Playing Pretend by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

Forty-Nine

Eliza

I can hardly seethrough my bleeding mascara and my mind-splitting headache as I stroll up the rainy, dark sidewalk toward my basement apartment door.

It feels wrong that I’m here tonight. I don’t want to be here. I should be with my husband, warm and naked and happy in his bed. But I’m so mad about the community center.

Careful not to disturb my landlord and his lady friend, I quietly make it to my door, where the shitty overhead light buzzes and dims every few seconds.

My forehead drops against the door. I don’t want to go inside. I want to turn around and go find Liam. My husband.

I shouldn’t have left him tonight. I should have stayed with him. I should have gone home with him and forced him to talk it out. Like adults. Like I’ve seen my parents do dozens of times over my life. That’s how adults solve their problems. Not by running.

I’m so damn tired of running.

Before I can decide on my next move, a loud voice interrupts me, bursting the quiet. “Mary-Elizabeth Alonso?”

My blood runs icy.

Mary-Elizabeth Alonso…That’s me.

Chin up, shoulders back, girl.

I spin to find a man—a man in a soaking wet trench coat and a gray Panama hat—standing a few feet away on the sidewalk. That guy again…

I clear my throat. “Yes?” Despite my confident posture, my voice cracks as I utter the word.

While the rainwater soaks through my clothes, my nervousness spills off me in waves.

“You’re a very hard person to track down,” the man says, taking one…two…three steps closer.

Fuck. Why has this man been trying to track me down?

The stranger continues. “Actually, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to hide.”

They’ve found me. Despite being careful. Despite cutting all ties. Despite living like a recluse in a shitty place, the only one in town that didn’t require a background check.

All of it. All of it for nothing.

My nerves war with each other. Equal parts terrified and angry. Desperate and disheartened. My brain moves in a trillion directions at once, trying to think three and a half steps ahead. Be smart, Eliza. Be rational. That’s it. You got this.

Fake it till you make it.

Lips pressed into a thin line, I stare the man down, silently warning him to back the fuck off.

The prick’s gaze appreciatively bounces to my tits before finding my face again. Silently, I consider whether it’s time to start screaming bloody murder.

But he takes one last step forward and extends out a hand. I take note of the word ‘investigator’ on the business card in his paw, but I make no move to take it.

“I have some important questions to ask you, Miss Alonso. Be sure to call me.” He waves the card in his outstretched hand. “Soon. Before things get out of hand.”

I gulp so loud I’m sure he heard it.

Being selfless is easy when you know you’re doing it for the right reasons. But having it all come back to haunt you makes you wonder whether you even made the right decisions to begin with.

I need to contact my family to check on them. If they found me…Oh, god. I don’t even want to think about it.

I snatch the card from the creepy guy’s hand and he turns back toward the street. I don’t make a move until the investigator is long gone, just a trail of empty threats and brake lights down the street.

Making quick work of the lock on the door, I shove my way inside the apartment. I flip all three locks and keep watch from the peephole. My chest heaves violently as I lean against the wood, trying to calm my breaths.

Then, I spring into action, grabbing my duffel bag from under my couch and stuffing clothes inside.

It’s time to run again.