I close my eyes and think again of my plan to leave. With money and a phone, I could find my way out of here.
My brothers aren’t the only ones with connections.
I could escape far away to the West Coast or Mexico, even. Find a place to stay where no one knows me. No one. I’ll start from scratch, but I’ll know that everything I earn is mine.
I could do it.
And I’ll never see him again. I’ll never feel those arms of his around me again. I’ll never hear him say good girl in that deep, masculine voice of his, never kiss him, again.
I’ll go the rest of my life and never know what it’s like to be loved. Because no one, no one, will ever be Dario to me.
I stifle a sob. I hate that the only choices before me are dark and dismal.
I check every laceration on his body and make sure they’re bandaged and disinfected, that he’s comfortable and hydrated.
I remember the phone. I can look up what happens to someone bitten by a rabid animal, especially one who’s experienced rapid blood loss. The amount of blood outside and in this cabin is staggering.
What would he have me do?
There’s no way he’d want me to leave, not now,not after everything we’ve been through. Not when it’s risky and dangerous for me to go.
Maybe he’s prepared to tell my brothers what really happened.
Maybe Orlando has information that will let me off the hook.
Maybe…
Maybe I won’t get a second chance.
Maybe… he would want me to take my one chance of escape, my one chance of getting away from my brothers.
Maybe he’d want me to start out on my own and make a new name for myself.
I don’t know how far away we are from help or who Orlando called, but unless he was camping right outside this spot, which is doubtful, he won’t be the one that comes. He could send EMTs, and they wouldn’t know I was a captive.
Or… he could send someone else. Friends of his who know exactly who I am and exactly what they’re supposed to do with me.
Sergio would give them the order to kill me.
I kneel in front of Dario. I hold his hand and kiss his fingers. I kiss his forehead and lean into his ear. He won’t hear me, which is just as well, because I don’t want him to be conflicted about what I need to tell him.
“I love you,” I whisper in his ear. “Thank you…”
Thank you? I don’t know why I feel the need to say that. He captured me, after all. But after everything we’ve been through… everything he’s done. He’s taken care of me, protected me, fed me. Listened to me. And keeping me here with him was only because of orders he himself got.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m sorry that I have to do this. I hope one day you’ll understand.”
I think I hear something in the woods. Someone’s coming. If I know my cousin, and I like to think I do… he’s sent someone local to come rescue Dario and take me into custody.
With trembling hands, I grab a scrap of paper from the table where we keep the board games. I find a tiny pencil we used for keeping track when we played Scrabble. I write him a hasty note, fold it, and tuck it into his pocket.
I don’t take the gun. I can’t do anything with it. I leave the phone because they could track me with it.
But I take the knife and the money.
I see headlights coming toward us. They’re almost here. I can’t leave through the door, but I know my way around this cabin, and I’m small and lithe. I leave the door ajar to give me more time, look once more at his body lying on the floor, bandaged and unconscious, and leap out the window to watch by the corner of the cabin. Here, behind the large propane tank, I’m hidden beneath a shade of pines. They won’t see me, and I know where I can hide until they’re gone. I wait until I see who’s come. A group of six, armed to the teeth. Paramedics race toward the cabin and find him on the cabin floor.
And once I know he’s in good hands, I run.
* * *