“Give me the backpack.” I towered over her, impatient for her to comply.
“Why?” Her head reared back before she crossed her arms over the straps.
“We have an agreement, and you sneaking out is a betrayal of that. Would you rather I instruct the pilot to go to New York instead of Chicago?”
“It’s not like that.” Her face paled even more, and she straightened to her full height, which was still only to my shoulders. “I’m not your enemy.”
“Prove it. Give me the bag.”
She huffed out a breath before slipping her arms from of the straps and passing it to me. My fingers curled around the strap as the pilot announced we were ready to taxi down the runway. Mia sank into a club chair, buckling her seat belt, her gaze on me. I sat opposite her, pulling the bag into my lap. After unzipping the top, I opened it wide. Stacks of bound cash spilled out.
I piled a few bundles on the table between us before going back for the silk bags tied with thin cords. Once they too were on the table, I untied and unrolled them. Necklaces heavy with precious jewels were nestled inside. There were rings, bracelets, and a handwritten note. I plucked it from the small pocket, noting Mia’s name on the visible portion. She reached for it, and I batted her hands away, quickly scanning what the note said:
Mia,
I hope that we never have to use the contents in this bag. But it’s here if we have to leave our home and hide from the man I married. And now, with recent events, I fear that’ll be a necessity. There is so much I wish to share with you. Know you are loved, and I would do anything to keep you safe.
If you are reading this, something happened, and I didn’t make it out with you. Don’t trust anyone in the family. Take the money, use the IDs, and run far and fast. Never let them find you. If you need to sell any of the jewels, make sure you’re able to distance yourself because they will be traceable to the family when you do it.
I can’t risk saying more in case you are not the one to find this. I love you more than you’ll ever know. Be safe.
Love,
Mom
Irelaxed back into my chair, the white-hot anger at her potential betrayal and risk to my family ebbing as she showed me the personal items she was willing to risk so much to retrieve.
At the bottom right-hand corner of the paper, there was a small sketch of a flower.
Several IDs, both for her mom and newer ones with recent pictures of Mia, using aliases, were in the same pocket where the note had been. I flipped through them, noting the photo of her mom, to whom Mia had an uncanny resemblance. I dug through the rest of the contents and found a few clothing items, a wig, sunglasses, colored contacts, and a small cherry jewelry box with the same flower that was on the note and also the necklace she wore.
“My mom gave me that when I was little. I didn’t want to leave it behind.”
I nodded at her explanation then stuffed everything back inside. Checking the other pockets, I found weapons but nothing alarming. “The IDs?”
“Mom had hers in there. They’re expired. They haven’t been updated since I was seven, but when I found them, I knew it would be smart to have some made for me too. There was a reason she had a getaway bag. I couldn’t ignore the threat she felt. I also felt it since the day after she died.”
I studied her, mining for clues that she was lying. Her actions, fleeing before Guido saw her and the way her hand tightened on mine, said the most. “Who else knew you were in Grand Cayman?”
She shook her head. “No one, I swear. It makes no sense that Guido was there.” Worrying her lower lip, she paused for a moment. “Do you think he could have been there on business? You have banks there, right?”
“They shouldn’t know about our presence on the island. He had to be there because of you.”
“But I covered my tracks. There’s no way.”
There was. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed the contact button for Jace Michaelson, a private investigator I’d met a while back whom I admired and who had all kinds of tech that often came in handy. “Jace, I need that app to locate a tracker.”
“Hey, Nico.” Noise swelled in the background, and I recognized a few voices. He had several brothers, and they shared the same family loyalty to their wives and among each other that we had, which was part of why I trusted him so implicitly. “I’m sending it to your phone now. Everything good?”
“Yes. Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later.”
I disconnected then slid my phone back into my pocket. I liked how Jace had no problem keeping things strictly business when needed. He and his entire PI team were professionals. The plane picked up speed, and the sound of the wheels against the runway filled the interior. Then we were airborne. I swallowed a few times, popping my ears as we gained altitude.
“I don’t understand. It can’t be me that has a tracker. I didn’t bring a purse or a phone from home.” She swept her hand over the backpack. “That’s new, and the stuff inside had been in a locker for years. Nobody knew of its existence.”
After accepting the download and activating the tracker app, I stood from my seat and motioned for her to do the same. There was no point in arguing. Guido was there, and that alone was too much of a coincidence.
She complied, standing before me with her distracting lips pressed into a line again. I guided the phone over her left arm in slow passes, then her right. It wasn’t until I was over her hip that the app beeped.