Chapter 11
Emily woke up earlier than her alarm with a sense of excitement that reminded her of Christmas morning. It took her just a moment to remember why, but once she did, she grabbed her phone and checked for text messages from Izzy. There weren’t any, and she flopped back on her pillow, unsurprised. Izzy had […]
Chapter 1
“It’s a two-bedroom,” Brent had said, slowing the SUV as they entered a nicely manicured alley. I’ve found the two bedrooms, Emily thought to herself, continuing to flick light switches on as she made her way down the dim hall in the ICS safe house. She grinned as she remembered Brent’s next words. “A two-bedroom, […]
Chapter 2
Brent had assured Emily that ICS would take care of buttoning up things with her old landlord and making sure no trace was left of her after her hasty retreat out of Phoenix. “This was on us,” he’d said. “You shouldn’t have to pay for it–financially or otherwise.” He had also said she couldn’t get […]
Chapter 3
An unfamiliar sound pinged somewhere behind Emily, and she straightened, backing out of the pantry she’d been poking around in. She set down the notepad and pen on which she’d been writing an inventory of the safe house’s food stores and glanced around the room. Is that a warning tone from the security system? she […]
Chapter 4
It turned out that ICS had no problem with Emily babysitting for the neighbor woman, provided she waited to begin until her entire cover identity was in place and the mother’s and father’s background checks had come back. Emily had a feeling the carefulness of the organization was thanks to Santa and Brent. She had […]
Chapter 5
At Brent’s suggestion, Emily called Kara Miles right after she finished reading her cover identity papers. The phone rang for a long time before the woman finally picked up. “Hello?” she yelled over the background noise on her end. Emily moved the phone away from her ear a little and grinned. She could hear the […]
Chapter 6
Emily kept the twins busy in the backyard, for as long as she could. They used the chalk to make hopscotch, toy car roads, and show her they could write numbers and letters. Eventually, they grew bored and warm and trooped back in the house. Kara beamed at Emily as she refilled her coffee cup […]