Chapter 13: Shaken Ground
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For a week, Shaya had done everything HHM told him. The phone stayed in the drawer at night, his check-ins were honest, and the quiet in his head felt strange but good almost like breathing fresh air after years underground. He thought maybe this was the turning point.
Then the calls started again.
It was a Thursday afternoon when the first unknown number lit up. “You think you can disappear?” a cold voice said. “Money doesn’t just vanish. Fix this or we fix you.” The line went dead before Shaya could answer. By evening there were two more calls, then a text with nothing but a picture of his car outside his house. His hands shook so badly he could barely pick it up. He wanted to reach for the hidden phone, to drown the panic the old way but the phone wasn’t there. HHM’s voice was in his ear instead: Breathe. Face it. Don’t run to numb the fear.
That night he sat at the table pretending to learn, but the Gemara’s words blurred into black streaks on white paper. Leah noticed his pale face. “Everything okay?” she asked softly. He forced a smile. “Just tired.” She didn’t press, but her eyes followed him as he walked to the bedroom. At midnight, another call came. “You have forty-eight hours. Don’t make us come find you.” Shaya sat on the edge of the bed, heart pounding, sweat dripping down his back. The old cravings hit like a punch to the gut that desperate urge to escape, to click and scroll until the fear went quiet.
He stared at the locked drawer across the room, breathing hard. Then he grabbed his other phone the one HHM knew about and dialed.
“HHM? It’s bad. They’re coming after me.” The mentor’s voice was steady. “I hear you. Don’t do this alone. Don’t hide. Tomorrow morning we meet. We’ll figure this out.” Shaya hung up, still trembling, but something was different. He hadn’t escaped. He hadn’t hidden. He had called for help instead. The fear was still there, loud as ever but for the first time, he wasn’t drowning in it completely.
The ground beneath him was shaking, and he knew the storm wasn’t over. But at least now, he wasn’t facing it in the dark.
