Page 2 of Slavic

“Rowan,Ilove you too.”

Thephone clicks off, but not beforeIsee the devastation on her face of what’s to come as he grabs her by the hair.Iknow she deliberately turned the phone so thatIcould see this firsthand.Ihave never felt so helpless in my life.Tearsform in my eyes asItry to figure out how to get her the hell out of there as quickly as possible.Thenit hits me, she saidThursdaytwice, and nowIwonder if she meant something else by that.Ugh,Ihate second guessing everything.

I’mso madI’mseeing red.Financially,IknowIcan’t beat him.Becauseof that, where in this world canItake her to get her away from him?Thosethoughts no sooner cross my mind than a picture on an old phone book, lying in a stack of magazinesIintended to read one day, catches my attention.

Thewords across the front are highlighted.Whenyou are scared with nowhere to go, callJanet.Iwonder if this number is still active?Latealready,Iwrite the number down quickly on an old receipt in my purse and head out for my next shift.ThemomentIget to work,Ipick up a double so thatIcan get some extra cash in my pocket.

Ismile distractedly to myself whenIdeliver drinks to the wrong table.Mymind is not here, it’s working on cataloging all the thingsIneed to get ready beforeIcan breakRowanout of thatpretty prison she lives in.IfIcan manage to get her out of there,IknowI’llhave to ditch my car.That’llbe the first thing he tries to track.

Thepart that scares me the most is time; it’s not somethingIthink she has much of.Asteenagers, we had a safe word,Boudreaux.Ifwe were on a date and a guy was making us feel uncomfortable, all we had to do was call and say that word and the other would come immediately.Doesshe doubtI’llcome if she calls and says that one word, because of how longI’vebeen gone?It’sfrustrating, andI’dlove to speak with her one-on-one, but he keeps everything under surveillance.

Evenafter a double shift, sleep eludes me and my brain won’t shut off all night.Swingingmy legs out of bed, my body goes through the routine of getting ready for work automatically.It’sWednesdayandI’malready scheduled for a double, so at leastIwon’t need to pick up an evening shift.Onautopilot,Idon’t even remember getting to work.Forthe most part,I’vemanaged not to screw up any orders as the day wears on.We’rein the middle of a changeover when a large group comes in the door.Beingthe only waitress in that section, they take up all of my attention for the next few hours.Butthey were well worth the effort whenIsee the large tip they left.OnceIhave their tables cleaned up,Itake a second to look at my phone thatI’dfelt buzz a few times earlier.

Myheart hits my throat whenIsee the wordsBoudreauxandThursday, both of which are from an unknown number.Idon’t say a word to a soul asIuntie my apron and make my way toward the back.Grabbingmy bag,Iopen the server’s door and head down the alley to my small apartment.Onceinside,Ipull a worn-out piece of luggage from under the bed.ThenIstart throwing things in thatIcan’t live without.Itonly takes me acouple minutes to get the essentials and asIopen the door to leave,Iglance back to make sureIhaven’t forgotten anything.Rushingback in,Iyank a picture off the wall of me andRowanstanding with mom when we were little.

Idon’t even waste the time locking the door.Deepdown,IknowI’llnever be back here again.Whoeverdiscovers all this second-hand stuff is welcome to it.Rollingmy luggage down the hall, in my headIplan the quickest route toRowan’sfrom here.Witha grin,Ipat the dash as my old faithfulCivicstarts right up.Asilent prayer escapes my lips asIlift the console, my hand searching for the reassuring weight of my pistol and hoping it won’t come to that.Mysister needs me, andNOTHINGwill stop me from getting her out of that house, one way or another.

Eventhough my heart tells me to floor it to get there as quickly as possible, my mind reminds me thatRowansaidThursdayfor a reason.So,Imake myself slow down.Thelast thingRowanneeds is for me to get pulled over for speeding with a loaded weapon in the car.

Fivehours later,Istop at a rest area for a few hours of sleep.Aloud truck flying by in the early morning hours has me jerking straight up out of my seat.Runningmy fingers through my hair,Ishake the grogginess off, start my car back up and head down the road.Stoppingat the first gas stationIcome upon,Igrab a coffee and a stale donut.Igas up before getting back on the road.Lookingdown at the time on my phone, if nothing happens,Ishould get there late this evening.

Chapter Two

RUBY

It’slaterin the evening whenIfinally pull up a block from sis’s house.Okay,I’mhere, what’s next?Pickingup my phone,Itap the locator app we’ve always both had on our phones, and it shows that she’s in the back of the house.Nowthe tricky part is how to get past the security.Thelast thingIwant to do is go through the front door and announce to everyone thatI’mhere.

