Chapter 2

The frantic banging on my trailer door started a few hours later. I was sitting at my small kitchen table, calmly sipping a cup of hot coffee. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon.

"Chloe! Open the door!"

It was Ethan. His voice was laced with a panic he was trying desperately to hide.

I took another slow sip of my coffee before getting up. I unlocked the door and swung it open.

Ethan stood there, his hair a mess, his face pale. He pushed past me, his eyes scanning the tiny trailer.

"Where is it? Where's the baby?" he demanded, his voice a harsh whisper.

I leaned against the doorframe, feigning confusion. "What baby? What are you talking about, Ethan?"

His eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb with me! You were supposed to be at the diner an hour ago. You always take the back road. You must have found it!"

He was right. I usually worked the pre-dawn shift at the diner, a shift I had only taken to cover for Jessica, who had called in "sick." In my past life, that was exactly how I' d found the baby.

"I overslept," I said simply, taking another sip of coffee. "Felt a little under the weather."

His carefully constructed mask of concern shattered. Raw fury contorted his features. "You overslept? You picked today to oversleep?"

He started rummaging through my trailer, pulling open the single closet, looking under my small bed. His movements were frantic, desperate.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, my voice flat.

He spun around, grabbing my arms. His grip was tight, painful. "You know what I'm looking for! You always do what's right, what's good. You would never just leave a baby on the side of the road!"

His words were a bitter echo of the trap he' d set for me before. He had used my own decency against me.

I met his gaze, my eyes as cold as the grave he' d left me in. "Maybe I'm not as good as you think I am."

I pulled my arms from his grasp.

"You're lying," he hissed, his voice trembling. "What did you do with it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I repeated. "Now get out of my trailer."

He stared at me, his mind racing, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with his perfect plan. He saw no love in my eyes, no naive girl desperate for his approval. He only saw a stranger.

He let out a frustrated scream, kicked my flimsy trash can, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

I walked back to the table and finished my coffee. The calm in my chest was absolute. He was panicking. Good. Let him panic. Let him suffer the consequences of his own vile actions.