Chapter 4 - The Safe Haven
The car glided into the subterranean garage of a high-security residential high-rise on the north edge of the city. Maya remained crouched on the carpeted floor until the heavy iron security gates groaned shut behind them. Only when the hum of the engine ceased did Victoria turn around to coax the girl up. Maya’s lips were tinted faint blue from exposure, her braided hair soaked around the edges, but her eyes held a frantic, desperate gratitude that broke Victoria’s heart anew. Slowly, Victoria unclasped Maya’s white-knuckled grip on the passenger seat fabric.
They rode the private elevator in total silence up to the forty-second floor. Inside the expansive penthouse, floor-to-ceiling windows framed the sprawling, rain-swept metropolis below, a vast sea of blinking amber lights. For Maya, the apartment was an alien world of warm hardwood, soft ambient lighting, and gleaming surfaces where nothing was broken or dirty. Victoria led her straight into a guest bathroom, running warm water into an oversized porcelain tub filled with lavender bubbles. She laid out a soft flannel robe and clean towels before stepping out to give the girl privacy.
Twenty minutes later, Maya emerged wearing the oversized robe with the sleeves rolled three times over her tiny wrists. Her face was scrubbed clean, revealing high, delicate cheekbones beneath a faint smattering of freckles. Victoria handed her a mug of warm milk sweetened with honey. Maya sat on the edge of the sprawling sofa, holding the mug with both hands for heat. ""Who was that man, Maya?"" Victoria asked softly, kneeling on the rug so their eyes were at the exact same level. Maya looked down at the swirling milk, her throat bobbing as she whispered, ""He took my mother. And he said I belonged to him now.""
