A Hidden Danger

Going Into Hiding

Marigold

I was sitting in my office going over my schedule when Naomi came busting into my office. The look on her face had me instantly out of my chair and rushing to her side. She took my hand and went around to my computer. She typed something in and then a news report was running in front of me.

"Breaking news this morning. A nationwide search is under way for Marco Camilleri of Camilleri Inc's wife. Marigold Camilleri show below has gone missing. Marigold is said to be around fifteen weeks pregnant and has been missing for several weeks with no information to be found. A reward of ten million dollars has been offered by the family of any information that would lead to the safe return of Marigold."

"Oh, God!" I called out as I fell into my chair.

My hand was over my mouth, and it seemed to be the only thing keeping me from screaming. He did it. Marco had brought in the police to look for me. Over the weeks that I had been living my new life I had wondered if there was going to be a hunt for me. I had seen nothing about my disappearance and I thought it was odd. My husband was one of the biggest business owners in the country and yet not a word had been mentioned about me being gone. Maybe he had been happy that I had left?

My cell phone had buzzed, but I was too glued to the news report to answer it. Naomi must have seen who it was because she picked it up and answered.

"Yes, we see it now." She looked down at me. "Ok. Yeah. Alright. Bye."

I finally looked up from the screen completely and saw she that Naomi had turned pale. There was fear in her eyes and I knew in that moment that nothing was going to be the same.

"That was the Prez. Data is on his way to get you. The two of you are going into lockdown for a while. There's a cabin a few counties over that no one but the leadership knows about. I'm supposed to help you disguise yourself more. I know you love your hair, but it's got to go."

For the next five minutes, Naomi cut my hair. I cried at the sight of all the long curls falling down my face. Naomi said that she didn't want me dying it yet because I was so early in my pregnancy. Rachel came running in with a pair of glasses and a change of clothes.

"I got a big dress thinking we could use one of the prosthetic bellies to make her look further along." She said, handing the items to Naomi.

I stripped out of my clothes and put on the huge prosthetic belly and dress. Rachel handed me the glasses, and I took them with my shaking hands. Once they were on my face, she took my hand in hers.

"We are all going to protect you, Autumn. You're family now and I know Data isn't going to let anyone get to you," Rachel said, pulling me into a hug.

Naomi wrapped herself around both of us and for a moment, we all just held on tight and cried. The door to my office opened and in walked Austin and Hammer. Seeing the looks on their faces made the situation all that much more real for me. There was fear there, and I didn't know what I was going to do.

"Gran is getting your things together, and I'm going to pick them up and bring them with supplies." Hammer said.

Austin had walked over and taken me into his arms. I was still a crying mess not knowing what would happen. I knew these people would protect me, but something in me was afraid of what might happen to them. I never knew Marco to be violent, but my parents could be and that was scary enough.

"Am I going to have to hide forever?" I asked.

"I don't know baby. We need to talk about some stuff on the way to the cabin. It's going to be alright but you need to know everything," Austin said.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I walked out the back of the building to Austin's waiting truck. It felt like I would never see them again and that everything I had worked so hard at was being taken away. I didn't understand why everything had to be taken away again. First, I learned about Marco's betrayal and then the reality of him looking for me made me have to run.

"So there are some things you don't know about your parents and Marco." Austin said as we drove off.

"What do you mean?"

"Marigold, your family and Marco are a part of the mafia. In fact, Marco's family is one of the most feared in the country." Austin said. He looked over at me to see what my reaction was.

"No. that can't be it. They just run a business and my father is a lawyer." I laughed.

"Baby, I'm being one hundred percent serious. They kept this from you. The less you knew the better. From what I've learned in hacking into your records, they knew from a young age that you would never be okay with the lifestyle. At around ten, something happened and your memories were gone. Do you remember anything before then?" He asked.

"No. But that means nothing. How would I have missed all that?" I scoffed.

"Your medical records were sealed, but I found a way in. You had a traumatic brain injury that caused you to lose your memory. After that, your family probably just hide things from you. There were some reports of hypno therapy as well. If you found something, they made sure to erase it from your memory." Austin looked at me with concern.

"None of this is making sense. How would I not notice all this stuff? Austin, I'm not totally naïve that I can't see something so obvious." I huffed.

"But if there were things planted in your memories to make you not remember things, it would explain it all." He sighed. I knew I was reaching for something that wasn't there, but part of me wanted it to all be a lie.

"I just don't understand why I have to deal with all this. I never wanted to have any kind of power. All I've ever wanted was to help people and have a family. Growing up, I didn't have a close relationship with my parents and I always wanted something different for me and my children. Now I don't even know if I'm going to be able to spend any time with my child. Are they going to take the baby away from me?" I asked.

It was the question that was haunting me the most at that moment. Would Marco be so cruel that he would separate me from my baby? If he was a mafia don, would he even let me live since I ran with his child?

"Marigold, I don't want to lie to you, but I'm not sure I have any idea what they'll do. Part of me thinks they'll keep you around until the baby is born and another thinks he'll end it all. Running with his child will be seen as disrespect. I don't think Marco will take that lying down. That's why we are going into hiding. Match and Tex are trying to figure something out to help keep you safe. For now, I'm hiding all your tracks. When we get to the cabin, we are going to go over every move you've made since you let that day."

And we did. From the car rental to the times I went to the store, Austin was erasing every video or paper trace of my existence. It took two days to go over it all, and sometimes I didn't think it would be possible to do it. But Austin did.

All we had to do then was wait. At first I thought I would go stir crazy from all the sitting around and waiting, but then it happened. Austin showed me just how much free time could be fun.