77
CORA
Jorden’s pull-out bed is a torture device.
The mattress is more iron springs than foam padding and it squeals like someone is slaughtering a pig every time I roll over. I’m positive the guards are going to bust in any second to check for ax murderers.
After an hour of tossing and turning, I give up and go lie on the lumpy couch cushions instead. Jorden is snoring up a storm from the master bedroom.
But I still can’t sleep.
Maybe I’ve gotten used to higher class living. Maybe I’m a snob now. Top-of-the-line memory foam mattresses and gajillion thread count sheets are the only way I can get comfortable.
Or maybe spending nights with Ivan asleep next to me has ruined me for the rest of forever. Maybe I’ll never be able to forget him. No matter how far I run.
That thought is scarier than any nightmare I could imagine.
I bolt out of bed and grab my phone. I don’t even know what my plan is until I type in Francia’s name.
It’s late, but she answers right away. “Cora? Is everything okay?”
“Hi. Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry.” I blow out a breath. “I shouldn’t have called. It’s late, and I just…I guess I needed someone to talk to.”
“Don’t apologize. I wasn’t sleeping, anyway.”
“You either?”
She huffs out a laugh. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. Ever since we left Ivan’s earlier…”
Her voice trails off and I realize I don’t know how much she knows. I have no idea what happened after they left the room. And based on the way Francia is waiting for me to say something, I assume she doesn’t know what happened, either.
“Jorden told me what you all found.”
She exhales. “I figured she would. I’m sorry. I should have texted you, but I didn’t want to ruin things. You seemed so happy. I didn’t want to be the one to wreck that. And I guess I feel kind of guilty.”
“Why would you feel guilty?”
“I’m the reason you were introduced to him at all! If I hadn’t dragged you out…”
“Oh, Fran.” I shake my head. “No, no, no. I used your name to get through the front gates, but I made my own choices once I was inside. Please don’t feel bad.”
“Thanks for saying that, but… I don’t know. Some part of me just wants things with the two of you to work out. Then I could be a matchmaker instead of a life-ruiner.” She chuckles humorlessly. “That’s probably stupid. I mean, I knew who Ivan was before all of this. I should have known better.”
I keep forgetting that Francia has a foot in this world. That she has access to information I don’t have.
“I know you said your family's law firm helped out Ivan’s family at one point, but was that the only contact you ever had with him?”
“Well, I didn’t have any contact with him directly,” she explains. “My family knew his dad, but I knew some of his friends’ friends from school.”
“Wait—you guys went to the same school? How has that not come up before?”
“Oh, no,” she says quickly. “I didn’t go to school with him, but a lot of his rich friends went to the same private school I went to. So I knew all about him. Mostly from all of the girls who had their hearts broken after they tried to date him. He was a real heartbreaker back then. Apparently, he still is.”
“Are you still in contact with anyone from the school? Maybe there is someone who knows him and might be able to tell me—”
“I wish I could help, but I haven’t been in touch with those people in so long. The invitation to Ivan’s party is the first contact I’ve had from that world in years. I went to an alumni brunch a few years ago and caught up with Georgia and Kat, but nothing since—”
“Kat?” My radar is pinging. “Who is Kat?”
Francia catches her breath and holds it. She is quiet for a long stretch before she exhales. “Earlier, back at the house, it all caught me off-guard. I hadn’t heard a word about Katerina in years. I certainly didn’t know she’d gone missing.”
“Oh my god…”
Kat. Katerina. Kat is Katerina.
Francia knew Katerina.
Francia was friends with Ivan’s ex-fiancée.
I repeat the facts to myself again and again like I’m afraid I’ll forget them, but I still can’t wrap my head around it.
“I’m sorry,” Francia breathes. “When I first heard her name, I didn’t even think it was the same Katerina. I always called her Kat. We all did. I didn’t even know that she knew Ivan. I mean, it was possible, but they weren’t friends when I knew her. But then I saw the article about her missing and there was a picture… I should have said something right away, but I was processing.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I’m still processing everything, too. It’s a lot.”
“Yeah, it is. It’s why I was going to take the night to think and then call you in the morning. I guess Jorden beat me to it.”
I snort. “She texted minutes after the two of you left.”
“Her processing time is faster than mine,” she chuckles. “But I think I’ve fully processed, and Cora… I just feel that you should get out of that house.”
“Francia—”
“Hear me out,” she interrupts. “I know that there is a lot going on between the two of you that I don’t understand. Everything is complicated and you all have something going on behind the scenes, but whatever it is, your life isn’t worth the risk. If you have even an inkling that Ivan hurt Katerina, you should get out of there. I can try to help you get away. Maybe we can—”
“I’m at Jorden’s house,” I interrupt. “As soon as Jorden texted me, I told Ivan I wanted to leave.”
“And he let you?” She sounds surprised.
I still am, too, honestly.
Again, the look on his face as he resigned to let me leave flashes in my mind. I blink it away. “Yeah, he did. Yasha drove me to Jorden’s, so I’m staying here until… Well, until I don’t know what.”
Someone out there has to know something about Katerina. Ivan won’t tell me anything, Yasha wasn’t forthcoming, and Francia doesn’t know enough to be helpful. But maybe someone else…
Maybe my mom?
I file the thought away as a last resort. Reaching out to my mom for anything is a risk. She may promise to keep things secret from my stepdad, but I know where her loyalty lies. And if I’m serious about getting out of the city, the less contact I have with her, the better.
Still, I’d be dumb not to consider her if I get desperate enough. She spends so much time standing silently by her husband’s side like the arm candy she is that she probably sees and hears a lot. If she can’t be a decent mother, she might at least be a decent source of information.
“Well, I want you to be safe, which means that hiding out with Jorden is probably the best call right now. Still, this is a big decision. You need to know what your choices are.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Don’t get your hopes up, but I’ll reach out to some people from school. Maybe someone knows something about Katerina’s disappearance or her relationship with Ivan. I’ll see what I can dig up and we can figure out where to go from there.”
For the millionth time today, tears well in my eyes. “You are too nice, Francia. Especially after the way I’ve turned your life upside down.”
She snorts. “No one has ever accused me of being too nice. Feral cat, remember?”
“Well, you’re the sweetest feral cat I’ve ever met. I’m not really sure how I can repay you for—”
“You can repay me by keeping me in the loop,” she says, cutting me off. “And whatever scheme you and Jorden have planned to flee across the country, make sure you save a plane ticket for me.”
I grin. “How did you know?”
“Because I’ve worked with both of you for far too long,” she chuckles. “Or not long enough, I guess. Because I haven’t had enough yet. I’ll follow wherever the two of you go.”
I squeeze my eyes closed, refusing to sob on this phone call. Finally, I force a word out of my clogged throat. “Deal.”