to and fro. He’s told me how he loves that chair because it was my grandpop’s before it was his and all he ever wanted to do was to be like him. I love that chair too. When Daddy’s away for work, I spin until my head gets wobbly.
He stands and goes to the closet in his den. It’s always locked—whether he’s home or away. He takes the phone with him and unlocks the three deadbolts, all with different keys that clank as he moves.
“I can be there by morning and we’ll set this straight. Don’t warn them. At this point, I’ll do it myself.”
When he comes out of the closet, the phone is pressed between his ear and shoulder because his hands are full. He has a gun in one hand and a stack of pounds in the other. I’ve never seen Daddy with a gun before. The only time I’ve ever seen a shooter was on those shows Archer and Devon watch.
“Catch you when I land. I’ll call the States—fill them in.”
“Bella.”
I jump at Mummy’s whispered voice and turn to her as she pulls the door to the den shut with a click, closing me out from Daddy. She narrows her eyes but her pretty pink lips tip up on the side.
She picks me up and puts me on her hip, giving my bum a squeeze. It’s a warning but I’m not worried. Her warnings pack no punch. Neither do Daddy’s. Even so, she leans in close. “Why are you out of bed, sneaking around like a sleuth? It’s late and you should be sleeping.”
My insides twist, but not because I got caught peeping. “Daddy’s leaving?”
Her smile deflates. “Yes, love. But he’ll be back in time for your recital. He promised.”
I frown. “I hate ballet. I want to quit.”
She turns toward the stairs on her way to my bedroom that’s the color of a canary. I hate yellow too. “But all your friends take dance.”
“Miss Mary hates me,” I complain as Mummy tucks me back into my soft bed and snuggles next to me. “She calls me hard-headed and difficult.”
When I’m tucked up against her, she runs her fingers through my messy hair and smiles. “Well, Miss Mary is crazy. You’re beautiful-headed and spirited. She doesn’t understand you.”
I yawn. “Why do you make me go?”
“Because you’re a little lady and ballet will teach you to be graceful.”
“I don’t want to be graceful. I want to take zu zitsu with the boys. It’s not fair.”
“Jiu jitsu,” she corrects gently like she always does when I flub a word. “You love your big brothers, don’t you?”
I nod because she’s right. Archer and Devon aren’t like my friends’ brothers. They don’t pick on me—they include me. Sometimes I think it’s only because Daddy would raise his voice if they didn’t, but I don’t care. “I want to be like them. I don’t want to learn stupid ballet.”
“I agree, it’s not fair. You can do anything you put your mind to and if you want to kick the snot out of a bag like your brothers, then you will. I’ll enroll you for the next session, my little firecracker. But you’ll also keep up with ballet. You’ll thank me someday.”
“Love you, Mummy.” My eyelids get heavy. “I want to say ‘bye to Daddy.”
“Don’t fret. He’ll come in and kiss you. He’d never leave without loves from his beautiful Bella.”
“I’ll stay awake,” I promise, rubbing my face before I look at Mummy and lean in to kiss her nose. Daddy says she looks like a fairy.
She smiles and returns my nose kiss with one of her own. “Yes, you stay awake, little bug.”
It’s the last thing she says before she starts to hum the way she always does—a song I’ve never heard from anyone but her.
My eyes fly open and my body jerks. The pain in my gut is a reminder of where I am, how I got here, and why I’m stuck in Virginia.
“You okay?”
Cole is next to me in bed, yet still so far away. It’s my second night in his bed, in his house, and co-existing with his daughter and father.
I’m barely surviving in an odd purgatory, somewhere between utopia and the deepest pits of reality where dreams and fears collide, rivaling an eruption not seen in modern-day warfare.
I say this and I’m not an overly-dramatic woman. I mean, I have found ways to flourish while hiding out in Pakistan, amassing information on some of the most brazen terrorists in