Joyce Lamb

PROLOGUE

    

     When the doorbell rang, Alaina stopped dusting, slightly annoyed at the interruption. She had only begun cleaning, and because it was one of her least favorite things to do, it had been hard to get motivated. Pausing at the ancient CD boombox to turn down Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run, she mentally prepared the usual excuses as she went to the door.

     “I bought from the kid down the street.”

     “Have all the magazines I need, thanks.”

     “My higher power is chocolate.”

     But when she opened the door to the icy Colorado air, she wasn’t prepared for the woman shivering on her porch. She had not seen her in nine years, had thought she would never see her again.

     Alaina’s mother, overcome by emotion, threw her arms around her. Alaina didn’t hug her back. Instead, she pulled her into the apartment and, after quickly scanning the quiet street, shut the door.

     “How did you find me?” Alaina asked. “Were you followed?”

     “Followed? Why would I be followed?”

     “Just …” She checked her watch. Jonah was due home from school in half an hour. “Please, just answer me.”

     “A private detective found you.” Seeming to regain her composure, Eve smiled through tears and grasped Alaina’s face in her palms. “Look at you. You’re so grown up, so beautiful.”

     Alaina noticed that the past nine years had ruthlessly aged her mother. She was only in her middle fifties, but she looked eighty, her face creased and sagging with exhaustion. Last time Alaina had seen her, her hair had been a chestnut brown, but now it was pure white. Bags underscored her sad, faded blue eyes.

     “What private detective, Mother? Someone you hired?”

     “Yes, of course. Someone I hired.”

     “Did you tell anyone you were coming to see me?”

     “I told everyone I had a fundraising conference.” As wife of a wealthy tech company CEO, Eve had chosen charity as her career, using her husband’s power and influence to benefit the underprivileged.

     “What about Addison?”

     “No, I didn’t tell your sister.”

     Alaina turned away, jamming a hand through her hair. Another look at the clock. Twenty-five minutes before Jonah was due. Ten minutes earlier, and she could have picked him up at school before he got on the bus.

     It didn’t matter that her mother said she had told no one. They would have to move—again. Resigned, she went into Jonah’s bedroom, grabbed the suitcase out of his closet and started filling it with shaking hands. She didn’t think, just launched into the same routine she’d gone through just a year before in Wisconsin.

     “What are you doing, Ali?” Eve asked from the bedroom door.

     Ali. She hadn’t been called that in fourteen years. But she wasn’t that person anymore. Alaina glanced at her mother. The other woman’s eyes had turned wistful as she took in the little boy’s room, and Alaina felt a twinge at denying her mother her grandma role. Nothing she could do about it now.

     She went back to her furious packing. Eve had never understood and never would, so Alaina didn’t waste time or effort trying to explain.

     “It’s time for you to come home, Ali,” Eve said. “It’s time for you to bring Jonah home.”

     Alaina turned to stare at her mother. “And you think all will be forgotten the minute I walk in the door?”

     Eve’s lower lip trembled. “I miss you. Your father misses you.”

     Alaina snorted. “Yeah, right.”

     Eve stepped into the room. “We’ll work it out. Your father—”

     “I can never come home, Mother. I’m a fugitive.” She snapped the suitcase closed, dropped it by the door and went into her own bedroom to begin emptying drawers.

     Eve followed. “Yes, you made mistakes, but there’s no—”

     “Hello, ladies.”

     Whirling from the closet, Alaina saw him blocking the door. She lunged for the bedside table, fumbled with the drawer and had the gun in her hand before he could grab her. Cocking it, she aimed at his chest, praying he wouldn’t call the bluff. There wasn’t a bullet in the house.

     Layton Keller raised his hands, a relaxed smile on his lips. Alaina’s finger flexed on the trigger, and for a moment, she wished for bullets. She and Jonah would never have to run again.

     Eve stared at her daughter, aghast. “What on earth are you doing?”

     “Don’t come any closer,” Alaina said to Layton.

