Page 36 of Cruel Promise

“No. Not at all.”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“No. But I’ll call Mr. Petrov to let him know you left.”

“I know you will,” I say. “And I know I can’t stop you. But I am asking that you give me a head start. Even just fifteen minutes. Just give me that.”

“I could lose my job.”

A flash of guilt courses through me, but then I push it to the side. Edmund’s job isn’t more important than my own life. He’sa part of this. So are Claude and Mrs. Brown. None of them have tried to help me escape. Yet they all know Nikolai’s done wrong.

“Edmund, do this for me. You won’t lose your job. Just tell him you stepped away for just a moment, and that’s when I ran, and you called him the second you realized I was gone. You must have bathroom breaks, don’t you?”

He hesitates then nods.

“So, I snuck out, then. Just fifteen minutes. Please.”

After a long moment, he nods once more and, surprisingly, opens the door for me. “Have a nice walk, Mrs. Petrov.”

I jerk at the name. It’s the first time anyone has called me that.

“Thank you, Edmund.” I hurry out the front door and walk as fast as I can to the subway station. I have no money on me. There was no point looking around Nikolai’s house since he probably doesn’t have stacks of money just lying around. I’ll just have to figure it out somehow.

The closest subway station is a five-minute walk from Nikolai’s house, and I hustle to get there. Once I enter the grimy underground, I feel slightly better but only slightly. People swipe their MetroCards without even giving me a second look.

An older woman walking by slows down to dig inside her purse.

“Excuse me,” I say. She glances up with a smile. “Would you mind buying me a ticket? I’m on the run. I need to get somewhere safe.”

Her smile turns into a frown of concern. “Did somebody hurt you, sweetie?”

“Yes.”

“Let me help.” She leads me over to one of the self-serve kiosks and buys me a ticket. Her kindness isn’t lost on me after all the horrible people I’ve encountered lately, and I have to give her a hug. She’s startled then pats my back. “There, there.”

“Thank you so much.” I use the ticket to pass through the turnstile and get onto the platform. I search the line to see which one will take me to the train station.

It’s getting darker out, and there aren’t too many people on the platform. There are no subways here at the moment, so I have nothing to do but wait. The anticipation is killing me. I’m so close to making my escape, but I’m at the mercy of public transportation.

Two men enter the platform. One blond, one brunet. They’re dressed somewhat nicely in expensive jackets and shoes. They catch me looking at them and walk over. Immediately, I look away.

“How’s it going, baby?” the blond asks.

“Just waiting,” I whisper.

“Yeah, so are we. Mind if we wait with you?”

“No.”Just be polite. That’s what my mom taught me if I ever found myself in a scary situation. It’s why I haven’t been overtly mean to Nikolai. If I just act nice, then hopefully, it will appease him.

Hopefully, it’ll appease both these men, too.

“Thanks, baby.” The blond one nudges me with his arm. “So, where are you going?”

“To the train station.”

“No kidding!” He shares a look with his friend. “So are we.”

The dark-haired one smiles at me as he lights a cigarette, which only serves to make me more uneasy.

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