Page 41 of Break My Fall

She shuddered at the memory. “Her eyes were ... blank. They lit up when she talked to her son. She’s obviously trying to be the best mom she can be to him. My guess is that her abuser hasn’t been violent with her son. That might be the tipping point. But she’s broken inside.

“I gave her my card, and I put my cell number on the back. Told her I had friends who could hide people who didn’t want to be found and who would be willing to help.”

Gray studied her. “How do you know you have friends who know how to hide people?”

Meredith hesitated, but Mo jumped in before she had a chance to explain. “Because this isn’t Meredith’s first foray into saving people, is it, baby sister? I notice how you left out the other girl you talked to a few visits ago.”

“I was going to mention her next.”

“Sure you were.”

“Have you checked on her recently?”

Meredith hadn’t asked before because she was afraid of the answer.

“I have.” Mo gave her a reassuring smile. “She’s good.”

“Wait a minute.” Gray pointed at Mo, then at Meredith, then back to Mo. “You knew about this? You’re in on it? Helping her?”

“Of course I’m helping her. I wasn’t going to leave her by herself to drive through the state with a nineteen-year-old on the run.”

Both her mom and dad wore similar expressions of shock, but there was something else. Pride maybe?

Meredith jumped in. “She was being forced into a marriage with a man twenty years older than her. I’m not saying all age gaps are bad, but that’s a big one. And, again, she was beingforced.” Meredith enunciated the last few words for emphasis. “She came to see me because her groom wanted her to have whiter teeth. He wanted veneers and a bunch of cosmetic stuff, and I don’t do that in my clinic. I told her she’d have to come to my office, and she’d have to pay for it. She did. But that kind of work doesn’t happen in one visit. I talked to her each time. It took a few visits to get her to open up, and when she did, the whole story poured out.”

Mo took up the story from there. “Meredith came to me. So I did some investigating and determined it was all true.”

Meredith didn’t want to implicate anyone who had helped, but it was important that Gray and her parents understood that she hadn’t been reckless. “I have friends in the middle of the state from when I lived and worked in Raleigh. They have experience with helping human trafficking victims. We got her to them, and they took it from there.”

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose. He did that a lot. Usually when he wasn’t happy. “Just so there’s no confusion about anything. In the last six months, you’ve helped a young woman escape Neeson and you’ve given a young mother your cell number and a promise of sanctuary in Gossamer Falls, all while providing dental care from your van?”

“That’s a succinct summation. Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to mention this when I asked you if anyone might have it out for you?”

Meredith took another drink to avoid having to speak. The tactic worked because Gray turned his ire on Mo. “And you? You let her do this?”

“I’m sorry.” Meredith had no trouble speaking now. “Did you ask him if heletme? I am my own person. No oneletsme do anything.”

Gray’s eyes sparked with something Meredith had never seenfrom him before. It might have been anger, but that wasn’t quite right. “I wouldneverlet my baby sister take that kind of risk.”

“Then I guess it’s lucky for all of us that I’m not your sister.”

Gray stood from the table. “Jacqueline.” He swallowed hard and forced out, “Doug, would you excuse me for a moment?” He glared at Meredith and Mo. “I need some air.”

He made a beeline for the door and was unsurprised when no one came after him. He heard a low thrum of voices from the dining room, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Not that it mattered.

What was Mo thinking? Meredith was a treasure. She should be protected at all costs, even if that protection meant she was angry. Angry beat dead. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number that he had memorized.

“Hello.” The woman on the other end never used her name, but no one else answered this call.

“A new wrinkle.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Turns out the individual under threat has been aiding abuse victims. She and her brother got at least one out of town. You might know the people who helped her with that.”

“Oh, really?”

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