Suddenly, their gate opens, andIduck down so that the headlights don’t shine on me sitting in the car.Thenice thing about the oldCivicis there is nothing special about her, so we blend in.Peeking,Iwatch as the car slowly passes by, but the windows are so darkIcan’t see who’s inside.Unfortunately,Idon’t know enough about the senator to recognize what he normally drives.

Noticingthe gate was still open,Iwaited a few minutes before sitting up.Istart to get out of the car, because ifIcan sneak in, there’s no doubtIcan get her out.Ino more than reach to open my car door, when someone unexpectedly walks out between a set of shrubs close to whereI’mparked.Ittakes me a moment to realize that it’sRowan; her face is hidden by a hooded sweatshirtand a small bag is slung across her shoulder.Iquickly open the passenger door from the inside as she nears.Thesecond her butt hits the seat,Itake off.

“DrivenormallyRuby.Noneof them knowI’vesnuck out yet.ItoldRobert’sbuddyMarkthatIneeded to use the bathroom.Hewill be looking for me whenIdon’t return in a few minutes.EspeciallysinceI’mthe unpaid entertainment for the evening.ThemomentRobertfinds out they can’t find me, he’ll rush right back to the house, setting his dogs free to find us.”

“Howdid you knowIwas out here?”

“AfterIsent you that text yesterday,Istarted tracking you.ThenIstarted preparing the bestIcould to finally get the hell out of there.Robertseldom leaves me alone with his friends, since he enjoys watching too much.Yesterday,Ioverheard him tellingMarkthat he’d be leaving for an hour or two today, and that he’d be free to play with me all he wanted.Istashed these clothes in the back of the commode and then hid this bag in the toilet paper holder next to it.IknewI’donly have a small window of time to get out of there onceRobertleft the house.Ifyou hadn’t gotten here when you did,Iwas just going to walk around until you got closer.Inever should have waited this long, sis.Allthis timeIwas scared to involve you, butIhad to get out of there.”

“Whataren’t you telling me,Rowan?”

“Alot, … but it’s not somethingI’mready to talk about yet.Ineed to work through this nightmare on my own.I’vemade a mess out of my lifeRuby, and nowI’vedragged you into an impossible situation.Onethat might possibly get both of us buried in a shallow grave if we don’t play our cards right.Ijust knewIwas only a few more punches away from a nervous breakdown.Thesafe placeI’dcreated in my mind to escape the things he wasdoing and allowing others to do to me, was no longer enough.Mygrip on reality was slipping, andIknew you were my only escape.

We’llneed to ditch this car as soon as possible.Thankfully,Idon’t think you’ll be the first person he suspects, but it won’t take long to connect the dots.”Rowanpicks up my phone. “Isthere anything on here you can’t live without; contacts, passwords, bank info?”

“Nope, wrote it all down whenItook a pee break earlier andIwithdrew all my money out of the bank yesterday before work.”

Sherolls her window down and tosses both of our phones out at the same time.Thenshe seems to take a deep breath before pulling off her hood.Ican’t help but gasp at the sight of the extensive bruising on her face and neck.ThesecondIgo to open my mouth, she puts her hand up.

“PleaseRuby, not yet.IpromiseI’lltell you in time, but right now,Ineed you to be the big sister and just get us the hell out of here.”

Shepulls her hood back up before looking away from me.Herentire body seems to be trembling and for a second,Ialmost pull over.I’mnot sure who needs the hug more, her or me andIhave to blink the tears away, “Iwill kill him.”

“Youcouldn’t even get close enough to try … he’s untouchable,Ruby.Ifthere’d been a way,Iwould’ve already taken it.I’vebeen imprisoned in that pretty cage for years, with no clear path on how to get free.Butyou just took his favorite toy away, and he will be on the warpath to get me back.Youneed to understand whatI’mwilling to do, to him or anyone else who tries to force me back.Doyou understand whatI’msaying,Ruby?”

“Loudand clear, sis!Aslong as we’re together and there’s breath left in my body, he’ll never touch you again.Ihave an idea where we can go, butIneed to find a way to get us there with what little cashIhave.Thecar can be traced, a bus is too open, and the moment we bought tickets, he’d know where we’re headed.AnAmtrackwould give us some privacy, butIdon’t know what we’d do once we got off.”

Rowanopens the bag she threw on the floor when she got in and unzips it. “Isthis enough?”

Theentire bottom of it is lined with stacks of cash. “That’ssure gonna help, baby sister.”Rowandoesn’t say much after that.Shesettles down in the passenger seat, her head turned away from me, looking out the window.AsIhead north and out of town, glancing overIcan see her reflection in the window.Tearsflow down her cheeks, but she doesn’t make a sound and that bothers me.Iwonder how long it took her to teach herself to cry silently.

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