The silence in the bookstore room was almost sacred. The walls smelled like old paper and dust, and the ticking clock above the window was the only sound cutting through the stillness.
I hadn’t slept.
The threatening messages from the unknown number were still open on my phone. My fingers hovered over the screen as if my touch alone might change the sender, turn the words into a bad dream.
“You shouldn’t have gone digging, Grace.”
“Next time, I won’t just take a baby. I’ll take you.”
I locked the door again as if that could keep the danger out when it was already under my skin. I didn’t call Noah, I didn’t know if I could trust him anymore.
My daughter was with him. I had to believe she was safe, that whatever else might be buried under the weight of his lies, he wouldn’t let anythin
