"Do you want to come to the park with us? Or maybe the aquarium?" Sofia asked.
She'd got Hisashi up and dressed already while I still lay in bed, crumbs from the packet of cookies I'd eaten last night scratchy against my skin. The tequila bottle taunted me from the nightstand. Empty. That would explain my headache.
I groaned and tried to sit up, my muscles protesting. "It's your day off. I can take care of him."
She shot me a look that said I was being ridiculous. "Don't be silly. You've had a terrible week, and I'm not leaving you on your own." The bed dipped as she perched on the edge. "You're not just my employer; you're my friend."
Her words made my heart swell. True friends were difficult to come by, and while I might have lost one this week, I'd gained another.
"I really appreciate that."
"Have you thought any more about the Lincoln situation?"
Only for the rest of yesterday and most of the night. "A bit."
"And? I really think you should talk to him."
Apart from a couple of phone calls, which Sofia intercepted, he'd kept his distance. Yes, Emmy had promised to make him stay away, but it still hurt that he hadn't tried to come and see me after that initial attempt. But then again, he knew Emmy, and she'd probably rigged up a minefield around the building to stop him from getting in.
"Maybe I'll call him later."
Sofia shook her head as if she didn't believe me and got up. "I'll make breakfast. Take a shower, and the food will be waiting for you when you get out."
Sometimes, she could be as bossy as Emmy, but I suppose I needed that. I lifted the quilt and gave myself a delicate sniff. Okay, I definitely needed that.
An hour later, I'd eaten pancakes with maple syrup and swallowed the handful of vitamins Sofia put by my plate. I didn't quite feel human yet, but I was less dead than the zombie-Akari I'd been earlier. Sofia finished loading the dishwasher and sat on the stool opposite me, Hisashi on her lap. He twined his fingers around the dark brown hair she habitually wore loose and waved his other hand at me.
"Feeling better?"
"A tiny bit," I admitted.
"Linc called again while you were in the shower."
"What did he say?"
"Just that he'll never stop loving you, and please would you talk to him. Akari, he sounded like a broken man."
Even Sofia, who'd listened to my tales of everything he'd done, seemed to feel a little sorry for him.
"What do you think I should do?"
"Hear him out, at least. If you don't like what he's got to say, you don't have to see him again, but at least you'd be able to make that decision with more information than you've got at the moment."
"He lied to me."
"I know that. But from what he said, he was stuck between his feelings for you and his job. By the time he realised he was in love with you, the charade had gone so far it was difficult for him to turn back."
"Difficult, but not impossible. He didn't even try."
"If he'd told you one day over coffee, would you have reacted differently?"
"Well, uh..."
The truth was, probably not. It would have felt as though he'd stabbed me through the heart no matter how he'd revealed his true identity.
"Exactly. Just give him a chance to talk to you."
She was right, wasn't she? I needed to talk to him, and I couldn't put it off forever. The pain over his absence hadn't eased in the slightest. What if it never did?
"If I ask him to come over, will you stick around?"
"Absolutely."
"Could you pass the phone?"
My hand shook as I waited for him to pick up, but that only lasted for a second. His voice came down the line almost immediately.
"Akari?"
"Yes."
"Sweetheart, are you okay? I've been so worried about you."
"Am I okay? I don't know. We need to talk."
"Anytime. Now?"
"Not on the phone. Can you come over?"
"I'm on my way."
I paced the living room, waiting for Linc to arrive. How long would he take to get here? Half an hour? Twenty minutes if he broke all the speed limits?
I'd got dressed in a pair of black trousers and an embroidered silk blouse, then decided that looked like I was trying too hard and changed into jeans and a sweater. Was the lipstick too much? I stared at my gaunt reflection in the mirror before grabbing a tissue and wiping it off. A mirror I'd refused to look in before he'd changed me. Did I really want to go back to how I was before?
"Can I do anything to help?" Sofia asked.
"Is there any more wine?"
She gave me a sharp look. "Too early. Talk first, then wine. Although you might find you don't need it."
"Maybe."
Perhaps I'd need a bucket to vomit into instead. Right now, the pancakes I'd enjoyed an hour ago were making their presence known again. I checked my watch. He'd be here any minute.
"You promise you won't leave?"
"I'll take Hisashi into the nursery, but I'm not going anywhere. Holler if you need me."
The entry phone trilled and I jabbed the button, pushing stray strands of hair back from my face with my other hand. Sofia melted away, and seconds later there was a knock at the door. Linc must have run up the stairs.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I reached out and pulled the door open. The next few minutes would decide my future. Would it be heaven or hell?
A hard shove to my chest sent me reeling backwards and I overbalanced, tripping over my own feet before my ass hit the floor. What the...? I shook my hair out of my eyes, trying to process the scene before me.
No,
No!
"Get up, bitch."
"Jansen?"
He glared down at me, eyes narrowed, but I barely looked at his face. Instead, my eyes focused on the big black gun he held in his hand, the muzzle pointed right at my head. My heart pounded as I recalled Puga and his revolver, and all the others who'd threatened me in Colombia. Back then, I hadn't cared if I'd died, but now I wanted to live. Wouldn't that be ironic? Surviving fifteen years of torture in the jungle only to die in an apartment in Boston. The place I was supposed to be safe.