     Layton’s smile spread. He hadn’t changed. Blond hair and blue eyes, square jaw and perfect, white teeth. Not an ounce of fat on his hard, lean body. She remembered how powerless she’d been beneath him.

     “Would you mind leaving Alaina and me alone?” he said to Eve, ever the polite gentleman. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

     When the other woman didn’t move, Layton tossed car keys at her. “You can wait in my car.”

     Eve glanced at her daughter, clearly having no clue what to do.

     “Just go,” Alaina said. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to get hurt.

     Eve backed out, and Layton kicked the door shut behind her and positioned himself in front of the door to block her only escape route. “Alone at last,” he said, grinning. “When does he get home?”

     She gauged she had fifteen minutes before her nine-year-old burst into their apartment. “He’s staying at a friend’s house.”

     “You’re a terrible liar. Pity that no one ever saw that but me.” He stepped toward her, his grin broadening when she edged back. “No bullets, huh?”

     She threw the gun at his head and missed. He charged her and caught her around the middle and threw her onto the bed. As she tried to scrabble away, he straddled her. Alaina fought the violent memory of him on top of her a decade ago. She clawed at his face and got only air. He backhanded her twice before she lay still, stunned and tasting blood.

     Breathing heavily, he pinned her hands on either side of her head. “Ah, memories.”

     He nuzzled her neck, and panic choked her. Not again. God, not again.

     “You changed your perfume,” he said near her ear. “I like it much better than that cheap, lemony scent you used to wear.”

     Biting back the fear, she tried to focus on figuring out how to get him out of the house.

     He smiled down at her, his eyes as empty and cold as ever. “What? You don’t recall our night together as fondly as I do? Then perhaps a re-enactment is in order.” With one hand, he ripped her blouse open.

     Alaina shrieked in rage, gnashed her teeth, snarled at him. Her fist glanced off his temple before he restrained it again. Rearing up, she slammed the top of her head into his chin and saw stars. He grunted once before toppling sideways off the bed. Alaina didn’t comprehend what had happened until she saw her mother standing over him with a heavy, cast-iron skillet held high in one hand, ready to nail him again if he moved.

     Rolling off the other side of the bed, Alaina gained her feet for only a moment before her knees buckled. She caught herself against the dresser. She was going to be sick.

     Damn it, no time, no time.

     Still, the room was spinning, turning gray.

     Then Eve was beside her. “Put your head between your knees.”

     Alaina pushed her mother away.

     Only when the strength drained out of Alaina’s limbs was Eve able to shove her daughter’s head down. As the blood flowed back into her brain, Alaina took several deep breaths. She saw Layton sprawled beside the bed. “Is he dead?”

     “He’s breathing,” Eve said.

     Alaina pushed to her feet. “Jonah will be here any minute.” She looked down at her shredded blouse. Yanking it off, she replaced it with a T-shirt from the dresser. Her hands weren’t steady. She couldn’t think, didn’t know what to do next.

     Then the front door banged open, and his voice called out to her. “Mom!”

     The moment snapped back into place. Alaina looked at her mother, saw tears on her face. “We have to go.”

     Eve nodded, her eyes sober. “I understand.”

     Alaina thought she really did. After so many years, so many lies. All it had taken was seeing her son-in-law in action. Her fear for Jonah propelled her toward the door, but she didn’t know what to say to her mother.

     Eve waved her on. “Hurry. Don’t let him see this.” She nodded at Layton. “I’ll make sure he stays put.”

     Alaina intercepted Jonah in the hallway. He was grinning, his blond hair wind-tousled, his beautiful blue eyes bright with excitement. When he saw her, his grin faded. “What happened to your face?” he asked.

     Alaina hugged him. “I’m okay, sweetie. I’m okay.”

     “Are we moving again?” he asked, his voice wavering.

     She nodded, unable to speak. Already, he knew the routine. It broke her heart.

     She sent him after the suitcase in his room and tried to plan. But there wasn’t time. They would get in the car and go. Where didn’t matter. Just going mattered. They would start another new life in another new place where they would be safe again.

     At least for a while.