I awoke the next morning slumped on the chair. I groaned, feeling the sensation of a headache coming on. I made my way to the door, ensuring it was still locked.

It was.

Making my way to the counter, I grabbed my glass French press, and began to make some coffee.

As the coffee began to brew, I felt the weight of the call the night before hit me.

If he had a way to contact me, it meant that he knew where I was. He likely had eyes on me all the time.

While I knew that I should tell Daniel, his threat loomed overhead. He would kill them. I couldn't go to him unless something drastically bad happened. For now, I'd have to play along.

My coffee finished brewing and I grimaced as I decided to drink it black. More caffeine that way, right?

I sipped and cringed. Then the phone rang.

"Hello?" I asked, praying it wasn't him.

"Hey," came Spencer's voice. I felt a flood of relief wash over me.

"Hey," I said, taking my coffee with me to the chair behind the door, where my gun now sat. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to check-in on you," he said.

"I'm good," I said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"You tired?"

"Yeah," I said, "Couldn't get to sleep last night."

"Did you try taking melatonin pills?"

"No, but maybe I'll try tonight," I said, lying through my teeth. I'd be spending this night, just like I spent last night. "But how's the case?"

"It's bad," he said. "But we feel confident that we'll catch the guy."

"As you always do," I said, feeling a smile come on my face for the first time in hours. "And then you'll come home."

"Of course," he said.

"Do you have to go?" I asked.

"No, we have a few minutes before we are meeting up…everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You sound…off?"

"I'm fine, don't worry," I said.

Neither of us spoke for a minute or so. We just listened to each other breath. It was reassuring to just know he was safe.

"I got to go," he said.

"Okay," I said. "Promise me you'll be safe."

"I will," he said. "Bye."

"Bye," I murmured, hanging up the phone.

What if Nicolas tried to hurt Spencer?

If he tried to hurt anyone because of me, I would never forgive myself.

If Nicolas knew where I was, did he know about Spencer?

Swallowing a gulp of coffee, I knew that if…when something happened to me, as I suspected, I didn't want Spencer caught in the fire.

Remembering Penelope's words to me, I vowed that Spencer wouldn't be hurt because of me, without knowing why. Without thinking about it, I dialed Penelope's number.

"Penelope, hit me!" came her bright, happy voice.

"Hey, this is Sarah," I said,

"Sarah! Hi!" Her tone turned softer.

"Sorry to interrupt you, I know that you guys are busy with a case-"

"I can multitask, what's up?"

"I, uh, I need a favor…"

"Sure, what is it?"

"It's about my…situation. There are always reason to believe that stuff could turn south, and in case I get relocated, I'm going to need you to give Spencer something for me."

"Yeah, of course…What will I be giving him?"

"A video…I can email it to you?"

"Sounds good, I'll hit you with my email address?"

"Yeah…"

"What is this video?"

"It's an explanation…I don't want to hurt him in case I have to leave."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said. "I can send you how to know when to give it to him, but there will be some worst-case scenarios."

"Like what?"

"Like if, God forbid, he finds me."

"That won't happen, right?"

"Hopefully not."

"Okay, just send it to me and I'll plan on never using it."

"Thanks Penelope," I said. "I know that it's not easy to keep a secret like this."

"Just be safe, okay?"

"Always," I said.

"Bye," she said.

"Bye," I murmured, clicking end call. I grabbed my computer and turned it on, clicking on the record button.

"Hey, Spence. If you're seeing this, it means something happened. I haven't been completely honest with you. I'm not from Montana, my parents didn't die in a car crash, and my name isn't Sarah Bennett. I'm Danielle Hansen. I'm from Texas. My parents were killed in an organized hit. I'm in Witness Protection. If you're seeing this, I've either been relocated…or I'm missing. You deserve the truth… so, I'm going to tell you why and how I got here. But Spence, if you see this, don't go looking for me. Don't think about me…move on with your life. And I didn't lie about us…That was real and what I felt for you was real…I should stop rambling, so here's the grand story that you've been waiting for. So here goes nothing… Here's the story of how I fucked up my life…"