Kristy white knuckle gripped the chair. Staring out the window at their driveway. She waited for any sign of Collin coming home.


    The night that Collin left, she saw a deposit into their checking account for ten thousand dollars. It was an unreal amount of money to see when they were typically just a few dollars away from negative in their account.


    She did good staving off her worries at that point.


    She continued to do well, staving off her worries when a prim-sounding man by the name of Nameless called her and informed her that her husband was safe and would be returned to her in two days.


    When the deposit of twenty thousand dollars showed up on day two, Kristy’s mental fortress collapsed and she started to panic.


    Were they paying her off after something terrible happened to Collin? What if he was never coming home? She tried to talk herself down and be patient, but it was the night of the second day with not a single word.


    She would kill Collin. If he wasn’t dead already, she was going to kill him for making her worry like this.


    They had enough money to pay of their debts, keep Jenny in school, and even keep up with chemo for a long time, but Kristy would trade all of that to be sure Collin was safe.


    Headlights shined through the window and she perked up. The car pulled into the driveway and the headlights turned off. She couldn’t make out any features, but the silhouette of a man that looked like her husband walked toward the front door.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    She was gonna kill him for being so late.


    The sound of boots clomped in front of the door.


    She stood up to wring his fat neck.


    The door knob turned.


    She marched toward the door.


    The door opened to reveal Collin and Kristy dove into him for a hug, “You idiot! What took you so long?”


    Collin absorbed her tackle with a massive bear hug. He patted her back in a comforting way, “Hey there, love. It’s okay. I’m okay.”


    “Please tell me you’re done with whatever that was,” Kristy said.


    “Let’s talk about that in the morning.” Collin said.


    That was not the answer Kristy was looking for. “You can’t go back.”


    Collin groaned and hugged Kristy harder. “Kris, it’s been a long day and I had to ride with a bag over my head for hours. Can we just, you know, be with each other for a little while?”


    ”Oh my god,” Kristy said, convinced that Collin was stalling for more reasons than being tired. His stubborn tone was lurking within that tiredness. “Why would you even want to go back?”


    Collin let out a long sigh, “Alright fine. I do want to go back and the money is a big factor, but there’s something else.”


    “What do you mean something else?” Kristy said.


    ”Well, I signed an NDA..”


    ”So what?” Kristy cut in, “Tell me anyway.”


    ”I can’t and there’s a good reason why, butI can’t tell you that reason either,” Collin ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “Look, if I ask you to trust me on this one, will you?”


    Kristy nodded without hesitating, “I will. You know that. Are you asking that?”


    “I am,” Collin said, “I have a chance at something bigger than ever. Will you please trust me on this?”


    “Fine,” Kristy said, pulling away and crossing her arms. “But please promise you’ll be careful, these people have enough money and power to make you disappear without a trace.”


    Collin hugged Kristy from behind and kissed her on the cheek, “I promise. There’s nothing that will stop me from coming back to you.”


    Kristy heard the promise and loved and hated Collin for saying it. She heard the words and knew he meant them with all his heart, but for some reason, Kristy couldn’t shake the feeling that Collin had just spoken a final farewell.