Page 115 of Stolen for Keeps
“Hey,” I said, my voice thin. “My car won’t start. Can you pick me up at the garden center?”
“Of course, sweetheart. Be right there.”
I ended the call but didn’t move. I couldn’t. I just sat there in the dim car and stared at the empty lot, half-expecting something else to crawl out of the dark. Afraid that the thug hadn’t really gone. Certain that his boss might already be watching.
Then, headlights came. Too bright. Too sudden. I flinched before I registered the truck.
Noah.
His door hadn’t even fully opened before he was on his feet and moving. He wasn’t running. He was charging.
I bolted out of the car and collided with him. His arms snapped around me so fast that it stole what breath I had left.
“Maya,” he murmured. “What happened?”
Because he already knew it wasn’t the car. I didn’t shake like this over dead batteries.
He guided me to his truck, helped me inside, then climbed in and pulled me close, his hands locking behind my back. Like if he let go, something worse than tonight might happen.
“Tell me,” he urged.
It was too late to pretend.
“A guy…he came out of nowhere and threatened me. He wants the necklace. Said it was for his boss. Either Uncle David or Annamaria…or both.”
His breath caught. Then his hold tightened, as if his instincts needed to shield before his brain could catch up. “I’m so sorry, Blue.”
He kissed the top of my head, and for a moment, I let that silence hold me up.
“He said to drop it in the trash bin next to the memorial. Tomorrow. Noon.”
“It’s a trap,” Noah said immediately.
“What if it’s not?” I reasoned. “What if it’s my chance to finally get rid of it?”
He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “They’re not looking for peace. They’re looking for control. And you know it.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“And he asked when I took it,” I said quietly.
“What’d you tell him?”
“A lie. I said I did it on Annamaria’s birthday. Five weeks ago.”
He exhaled, but it didn’t sound like relief. “Good. That buys us time.” Then his voice dipped lower. “But from now on, you stay near me. No more distance. No more walking alone. You stay where I can see you. You understand me?”
I pressed my forehead to his chest. The smell of him—sun-dried sweat, flannel, and that trace of sawdust he always carried—wrapped around me. It was something real in a moment that didn’t feel real.
32
MAYA
We hadn’t slept much. Maybe a couple of hours tops. Between the ticking clock on the necklace and everything waiting for us at noon, neither of us had managed to truly rest.
Right now, though, Noah was out cold, his bare chest peeking out from under the sheet, his one arm flung carelessly across the bed. He’d finally let himself stretch, not to claim space, but because he’d earned the right to it.
He didn’t know it, but he was heartbreakingly beautiful when he slept.
