Page 17 of Two For the Show
Because I know that voice.
It haunts my nightmares—the soundtrack to my torment.
“I was wondering if you’ve seen this woman,” Tripp says, no doubt holding up a picture of me on his phone.
“Can I look at that a little closer?” Sylvia asks, reaching for his phone. My heart is pounding out of my chest as I watch from the corner of my eye, hiding underneath the counter. He places it in her small hand, and she pulls it close to her face, squinting like she’s not able to see well. “Mmm, I don’t think so. Why?”
“Well, this is my Omega, Alex, and she’s missing.”
I want to scream. I’m not his Omega. I never have been and I never will be.
“We have reason to believe she’s in danger, and we got a report that she was sighted here, at your cart.”
Sylvia clicks her tongue. “I serve a lot of customers a day, sweetie. I’m sorry that I don’t remember her.”
“They said she works here.” I can hear the frustration in his voice, and it makes me flinch. I recognize that tone, and I know where this is going next. He’ll grab Sylvia by the apron and haul her closer, nearly spitting in her face as he barks her into submission. It happened to me enough times that I am intimately in tune with every slight twitch, every curl of his lip that heralds his moods. I’m about to stand up and turn myself over to protect her, this woman who has done so much for me, but it seems, this one time, Tripp can keep himself together.
“Oh, hm? I guess that kind of looks like Julie,” she says, pulling the phone closer. “But Julie has blue hair. She also quit a few days ago.” She hands his phone back to him with a sad sigh. “Sorry, I couldn’t be of more help. For what it’s worth, Julie didn’t seem like she was in danger. She was happy.”
I hear a huff and close my eyes tightly, my meadow calling my name. But I can’t escape this time. I need to be present for this. I’ll never forgive myself if he hurtsSylvia, and I didn’t stop it because I was hiding in my mind.
No, I have to keep my wits about me. I need to know when he’s gone.
“Do you happen to have a forwarding address or anything?” My tormentor says tightly. “I’d greatly appreciate any information you have so I can recover my Omega.”
Recover. Like I’m a wallet he lost, or a car that was stolen. Not like I’ve fled him for fear of my life.
But acknowledging that would require him to admit he had done something wrong, and he would never do that.
“Sure, I can give you her phone number, if that helps. Oh, also, I know! She said she was moving to Bakersville.”
Bakersville is about a ten hour drive from here. She’s giving me time to get out of here before they realize it’s a dead end and come back here to hunt me down again.
Because they will.
Someone called the hotline and told them I was here, working at this cart. I’m not safe here anymore.
My heart aches at having to leave Sylvia. I’ve grown so used to her presence, her care. Most importantly, her friendship. I haven’t had a friend in a long time, and I don’t want to give her up.
Eventually, after Sylvia rattles off a fake phone number, I hear Tripp walk away and a car start up. Sylvia is leaning across the counter on her elbows. After a few moments, she pulls the shade down, closing the food truck.
“Coast is clear, Lexi,” she says softly. “But I think you know what this means.” I whimper a little at her words, not wanting to admit the truth. “It’s time for you to go.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I whine, wrapping my arms around my knees. “I have nowhere to go.”
Slowly, she lowers herself to the ground in front of meand grabs my hands. “Now, you know that’s not true. You do have somewhere to go. It’s time to go back to the circus.”
“I’m scared,” I admit. “What if they don’t want me back?”
“Would those boys have gone through all of those dramatics if they didn’t want you back? They wanted you to know you were safe to return. Otherwise, they would’ve quietly kicked those Alphas out and moved on with their lives.”
I switch tactics. “I don’t want to leave you.”
She sighs heavily, closing her eyes. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, not until it was finalized, but I’m selling the truck, Lexi.”
“What? But you love this truck. It’s your dream.”
“It was. But I’m ready to retire. I’ve had a long, hard life, and I want to enjoy the rest of it.”
