Page 28 of Mountain Refuge

There were no words to describe the fear I had felt in that moment. Lydia had screamed so loudly I’d thought she’d been shot too.

Corbin took Henry from my arms. I hadn’t realized until then that he’d taken off his jacket. He was wearing a long sleeve beige shirt. His pants looked like the same polyester material of the suit Brooke donned before going outside.

I appreciated him taking the baby. As much as it comforted me to have Henry in my arms, I needed space right then. I needed to move. We silently swapped seats. He sat on the bed holding Henry and I started pacing the room.

“I felt like I was running throughJell-o. I couldn’t get to her fast enough. The man started to slump over. She would have been crushed under him if he’d fallen with her still in his lap. I caught her just in time. She wascoveredin blood. It was all over her face, her hair, her pink dress… She was screaming and crying, clutching me like I was her lifeline.

“Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gunther put the gun down. Then he instructed me to take Lydia out of the room and he’d find me later.” I shuddered. “He was socalm. It was…unnerving. He’d just shot a man with his own daughter on the man’s lap, inches from where the bullet had passed by, and he was just sitting there cool and collected.

“I knew the man was cruel. I knew he was calculating and ruthless when it came to business. I’d been working for the man for six years at that point, I’d picked up on some things. But amurderer? A psychopath?” I shook my head. “I never saw that coming.”

I continued my pacing. I could feel my palms sweating andmy fast heartbeat. I was grateful I’d eaten a light lunch, or it probably would have already come back up by now.

“I knew I had to call the cops, but Lydia was my priority. I had to get her cleaned up and she was so hysterical. I kept going over and over in my head what I needed to say to the police. I didn’t want to forget a single detail, including which drawer in his desk Gunther had put his gun in. That would be evidence. It hit me then that I didn’t even know the man’s name. I hated him for having touched Lydia, but I’d also seen him be murdered. And I didn’t even know his name.

“I guess I was in shock myself. My thoughts just kept whirling in my head like my brain had been thrown into a blender. I remember thinking that nothing had to change once Gunther went to jail. Trenton would inherit the mansion and would take guardianship of Lydia. He’d let me stay and continue caring for her. Nothing had to change.” I shook my head, looking up at the ceiling. “I was so foolish. Of course, a man like Gunther was prepared for me to go to the police.

“I had just gotten Lydia calmed down enough to sleep when Gunther came to my rooms. I hadn’t had a chance to make my phone call yet. In the all the years that I’d been there, Gunther had never come to my rooms. When he needed to talk to me, I was always summoned to his office. It was where he held the most power and authority. That washisdomain. So, for him to show up in my rooms… I truly thought he was there to kill me. Sick as it was, I was grateful Lydia was asleep, so she didn’t have to watch my murder too.

“Up to that point, despite the heinousness of the murder itself, a part of me believed or wanted to believe he’d done it to protect his daughter. After all, the man had had his hand up her skirt.” I turned to Corbin. “Cor, he didn’t even care about me seeing the murder. He didn’t care about the man touchingLydia. What he cared about was that I never repeated what I’d overheard about the shipment coming in.”

“What shipment?”

“Exactly. I had no idea what he was talking about. I’d been so concerned about Lydia that I hadn’t even paid attention to what was said between Gunther and the investor. Still, I swore that I’d never repeat what I heard. It was the truth, as I had no idea what was said anyway, but I knew he wouldn’t believe me if I said that. Gunther nodded once and told me that I wasn’t to bring Lydia around again until he specifically said otherwise. I was starting to get my hopes up that that was it and he would leave, then I could call the police and report the murder.

“But then, Gunther pulled a gun out of his coat pocket. I froze. Gunther waved off my concern like my reaction to the weapon was foolish. When Gunther held up the gun, I realized it was in a plastic bag. Now I’m no expert on weapons, but even I could tell that this gun was different than the one he’d used to shoot the investor. I didn’t understand why he was showing it to me.

“Gunther then reminded me of how I was fingerprinted at the start of my employment. He never came out and said my fingerprints were on that gun, but the implication was there. He said something along the lines of, it would be a shame if the police were made aware of what had happened that night because the only weapon they would find would be the one he was holding, and it wasn’thisfingerprints that were on the gun.

“Before I could even fully process the threat, he was gone.”

“Fuck. And you were fingerprinted when you started?”

I nodded solemnly. “I thought it was all part of the background screening required to take the job.

“Later, after Trenton had heard what happened, he came to my room to check on Lydia. After I’d taken the job as Lydia’s nanny, I’d been moved to a bigger room that was attached to herthen-nursery, now-bedroom. It was late and she’d already woken up screaming from a nightmare, so I had had her in bed with me. Trenton sat on the bed on her other side. For all his faults as a teen, he truly did care about his sister.Thatwas when I discovered why that man had died. He’d been skimming money from Gunther. Trenton told me he would have died whether he’d touched Lydia or not. Then Trenton made me swear that, no matter what, I never repeated that I now knew his family money came from human trafficking.”

“Holy fuck,” Corbin breathed out. Then he winced when he looked down at the baby in his arms. “Oops. I mean, holy fudge-sicles.”

Despite the story I was telling, a humorless laugh escaped me. “Thankfully, he’s too young to remember any of this.”

“A good thing.” Corbin looked at the closed door then back at me. “What does Lydia remember?”

“Too much, unfortunately. She still has nightmares, wets the bed, and she knows that her birth dad is a very bad man.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

I gave him a sorrowful look. “It gets worse.”

“Well, shit.”

“Gunther didn’t summon Lydia again for about six months. I tried to make her life as normal as possible, tried to get her to open up about what had happened so she could process it, but she wasterrifiedof Gunther. Sometimes when Trenton came in to visit, she was scared of him too before she realized he was her brother and not her father. Trenton never held it against her, but I could tell it bothered him.

“Lydia was six by then. She knew what had happened wasn’t right or normal. I started studying child psychology more in depth so I could better help her. She’d been making progress, less nightmares and she hadn’t wet the bed in a couple of weeks, but I didn’t know what facing Gunther would do to her. I was sograteful when it was Trenton who came to get us. I knew he would protect her if I couldn’t get to her in time.

“Lydia was very quiet during the meal. She hadn’t acknowledged Gunther as he demanded she did when she attended these gatherings. I could tell he was not happy about how she entered the room without greeting him, but he didn’t draw attention to it in front of his guests.

“Dinner came and went. Trenton was even able to get a smile out of Lydia by making funny faces at her from across the table. Then, after dinner, we were summoned to his office. Trenton, Lydia, and me.” I swallowed hard. “As soon as we entered, Gunther slapped Lydia across the face.”

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