It surprises me just how strongly and assuredly I feel this way. After all, we barely know each other, at least by conventional standards. And we were never meant to fall into this kind of dynamic, were we? I was going to be his student and he my disciplined mentor. But now every little stepping stone of the life path I designed for myself is being overgrown with weeds, obscuring the destiny I once saw so clearly before.
I haven’t talked to my parents in so long. I wonder if they worry about me. I’m sure they do. My mother is always worrying, always fussing over me. And my father, the easy crier, is probably distraught. I wonder if they’ve already contacted Interpol. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re just chalking up my reticence to a newfound independence and freedom as a college student. I can just hear my mother saying, “She’s a college girl now. A jetsetter! She doesn’t have time to text her mom and dad every five minutes. Let her live, Chuck!”
I smile to myself a little sadly. I love them, of course, but I hope they have no idea what’s happening to me right now. I couldn’t bear the thought of shattering their hopes and dreams for me and my future. They couldn’t take it. I don’t even know how to tell them what has happened, and I’m afraid that if I do, they’ll take me back home, desperate for me to be away from this trauma.
And I don’t want to go. I don’t want to completely walk off the path, and more than that... I don’t want to leave Max. He’s seen me at my most vulnerable, and has protected me through the worst night’s sleep I’ve ever had, and that might not seem like a lot, but it formed a fast connection between us.
Besides, there’s a full-blown crisis blooming dangerously all around me, and I have enough to worry about in the here and now. First of all, where is Maggie? I still don’t know if she’s even alive or dead. With what little I know of these slaver assholes, it could go either way. It probably depends on whether things worked out with her “buyer.” I shudder at the thought of my new friend being traded away like some luxury good. Like she’s just a pretty thing to use and abuse until she drops dead.
And to think… that was very nearly my fate, too.
I can’t allow myself to believe that Maggie is dead, even though I doubt her life is preferable at the moment. I desperately hope that whatever filthy man purchased her isn’t abusing her too harshly. I feel sick at the thought of her being mistreated. Maggie is so sheltered and soft — how would she ever survive?
I wonder if her parents have any idea what’s going on. I know they’d probably have the money and power to save her, if anyone did. But then again, I don’t think these guys would so easily give her up just for the sake of money. I get the feeling that this goes beyond a simple pay-off, that there’s something more sinister. Like they do this for the thrill. Or because they just flat-out hate women. And if they were so happy to torture me before, when I was just a vulnerable, helpless girl in their clutches, how much worse would it get now that they’ve seen me with Max? Now that they know I’m an accomplice? An active opponent?
“We’re going away,” Max says suddenly, shaking me from my thoughts.
“Where?” I ask quietly, peering over the console at the side of his smooth face. His expression still reveals nothing about his state of mind, and his even tone doesn’t offer much either. I wish he would do something — anything — to indicate what he’s feeling.
“A different safe house I have used in the past,” he answers simply.
“For how long?” I question, feeling a little nauseous. I still don’t have my phone or any of my stuff. And I remember what Felix said about his own time at a safe house years ago — no computer, no going out. No nothing.
“I can’t answer that,” Max says reluctantly. He glances over at me as the car turns round a corner. There’s a soft pleading light to his gaze. “You have to trust me.”
“I do,” I reply quickly. And I know it to be true. I trust him, implicitly, with my life. He’s earned that, at least. “Is Felix going to be okay?”
A smile twitches at Max’s lips. “I think so. He’s more resilient than his looks would have you think. He knows the drill. Don’t worry about him.”
“And what about us?” I press, biting my lip.
The hint of a smile dissipates instantly. “We’re going to get through this. I won’t let anything happen to you, Liv.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this,” I burst out suddenly, the dam of emotions having broken open to allow a flood of pent-up guilt and shame. “If not for me, none of this would have happened. Maggie would be okay. We’d all just be at the university doing exactly what we were supposed to do.”