I make sure the image of Kristine, broken on the floor is burned deep into my memory, before I turn around and walk away from her.
It’s the least I can do. I’ll give her some space.
~*~
Chapter Thirty
Kristine~
I hear a beep. “We’re here. You’re not here. Hellloooo!” The message echoes through the answering machine into the rest of my apartment. I lift my head up and blink against the bright light filling my apartment.
Right after he left I locked the store, and then checked it a hundred times more to make sure I locked everything. I had a restless night. Sleep never quite took me.
I glance at the watch in my small kitchen. Shit, it’s already past nine! The message! Riza and Kelly must be down at the door.
I scramble from bed and run down the stairs. I trip over a box that wasn’t there before to get to the door. I unlock it quickly and yank it open. I look up the street but don’t see them, looking down the street I see them walking towards the ocean. “Hey!” I call out. “Riza, Kelly!” They both turn at the same time and when they see me waving like a loon they come back. “I’m sorry. I overslept.”
I hug them each and then let them into the store. “Oh wow, it’s beautiful,” Riza exclaims, then she looks at me, “but you look like shit. What’s going on? I thought everything was going well?”
Kelly turns to look at me, as well. “Yeah, you’re eyes are puffy. Have you been crying?”
“I’ll tell you later,” I wave their concern away. “Let’s go get coffee.” I plaster a fake smile to my face. “I’m so glad you both made it!”
I fix us each a cup of coffee and then get dressed while the girls drink theirs. I’m not opening the store today so I slip into shorts and a t-shirt.
“I’ll be right back,” I excuse myself and go downstairs. I want to make sure I locked the door. That’s when I spot the boxes again. There are two. I open one and see that they’re filled with copies of Hollow, Liza’s book.
And then it hits me squarely between the eyes – Liza’s sons – Garrett and Justin! Her story is about Andrea. No! This can’t be happening to me!
“Hey, you said you’d be right back. We didn’t travel all this way to not see you,” Kelly jokes.
“Oh, is that the book?” Riza asks.
I try to hide the shock on my face before I look up at them. I don’t want my feelings to affect them negatively towards Liza. She had nothing to do with what happened to us. I drop the book back into the box. “We need to talk.”
“About what,” Riza gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Is that what I look like? She picks up a book and reads the blurb on the back. Her eyes dart to mine. “What’s this, Kristine? You never told us the book is about a kidnapping.”
I shake my head and feel the tears coming. So much for hiding my feelings from them! “Not just any kidnapping. It’s about Andrea and her family.”
Riza knows who Andrea is, but Kelly never met her. “Who’s Andrea?” Kelly asks.
Before I can answer Riza grabs hold of my arm. “Have you seen her? Have you seen Justin?”
I nod. “The author is their mother.”
“You have to go to the police!” Kelly shouts, her face scrunching up with anger.
“Where is he?” Riza asks. I see the desperation in her eyes. I’d recognize that look anywhere. I’ve seen it in the mirror every single day since we got free.
“What happened is over,” I say to both of them. “Can’t we just move on with our lives?”
Riza covers her mouth and for a moment stares at nothing. She shakes her head. “I have to see him. I have to talk to him.”
I don’t want to see Garrett again. I’m still not ready to face him. I’m not sure how I feel about him being back in my life.
“Please, Sis,” Riza begs through tears. “I need to see him.”
“Riza, he didn’t buy you,” I remind her harshly, hoping to make her realize this is a bad idea. “He didn’t want you.”
“I know he wants me. You don’t know what we shared. He cares about me!” she screams. “He has to care about me.”
I walk over to the counter and write down Liza’s address. “I’m not going with you. I don’t want to see any of them today.” I hold the paper out to her and she hurries to reach for it. “Don’t tell Liza that you know me. I don’t want tomorrow to be a disaster. When the signing is done you can do what you want, but just for tomorrow I want peace.”
“This is a bad idea,” Kelly snaps. She might not have been through what we have but she still suffered in her own way.