And where was Sofia with my son? Did she hear Jansen come in?
"Do you know what grade our group got yesterday? Do you?"
I shook my head hurriedly as I struggled to my feet. Grades had been the last thing on my mind when I fled the building.
"A D, Akari. A fucking D. They said our group lacked cohesion, and we showed a clear lack of practice."
"I-I-I'm sorry."
"You will be. I don't tolerate mistakes, Akari, and you've screwed up twice now. I'll never get to play for the world's top orchestras with a transcript like the one I have at the moment, and that's all your fault."
He'd lost his damn mind. "I'll speak to the dean. I'll tell him it was me. I'll tell him you practised every day, and it was me who messed everything up."
"You think that'll do any good? He already called me in yesterday for a little chat. Said he'd received complaints about my attitude. My attitude? I'm not the one who keeps skipping practice for frivolous reasons."
"I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Why don't I believe you? You have so much talent but you choose to waste it, day after day. I've seen you chase after that deadbeat. You've let him steal your attention when it should have been on making music. But no more. I'll make sure he can't distract you any longer."
What did he mean? The way Jansen was waving the gun around gave me a horrible idea of his future plans.
"I-I-I'm not with Lincoln anymore. I saw sense and realised I should focus on music, especially after yesterday."
Jansen's mouth set in a hard line. "I'm not sure I trust you. Women are all the same, liars and cheats. I thought it might be different in America, but time after time you've proven me wrong."
And with Linc on his way here, in a minute or two I'd look like a liar once again. I needed to get Jansen out of the apartment before Linc arrived. Visions of Linc's face danced before my eyes, first with a smile gracing his lips, then falling backwards with a hole in his forehead. I'd witnessed that sight too many times in Colombia. For the men who'd held me captive, execution was as routine as brushing their teeth in the morning.
My son, Linc, Sofia. All the people I cared about, in danger because of me.
"I'll prove you right. Why don't we go and practise right now, you and me? We'll be note-perfect at the next recital."
Or dead. I tried to tamp down the feeling of panic welling up inside, the whole time listening for the dreaded buzz of the entry phone.
"You understand that if you let me down again, I'll need to look for a new pianist?"
"I do. Please, give me another chance."
He motioned me towards the door with the gun, and I took a hesitant step, terrified of what would happen next. Would he take me to Holborn? Would anyone see us arrive? Although there were no lessons at the weekend, students had key cards for the practice rooms, but from what I'd heard the place was like a ghost town on Saturdays and Sundays.
At least Sofia would know I'd gone. Could she hear the conversation? I raised my voice in the hope she might.
"Are you taking me to Holborn?"
"Where else?"
I prayed for Sofia to tell Linc everything. He'd get Blackwood involved, and they'd have a better chance of getting me out of this mess than the police, of that I was confident.
"The usual practice room?"
"Does it matter? Hurry up and move."
We were almost at the door when Hisashi's cry cut through the air, a seldom-heard wail that he only did when he got spectacularly upset about something. Jansen stopped.
"What's that?"
"Uh, I must have left the TV on."
Hisashi cried out again, wrenching at my heart. Please, Sofia, keep him quiet!
"No, that's not a TV. You have a baby here?"
"Leave him alone!"
Fear for Hisashi trumped fear of the gun, and I ran at Jansen, my only thought to stop him from getting near my son. I was almost within striking distance when he backhanded me, sending me reeling back against the coffee table. Stars twinkled and pain shot through my neck as I caught my head on the corner of the wood, and when I tried to get up again, my limbs wouldn't work. All I could do was watch helplessly as Jansen strode towards the nursery.
He kicked the door open and marched inside. The door hung ajar, and shadows danced on the wall as muffled thumps echoed from the room. Sofia. He'd found Sofia.
Then came a gunshot, loud enough to make my ears ring.
Strength I didn't know I possessed sent me to my knees and I half crawled, half stumbled towards the nursery. Only silence came from within, no more sounds of a struggle. Kuso, tell me he hadn't killed my son. Or Sofia. Or both.
I grasped the doorframe and used it to pull myself to my feet, almost too scared to look. But I had to.
"You okay?" Sofia rose from a crouch, her fingers red with blood. "Don't worry, there's no pulse."
"You shot him?" A stupid question seeing as there was a gaping exit wound in the back of Jansen's head.
"Yeah." She stood back and assessed him critically. "A little off-centre, though."
Huh? This wasn't the Sofia I knew. I looked at her again, expecting to see horror in her eyes, but what I saw was...nothing. They were flat, as dead as Jansen's.
Then another wave of fear struck me. "Where's Hisashi?"
She waved in the direction of the en-suite. "In the tub. Cast iron. It was the safest place for him."
A crash sounded from behind us, and seconds later, a man rushed into the room. Without his beard, it took me a few moments to realise it was Linc.
"Akari, are you okay?"
Was I? I sagged back against the wall and took stock of the situation. I was alive, my son was alive, and Sofia was alive. Things were far from okay, but I nodded anyway.
Then Linc focused on Sofia, who raised an eyebrow.
"What the fuck, Fia?"
She shrugged, and then a grin popped onto her face. "Problem solved."
I stared at both of them. "What the hell is going on?"
"Sweetheart, I can explain."