His (Ties That Bind 2)

My heart is racing. “I don’t like this.”

“I like it even less, but if you have to use it, use it. Do not hesitate. Do you understand me?”

“I—”

“You hesitated with me. It takes a split second for a man to overpower you. You know that. Do not hesitate. Do you understand?”

I nod.

He takes the pistol, giving me a quick tutorial, but it’s almost exactly the same as the one I had. He then tucks it into the back of my jeans and pulls my sweater over it to keep it out of sight.

“I’ll be as fast as I can. There’s a store two blocks away. You lock the door behind me. No one knows we’re here. As soon as I’m back, you’ll color your hair, and then we’re gone.”

“Where are we going to go?”

“New York City.”

“New York City? But isn’t that closer to Vasily with him being in Philadelphia? Wouldn’t we be in more danger there?”

He sighs. “I’ll explain later. Let me get to the store. The sooner we leave here, the better.”

5

Kat

I lock the door after Lev leaves and watch him through the window of the second-floor hotel room as he looks around the almost empty parking lot, then gets into the SUV. Before he closes the door, he looks up at me. We stay like that for a long minute before he drives off.

In the bedroom, Josh is sitting against the pillows with Wally in his hands, rubbing the little stuffed animal’s well-worn ear, his attention wholly absorbed by the cartoon.

I’m about to go sit beside him when I see Lev’s duffel bag tucked behind the chair by the small table.

Glancing once more at Josh, I go to it, pick it up, and carry it into the other room. I set it on the couch, and as I unzip it, I tell myself I’m just going to look through what we have packed for Josh.

What I see first is a set of neatly folded clothes for Lev and me, and several more sets for Josh. I smile when I find the coloring book and crayons. That was thoughtful.

Pushing those aside, I find a small box. It’s older and decidedly ornate. Not like Lev’s taste at all. I pick it out of the bag and look at the intricate wood carving and realize it’s old. An antique trinket box.

Curious, I open it and gasp.

Glancing through the open door of the bedroom, I’m relieved Josh hasn’t heard me, and return my attention to the box of jewelry. Rings and bracelets and emeralds and diamonds all set in gold like the kind you’d find in high-end antique shops. They’re beautiful. And I wonder what Lev is doing with them when I pick up the locket.

The closure is stuck, so I have to set the box down to try to open it. It’s very delicate, and it takes me a few tries, but when I get it open, my heart stops.

I peer closer at the little photos inside. There are two.

One is of a family—a man, a woman and a baby. I can see the woman’s warm smile even in the tiny photograph, and it makes me smile to see it. The man’s face is more blurred, and the baby I really can’t see more than the bundle of blankets.

But it’s not that one that has my heart skip a beat. It’s the other one.

The little boy. It could be Josh.

Was this Lev’s mother? Are these her jewels?

“Mommy,” comes Josh’s sleepy voice from inside.

I startle, feeling like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing. I get up, setting the box on the sofa. I go to him. “Yes, baby?”

“Blue’s Clues is next.” He smiles and lays his head down, putting his thumb in his mouth.

“You love Blue’s Clues.” I tuck him in under the blankets as his eyes droop. I kiss his forehead. “I love you.”

He doesn’t answer as the theme song to the cartoon comes on, and he focuses back on the TV.

I return to the outer room, pulling the bedroom door almost all the way closed behind me. I don’t want to close it fully in case Josh calls to me.

Sitting down on the couch, I mean to put the locket away, but when I do, I see something else. The folder Lev was looking at. The one he closed when I got close to him.

My heartbeat accelerates as I take hold of it. I shouldn’t look. I should ask him to show me. But my hands are moving to lift it out, and I set it on my lap and don’t hesitate to open it.

And when I do, when I see what’s inside, I feel a sudden chill. My hands get clammy and blood pounds against my ears, and I don’t even hear the lock click. I don’t hear him as he walks in because I’m staring down at the photo in the folder. The photo of the woman with red hair and light green eyes and the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.