Page 18 of Demitri

“Her name is Linda. Everyone refers to her as Aunt Linda. She’s a…contact for various organizations. A handler of sorts. She knows things. She knows all the things.”

“Including your secrets?”

“All of my secrets.”

“Oh.”

I know what she’s asking. Does she know about her?

“Yes, she knows who you are,Krasotka. I told her about you a long time ago.”

“You did?”

Without taking my eyes from the road, I let her in on a secret. “I never left Rock Hill when all the shit with my family went down. I just disappeared from public. But I never left.”

“Why not? And if you never left, how come I never saw you?”

“I couldn’t leave you,” I admit. “But I knew it wasn’t safe to be around you, either. People were trying to find me, and if I was with you, they might have hurt you to get to me.”

“What’s changed?” she quietly asks. “How is that not any different than what’s going on now?”

“We don’t know for sure what’s going on now, for one. And I don’t know that I could find it in myself to walk away from you no matter what’s going on.”

“Why?”

“I’m not strong enough. That’s why.”

She doesn’t ask any more questions, and I offer no more answers. When we pull into the parking lot behind The Center, the local community space in Briar Mountain, the air in the cab is thick with unsaid words. Maybe one day we’ll be able to really talk about things, but right now there’s other shit to worry about.

“Are you ready?” I ask, turning off the truck.

“Since I’m not really sure what to expect, sure!” She gives me a fake smile and wide eyes, and I laugh at her reply.

“Same. I feel exactly the same. Let’s go see how much my life is fucked, shall we?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

MIA

I followDemitri into what looks like apartment buildings, my anxiety spiking. I knew there were some housing units behind the community center, I volunteered here when I was in college, but I thought they were all for recovery and rehab. We pass three little kids playing in the lobby and a woman who, if I had to guess, is their mom. She looks haunted and has a full arm cast, along with some bruising on her face. I look at Demitri, who just shakes his head and keeps walking, quietly saying hello to the woman, who shrinks back from him. Well, that’s familiar.

Only when we are in the elevator does he speak again. “This is a place for people trying to get away from bad situations. Families, women, men. The guys in the bar last night? That’s what they do.”

“I knew they helped people. I just didn’t know they brought them here.”

“Not all of them, but Daniel’s parents own this place, and they restructured the housing spaces back here a few years back. One building has space dedicated to some of the older residents of town who need a little assistance and don’t have family to turn to. The other units in the building are reserved for the families that need help. Some end up staying while others go to a safemember of their family or start brand new lives with the help of the friends here.”

We step off the elevator and make our way down the hall where Demitri knocks on a door with a gold four on it. The lady who answers is not exactly what I’m expecting. She’s on the shorter side, maybe five-two, five-three, with the bob haircut of all women who aren’t quite ready to go full pixie. It’s brown with gray woven into the color. She could be fifty or seventy, I’m not sure, but it’s her eyes that take me aback. They are piercing. Like they can see right into the center of my soul and they know all my secrets without me ever opening my mouth. I want to think she’s a friend, but the self-preservation side of me fears she could easily be my foe.

“Dem.” She smiles, leaning in so he can kiss her cheek. “This her?” She shrewdly eyes me up and down.

“This is Mia,” he answers, and I can tell he’s rolling his eyes without looking at him.

“Ah, Mia Alexander. Aged thirty-one, owner of City Brews, formerly Mia’s Place. From Hamilton, Montana, daughter of Lee and Mary Alexander. Sister of Caleb and Lena, aunt to?—”

“Aunt Linda,” Demitri cuts her off harshly. “That’s plenty of showing off. Want to invite us in so we can get this show on the road?”

I’m staring at the two of them, and a large part of me wants to run. Who the hell is this lady and why does she know so much about me? And my family?

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