Chapter 14
Luke
By Friday the snow had melted enough that I could drive to Dillon again. We were running low on supplies so it couldn’t have come at a better time. I was starting to feel a little stir crazy, stuck in that cabin for nearly a full week and even though Anna and I had had a great time, I knew she had been worried about calling her friend and letting her know the latest plans.
We climbed into the truck and headed toward Dillon. The snow still lay in thick patches by the side of the road, and the view was breathtaking. The sky was a crisp blue, the clouds having disappeared, and the sun made a feeble attempt to melt the snow that covered the mountains like a blanket. It would be a while still before they snow would melt enough for the earth to breathe again. For now, it was only the road that was open. It was still better to stay indoors whenever possible.
“I can’t believe how crazy the storms get here,” Anna said, looking out of the window. “Back in the city we get snow, but it’s never like this. It’s almost like rain back home—you deal with it when it’s there, but life carries on. Here, everything stops. It’s like nature is the star of the show and the people’s lives and routines are an afterthought, not the other way around.”
I nodded. “It’s a very different life to co-exist with nature out here. I think it’s part of what I love about this place. I’m always reminded how small I am in the universe, how fragile life really is, and how much of a skill it is to survive. With technology and all the other luxuries we have in the cities, it’s so easy to think we’re more than we really are.”
We drove in silence for a while longer.
“I’m going to stop for lighter fluid, fire starters, matches, and so on. I don’t know if you need something specific? Let me know if I need to go to other stores as well so we can plan our visit.”
Anna shook her head. “I think I’m alright for now. I have everything I need. I just want cell service so I can call Lizabeth and let her know I’m safe. She was freaked out after I disappeared the first time, but now that she knows I can’t reach her unless I come down here, she’s not so panicked about it.”
“It’s good that you have friends that care about you,” I said. I had people I had considered friends, once. When I had left my past behind and ran for my life, I realized they hadn’t been on my side at all. We had only been connected through mutual goals and the circumstances we had in common. The moment my outlook on life had changed, and I had decided to get out of the life I had created for myself, they had turned against me, and I had realized I’d been alone all along.
“Lizabeth is a very good friend,” Anna agreed. “She’s helped me in ways I don’t think anyone else would have.”
She seemed forlorn, and it made me want to ask her what she was thinking about. I didn’t ask, though.
We drove into Dillon, and I stopped in front of the store where I would get most of what I needed. Anna switched on the phone and dialed her friend’s number. I opened the door to get out when she said, “Hey, it’s me.”
She gasped, and when I looked at her, her face had drained of blood, and she was ghostly pale.
“Dad?” she asked, her voice almost in a whisper. She froze for only a second before she pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up. Her hands were trembling, and she swallowed hard.
“Are you okay?” I asked, climbing back into the truck. Her reaction wasn’t quite what I would have expected when she’d spoken to her dad unexpectedly.
“He found me,” she said in a strained voice.
“Who found you? Your dad?”
She nodded, swallowing hard. She looked terrified.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
She looked at me with haunted eyes.
“My dad is after me. He’s not a good person. I’ve been running from him. Now he’s got Lizabeth.”
She pressed her hand over mouth, and it looked like she was trying to bite back tears.
“What if he hurt her?”
I shook my head, trying to understand. “He would do that?” I asked.
“You have no idea what kind of person he is. My dad doesn’t care about anything other than his own agenda and getting what he wants. He won’t stop at anything until he finds me. Oh, God. I thought I had managed to get away from him.”
It was all starting to make sense now. She had been paranoid about me when I had first found her, asking me who sent me. She wasn’t using a cell phone that was personal, and she had bought that shitty car with cash. And she had told me she would be safe with me, which was why she had asked if she could stay.
She was on the run much like I was.
“What if he finds me here?” Anna said, and it looked like the shock was over and panic was setting in. “If he finds me, there will be hell to pay. He can’t find me.”
She looked like she was about to break down. I could relate to her panic, to how she seemed to fear for her life. It was ironic that even in our situations in life, Anna and I could relate to each other and I understood who she was.
