llow, vibrating exhaustion in its wake. Jodi walked back into the apartment that had been her home for

alk-in closet and pulled out three

They were part of the uniform, props for a role she would no longer play. She packed only her own clothes, the f

ame the next morning, not as a phone call, bu

ce is conditional upon your full cooperation in the transition. You will be responsible f

ea. It was a calculated, deliberate humiliation. He wanted her to perso

a one-wo

re

dure anythin

a bone-deep weariness. She blamed it on stress, on the emotional whiplash of the

tand. She was tracking the thirty-day countdown. He

of fear pierced th

te. Not by a few days

rmand's personal physician managed her birth control wi

ant they'd tried. She'd been violently ill for two days. The doctor had warned her that severe

could

ment, a wild, frantic energy propelling her forward. She didn't go to the pharmacy around the cor

ed three different brands of p

throom, the one with the cold marble floors. The plastic p

r life. She paced the length of the bathroom, her h

forced hers

w. And in it, a clear,

ragged gasp. It was a m

st, her movements clumsy. A

al. It was two stark,

he fumbled with the third box

was the sam

s sitting on the floor, the three plastic sticks

gna

child, at the exact moment she had f

est joke the uni

heir. A possession. The ultimate chain to bind her to him forever. He might even mar

ould nev

lted on its axis, and she was utterly, terrifyingly alone. The phone on the vanity remained silent. There was no one to call, no on