Chapter 6

Five Days Earlier

The boys looked startling enough with their new buzz cuts, like junior military recruits, but Dee was the real shocker. Jules kept glancing in the rearview mirror of their new-to-them SUV, unable to keep her eyes off the small stranger in the backseat. Dee had the same problem. At the garage/car exchange/new-identity pickup, disappearance expert Dennis had given Dee a makeover and a pocket mirror, and her eyes had been fixed on her reflection ever since.

“You okay, Dee?” Jules asked, starting to get uneasy about the mesmerized silence behind her.

“Yes.” Her eyes didn’t move from the mirror.

“Do you like your new look?”

“I love it,” Dee breathed. “I look so…different.”

She did. Her long, blond curls were now a dark brown, cut in a pixie that made her blue eyes look huge. The fake pageant glamour was gone, replaced by a normal, cute little girl. She’d also changed out of her school uniform into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

“We look like real sisters now, too.”

Jules shifted so she could see part of her own face in the rearview mirror. Her hair was the same color as Dee’s, but Dennis had cut it so it went just past her shoulders. He’d also given her cute bangs. Except for the way Jules’s blue eyes were narrow and tilted up at the corners rather than round, she and Dee did look a lot alike.

“We’ve always been real sisters, D,” Jules said teasingly as she passed a semi.

“I know,” Dee said to her mirror. “But now we really look like sisters.”

“J-Ju.” Sam’s abrupt tone made her tense. “C-c-c…”

Glancing behind her, she knew what he was going to say even before he could force it out.

“C-cops.”

The Highway Patrol car was right behind her. Even though she knew the cruise control was set at two miles per hour below the speed limit, she still had to resist the urge to slam on the brakes.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jules,” she muttered. “Just stay calm.” Without touching the brake pedal, she signaled and moved into the right lane in front of the semi. The patrol car moved over as well, staying behind them.

As if he’d sensed the tension in the car, Ty woke from his doze with a snort. “What’s going on?”

“Cops behind us,” Tio said tightly.

“Shit.”

“Language,” Jules snapped.

“Seriously?” Ty gave a short laugh. “I think cops on our tail deserves a ‘shit’ or two. Maybe even a ‘fuck.’”

“Swearing is a bad habit.” Realizing she had a death grip on the wheel, Jules forced her fingers to relax. Her siblings couldn’t know how close to blind panic Jules was. What if Mr. Espina hadn’t had that talk with her stepmother? Worse, what if he had threatened her with exposure, and Courtney had called the cops anyway? Were the kids’ pictures plastered over every TV and computer and phone screen from Tampa to Seattle? Her breath caught in her chest, suffocating her, and she made herself breathe normally. Hyperventilating while driving was a bad idea. She shoved her frantic worries into the back of her brain and tried to sound as calm as possible…which wasn’t very calm at all. “Especially when your little sister is sitting right next to you.”

“Sorry, Dee,” Ty muttered.

“It’s okay. Courtney swears a lot more than you do.”

Choking back a mostly hysterical laugh, Jules asked, “Why do you call her Courtney?”

“You’re seriously asking that now?” Tio interjected before Dee could answer. “When there’s a law enforcement officer following our getaway car? Especially since Courtney most likely knows by now that you took us out of school, so it’s highly probable there is a warrant out for your arrest on multiple kidnapping charges.” Each word was precisely enunciated, which was typical for Tio when he was scared.

“If I don’t relax,” Jules said through her teeth, “then I’m going to do something stupid, like hit the brakes or jerk the wheel or, I don’t know, roll down the window and flip off the nice cop behind us. I need you to cut me some slack right now.”

“Sorry.” He sounded young and subdued, and guilt rose in Jules for snapping at him. “Go ahead, Dee.”

“I’ve forgotten the question,” Dee said in a tiny voice.

Jules’s eyes flicked to the rearview again. Instead of looking at the occupants of the backseat this time, she checked out the squad car. It was a reasonable distance behind them, and the lights weren’t flashing—both positive things. All she had to do was not screw up and draw attention to them. “Um…I asked why you call your mom Courtney.”

“I don’t know.” Dee was quiet for a few moments. “She just seems more like a Courtney than a Mom.”

Despite the situation, Jules had to block a laugh that wanted to escape. “True.”

“She seems more like a b-b-bitch than a C-Courtney,” Sam muttered.

Now it was even harder not to laugh. “Sam! Language!”

“You need to give Sam points for truthfulness, though,” Ty said.

Jules couldn’t stop a snort from escaping. “Don’t make me laugh, y’all, or I’m going to go full-on hysterical and won’t be able to drive.” A glance in the mirror showed the Highway Patrol vehicle still trailing them. “Should I take the next rest-stop exit?”

“What if he follows?” Ty asked. “We’ll have to stop at the rest area, or it’ll look like we’re just trying to dodge him.”

“You’re right.” Her hands had tightened again, and she peeled her fingers off the wheel before settling them loosely back in place. “Let’s keep going then.”

As the SUV and its escort continued down the interstate, they all went silent. Jules’s gaze flicked to the rearview mirror again, and she froze. The trooper was right behind them. Close now. Trying to keep her breathing steady—or at least not start praying out loud—Jules had to force herself not to stare. As close as he was, he’d be able to see her jerky glances, each nervous movement just screaming “I’m guilty!” Every time her eyes disobeyed and strayed to the mirror, she caught a glimpse of her siblings’ pale, frightened faces. Her breathing grew jerky despite her efforts at staying calm as she waited for the cop’s overhead lights to flash, for the siren that would force her to choose—pull over or run.