I didn’t mention to her that I was in the same boat—there was no reason to get technical—but my survival instincts kicked in.
“Did you phone Lizabeth on her cell phone or a landline?” I asked. It would be harder to track the burner from a landline, albeit not impossible.
“I phoned her cell phone,” Anna said.
“Right. We have to get rid of that phone. You’ll have to find another way to contact Lizabeth when the time comes.”
I held out my hand, and Anna handed me the phone. It was an old flip phone, barely worth anything. I opened the back of the phone and pulled out the battery.
“It’s harder to track when the two parts aren’t together,” I said. If her dad had the right resources, he would still be able to track her after the line had been open on the call, but we had to do what we could. I didn’t mention that last fact to her. I didn’t want her to panic even more than she already was.
“I’m going to grab what we need. Come with me,” I said. I didn’t want her waiting in the truck. Even though they had only just found her, and they were still in New York, if my guess was correct, I wanted to keep an eye on her.
Anna didn’t protest. She climbed out of the truck with me, and we walked into the shop. On the way in I threw the cell,phone battery into a trash bin.
I made quick work of finding the supplies I needed. Anna stuck to my side, looking around as if her father would jump out behind one of the shelves any minute. She was terrified, and I wondered what kind of man he was to have his own daughter so spooked, to have sent her on the run in the first place. I could kill people who treated women—their own children, in fact—like that. I was becoming protective of Anna. I wanted to do anything I could to keep her safe, and the mere thought that someone was trying to hurt her made my chest burn with rage.
If anything happened to her, I would take out whoever had done it. I had sworn off killing and doing all sorts of bad shit that broke the law, but for Anna, I was willing to make an exception.
Anna was willing to listen to me and do what I suggested. It was a good sign. I could help her stay alive, stay safe and hidden. I had been on the run for a long time, and I had more than enough tips and tricks to survive. That I was so proficient in running and hiding wasn’t a good thing, but it meant I could keep her safe and help her do what needed to be done. I was glad I had the knowledge to share with her.
It was ironic that Anna and I—both on the run—had found each other. I didn’t quite believe in destiny and fate and all that bullshit, but this seemed a lot like the universe had lined up to bring us together so that I could be there for her.
I didn’t share my own past with her, of course. But I could be a great help to her when she needed it, and for now, that was all that was needed.
We headed back to the cabin once we were done with our shopping. Anna was worried. She kept twisting in her seat to look back or looking in the mirrors to see if we were being followed. We were the only truck on the road heading back to the cabin, and she finally relaxed, but I could tell her worry didn’t subside.
She didn’t speak to me. We were quiet, and even though I was burning with curiosity, I didn’t want to ask her anything that would make her uncomfortable. I wanted to know what her father had done that she was running from him, why he was so horrible. It took a lot of courage to run away from someone you feared that much, but I knew from personal experience that it only increased the fear. Getting caught often had worse consequences than if you had only stayed put.
But I respected her choice to run. My situation was very different from hers, but I understood what she was going through. I could understand the risk, and I knew it took a strong person to do it.
I had known from the start Anna was a strong person.
“You should throw the phone out of the window, now,” I said when we were in the middle of nowhere. The cabin was still some distance away, and we had left the town behind us.
Anna did as I suggested without asking questions. The cold air blew into the truck when she wound down the window, and she threw the phone out, looking back as the phone hit the snow.
“No one will be able to track it, now?” Anna asked.
I shook my head. “I doubt it. The battery is out, and the wet snow will cause the phone to short out if anyone does manage to switch it on. You did yourself a favor by keeping it off the whole time instead of leaving it on.”
Anna nodded. She had been keeping the phone off purely because there had been no reason to have it on without the cell service. I wasn’t sure if they had tried to track her before she had called, but if they had, the phone being off would have made their job that much harder.
I reached across for Anna and put my hand on her thigh. She glanced at me, taking my hand before looking out of the window, again.
“We’ll figure this out,” I promised.
Anna only nodded.