Anthony grabbed her cell phone and keys and shoved them in his pocket. She shivered on the bed, watching his every move, but tried to roll away as he reached for her. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and yanked her off the bed. Cassandra resisted as much as she could, but he pulled her across the room and out the door.

The boss instructed Anthony to get her out of the area. He wanted to kick himself for leaving her side and thinking he could trust her. It never occurred to him she'd try to use her phone. "Stupid mistake," he mumbled to himself as he led her down the hallway, up the basement stairs, and out a side door of the building.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me," Cassandra pleaded. Anthony looked down at her raw wrists but didn't ease up on his grip.

Anthony ignored her and forced her to walk beside him. The gun poked at her side and Cassandra obeyed. He led her across a field and entered a woodland area. Anthony glanced around as they fled out of sight and hoped nobody saw them. He felt her dig her feet into the ground as soon as they were in the thick of the woods. Anthony looked to her feet and almost felt bad to see her barefoot. He took her shoes off the day he brought her to the basement, assuming she couldn't run without them. "You have nobody to blame for your pain," he snapped at her.

Cassandra cried as he held her tighter and forced her through the harsh brush. He knew the escape car was nearby, parked it there himself after taking her unconscious body to the basement. He needed to make sure he had easy access to it, but it had to stay where anyone searching for her, or him, wouldn't see. As soon as they reached it, he barked. "Get inside and move over."

Anthony cocked the gun, telling her not to get any ideas about trying to get out the passenger side. Minutes later, the car made its way out to the road and he drove opposite of the building.

 

~~~~

 

They drove around for more than an hour. The boss told Anthony he would call back with a plan. Anthony looked at the flip phone he placed in the console and hoped it would ring. He didn't understand what took so long. The boss called the shots, long before he abducted Cassandra, and Anthony didn't understand why a backup hideaway wasn't thought of before.

He looked down at the gas gauge and slapped his hand against the steering wheel. "Fuck," he said as he noticed they were down to a quarter of a tank. He didn't know how much longer he could drive around.

"We wouldn't be driving around without a plan if you stayed in prison where you belong," Cassandra snapped.

Anthony couldn't believe he liked her. She turned into a bitch the minute she assumed he killed her mother. "We wouldn't be driving around if you stayed on the bed where you belonged and kept your hands off that God damned phone of yours."

"You're going to get caught and my father and I will make sure you get put back behind bars," she spit back.

Anthony positioned himself to backhand her but flashing red and blue lights behind him distracted him from his thoughts. "Shit," he murmured. He pulled the car over and shoved his gun between the seats. "You say a word, and he's dead."

Cassandra shut her eyes and turned her head. Anthony knew she wanted no one to die because of her. He glanced at her then turned toward the open window toward the police officer.

"License and registration," the officer said.

Anthony slowly raised his hands. "They're both in the glove box," he told the officer. The cop nodded as he retrieved the fake papers. He handed them to the officer and smiled at Cassandra. "Is there a problem, Sir?"

"No. You were swerving. Have you been drinking?"

Anthony felt a flood of relief when he realized the officer wasn't suspicious. "No Sir," he answered. "My girlfriend fell earlier, and I must have swerved when I looked over to check to see how she's feeling."

Cassandra turned to face the officer. She looked like she'd been in a worse accident than just taking a fall, but the officer doesn't appear to think otherwise. "Is this true, Ma'am?"

She nodded her head before speaking. "Yes sir. I missed a step and tumbled down the basement stairs."

Anthony couldn't believe she went with it and the officer bought it. "You should get that looked at," the cop said as he handed the papers back to Anthony.

"No insurance," Anthony stated.

The officer nodded again. He glanced down at the fake ID and registration in Anthony's hand. "Michael Smith, common name," he snorted.

"Well as they say, I can't choose my parents." Anthony regret the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. The last thing he needed was to draw attention to himself.

"You look familiar," the officer said. "Take your shades off, son."

Anthony heard Cassandra take a deep breath, like all her troubles were about to go away. He didn't want to stir the pot, so he listened to what the man said. He reached up to take the sunglasses off and turned to face the cop. Anthony looked at him and said, "Could be because all of us Smiths' are related to each other."

The officer grinned and tapped the car. "Good point. Drive carefully."

Anthony looked over at Cassandra as the officer walked back to his squad car. He waited until the officer pulled out into the street and drove away before he started to laugh. "Thank God for colored contact lenses," he burst out. Cassandra huffed in disgust and slouched down in the seat. Anthony regained his bearings, figured out where they were, and then continued to drive to a safe spot.