Chapter One

She had left there an hour ago, Brooklyn Amber Tilson still had the smell and taste of the cheap motel room she had stayed in the night before in her nose and mouth. She could have stayed at a decent hotel if there was one nearby. Slim pickings when driving aimlessly. Sweat, the previous guest’s cheap aftershave, and greasy food all combined to layer her skin and clothes with a musky smell that the rest of her family back home in Florida would have wrinkled their noses at if she were there.

She would have had a shower, but the trap had what looked like a whole head of hair stuck in it and the other couple of odd hairs lurking around the sink and toilet had turned her stomach and convinced her not to spend any more time than necessary in that particular bathroom.

She could picture her mom now. Tweeds and pearls, prim and proper, sitting on the couch in the immaculate mansion she used to share with Brook’s father, her manicured hands perfectly placed on her tightly clamped together knees.

“Brook dear, you are the heir to a multi-billion-dollar fortune, yet you smell like you slept in some dreadful burger bar.” Then she would have carefully placed one forefinger under her nose to indicate her displeasure and returned to her daily, distant perusal of the newspaper.

She sighed at the thought that eventually, she was going to have to face her family; her parents.

“Later,” she said quietly to herself.

They were part of the reason she was driving. A big part. Her husband was another, but she had spent the last two days on the road trying not to think about how he had betrayed her, and she was in no mood to start now. It’s been two days and she still did not know where she was heading.

The highway stretched away in front of her in one long black straight line fading away in the distance to a backdrop of shimmering heat haze through which she could just make out the dark shapes of distant mountains. Both sides of the highway were green fields and barns.

She had barely slept the night before. An inefficient AC unit that sounded like it would explode at any moment, and the energetic and loud lovemaking of the couple in the next room to hers, combined with a logical, to her at least, fear that the room had some kind of bug infestation meant she had lain awake most of the night fully-dressed. She had only dozed fitfully for a couple of hours until she was woken by the bright sun, shining through the thin drapes at the grubby window of her room.

She needed time to think. Her life wasn’t and never had been her own. She had reached a point when she knew she had to get away from everything, to reflect on how her life came to be and how, now the burden of her ex had been lifted, she intended to live her life in the future. She knew she was serious about it, that it wasn’t just a passing fancy, when she had taken her cell phone from her purse and deliberately left it on the dining table at her home. The maid would find it, surely and may alert the authorities that she is missing. So, she left a note. Gone on a trip. Brook.

She regretted doing that now but the idea of being constantly bothered by messages, calls, and emails made her gut wrench. No one from her inner circle could help her the way she needed. Mom, dad, her besties Angie and Darcy, her cousin Elizabeth who has been like a sister to her, none of them could or would have the courage to tell her to drop everything and follow her heart. Now that her husband was behind bars and she is in financial ruin, they would show her support and tell her what to do. But they wouldn’t listen to what is going on with her inside. It’s the kind of support that makes you feel like you are in a low place and desperately need someone to hold you up. The kind that makes you feel not alone but when that support leaves the room, you are left feeling empty inside. She was alone and needed to be alone. She needed a clean slate, a new life, a make-over! Two days down the line and she was no nearer to finding her way through the muddle of thoughts that clogged her brain.

Through the haze on the road ahead she spotted a sign at an intersection, indistinct until, slowing down, she could finally make out the name of the place it was pointing off to.

She smiled to herself when she could finally make out the word on the sign.

Evansville.

3 Miles.

She glanced in her rear-view mirror as she prepared to make the turn, the cloud of dust she had been kicking up behind her all morning finally clearing. She was on what looks like the main street of a small town. Small shops on either side, vintage street lamps painted black with flower pots hanging off either side.

Quaint!

She slowed down to a crawl as her eyes are busy reading the shops, named after real people, no less. Just as her mind started to wonder about what life must be like for these people, a figure suddenly appears in front of her car, she swerved not to hit him.

“Watch where you’re going!” they both yelled out. She kept driving.

But her car didn’t sound good. From the rear-view mirror, she could see him still standing in the middle of the road starring at her. “What is his problem?!” She shook her head.

From the sound of the engine, the mechanic knew she wasn’t going to make it, wherever she was going. He stood, watching her drive off until the engine blew. “There she goes.” He was ready for her. “Hey Joe!” He called out. Joey runs out of the shop and looks in the same direction. “Go get her.”

Brook was no car expert but even she knew that wasn’t good. The sound of her engine changed, and smoke started to blow out the from under the hood as she kept rolling forward until the car stopped on its own.

“Shit.” She was fascinated by the dark cloud as it billowed from her car before finally dissipating in what little breeze there was.

Brook leaned back against her seat, slightly panicked, cursing at herself for leaving her phone behind. She lets out a sigh of defeat looking to the sky as if in hope for some celestial to come to her rescue.

The rest of the street was deserted other than, of all things, a tow truck. It was idling the other side of the level crossing, waiting for the signal that it was safe to drive across she assumed.

She heard the rumble of its engine increase in pitch when it started moving, and dropped her hands away from her face as it approached.

The truck’s headlights flashed. She hoped that meant it was stopping, then she leaned through the open window as the truck passed, retrieved her keys from the ignition, her purse from the seat and put on her best smile while she stood and waited for her rescuer to emerge. The truck backed up toward her car. She held her hands over her ears to block the loud warning beeps as it neared.

Relief flooded Brook’s body as the beeps stopped and the truck’s engine idled then stopped, clicking as it started to cool. She looked back along the road again just to be certain the other creepy guy was gone. She heard the truck door open and the crunch of footsteps approaching.

“Joey at your service, ma’am!”