s better to keep you close.”
The sedan exited the highway, driving three blocks before stopping in front of a gate that protected a private parking garage.
“Can you tell me where we’re going?”
Ellie nodded as the sedan slipped through the open gate and around the corner. “Right now, you’re getting into another car.”
Valerie rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Funny.”
“You’ll be there soon enough.”
Valerie stiffened. “You? Don’t you