As terrifying as the thought of trying to outrun the police was, the alternative was scarier. She’d go to prison, and her sister and brothers would return to that house.

That wasn’t an option. If the trooper’s lights went on, they were running. Every muscle in her body contracted, tighter and tighter with each dragging second until she was quivering with tension.

When she saw the sign, the ramifications didn’t penetrate for a few seconds. As soon as she grasped what it meant, she laughed, and the sudden sound made Sam jump.

“Wh-what?” he growled.

“Welcome to Tennessee, Jackson family!” Behind them, the patrol car had switched lanes and slowed, preparing to turn onto an access road across the median. Comprehension eased the tension on Sam’s face.

“I get it!” Ty almost yelled. “State Patrol!”

Everyone laughed, relief making them giddy. When Jules finally got her breath back, she had to brush at her watering eyes.

“Am I going to feel like that every time I see a cop?” she asked. “If so, I vote we go somewhere without a police force.”

“Where’s that?” Ty asked. “Canada?”

Reaching over Dee’s head, Tio punched his brother in the arm. “They have cops there, dumbass. Haven’t you heard of Mounties?”

“Language!”

“We can’t say ‘dumbass’?” It was Ty who protested. “I won’t have a name for most of the people I know.”

“You w-won’t know them anym-m-more.”

Everyone went silent at the reminder. Jules fought the urge to apologize for stealing them away from their friends, reminding herself they’d agreed it was for the best.

“Worth it,” Ty said, echoing her thoughts.

“Totally,” Dee agreed. “Now I don’t have to pretend to be friends with Taylor Biggins.”

“That obnoxious girl from the pageants?” Jules asked, vaguely remembering Dee mentioning Taylor’s explosive tantrums.

“Yes.”

“Why would you have to pretend to be friends with her?” Jules noticed her arms were shaking, probably from keeping her muscles tense for so long. “From what you’ve told me, I would’ve run whenever I saw her.”

“Mrs. Biggins does the best hair.” Dee’s voice was matter-of-fact. “Courtney said I had to be friends with Taylor or her mom would drop me, and then I’d get stuck with Mrs. Papadopoulos, and she burns me with the curling iron when I don’t sit still.”

Everyone besides Dee sucked in a horrified breath.

“Does Courtney know that this woman burns you?” Ty asked. Each word was carefully precise, making him sound like Tio. When Jules glanced at him, Ty’s face was tight, and he was staring at Dee with intense focus.

“Sure.” Dee’s casual tone made the answer so much worse.

“What did she say about it?” Jules asked, even though she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know the answer.

“Sit still.”

When her fingers started cramping, Jules realized she was strangling the steering wheel again. “I’m sorry y’all had to leave your friends—except for Demon Taylor—but I’m not sorry I kidnapped you.”

“Me neither.” Dee was the first to agree.

Ty was next. “Nope. Kidnap away.”

“It’s not the ideal situation”—Tio never used one word when he could use a dozen—“but it was necessary under the circumstances.”

“Thanks, J-J-JuJu.”

To her shock, Sam reached over and patted her forearm. It was a quick movement, his hand landing for just a second, but he’d actually touched her voluntarily. Her eyes burned, and she blinked hard to wrestle the threat of tears into submission.

“Okay,” she said a little too loudly. “Enough talking about our real past. Let’s make up a fake one. Where should we tell people we’re from?”

“California,” Ty suggested, making Jules snort.

“Only if you can control that drawl of yours.”

“Drawl?” Ty protested. “I don’t have a drawl!”

Even Sam laughed at that.

“We could be from Texas,” Dee suggested. “From a ranch with horses.”

Tio vetoed Texas. “The accent is wrong. Georgia would be a better match.”

That made Jules shift uncomfortably in her seat. “Georgia feels too close. What’s the most Northern state with a Southern accent?”

“Arkansas?” Ty suggested doubtfully, just as Tio said, “West Virginia.”

Either one was fine with Jules. “Let’s vote. Who wants to be from West Virginia?” Tio was the only “yes.” “Arkansas?” Ty, Sam, and Dee all gave their enthusiastic approval.

“Arkansas?” Tio repeated disdainfully. “Really? Y’all want Arkansas to be our homeland?”

“I think it’s good,” Jules said. “I could be wrong, but I think fewer people would be familiar with Arkansas than West Virginia, which means less chance of someone catching a mistake if we make one.”

Tio gave a deep, long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Can you hand me the atlas?” The Pathfinder they’d traded for the Camry had come equipped with an actual paper atlas. Until this trip, Jules hadn’t used a paper map in years.

Pulling it from under his seat, Sam handed it over.

“What are you doing, T?” Dee asked, leaning toward him so she could see the atlas, too.

“Research. There’s not much I can do without access to the Internet or books, but at least I can learn some Arkansas geography.”

“Good idea. Why don’t you check out our new hometown while you’re at it?”

There were a few moments of silence before Tio asked, “Where are we going?”

Jules snorted. “It took y’all long enough to ask.”

“It was enough that we were leaving,” Ty said, and the others made sounds of agreement. “So? Where does this bus make its last stop?”

Excitement fought with nerves as she thought about the place they were going to make their new start. “Monroe, Colorado.”