Lance

 

Our eyes met. At least her eyes were still blue. That was one of the only things that didn’t change about her. I hadn’t seen her in so long. Seeing her again was almost like coming home. Everything else went away, faded into the background. It was just the two of us. I felt a sharp sting of sadness when I saw what she turned into. I wished I had known so many things. I could have helped her somehow. I could’ve paid for rehab, moved her to a new city where she wouldn’t be around her old friends. Her life could’ve been better if she had told me she had a baby. I would have made things as good as I could.

 

“Rae,” I whispered. I held out a hand to her.

 

She only waited a split second before running.

 

“No!” I took off after her. She dodged between two buses. I followed her, knocking straight into a group of people waiting to board. “Stop her!” I called out to a pair of guys by the back of the bus, but it was too late. She was already past them.

 

I fought through the crowd, then sprinted after her. There were so many buses waiting to leave, dozens of them. She could have hidden behind any of them—but not for long. She had ten minutes until her bus left for New York. Still, small and fast as she was, she could keep me looking for that long.

 

I looked around, my head swiveling, my heart racing. I heard a woman cry out three buses down and went in that direction.

 

“Where is she?”

 

The woman was on her ass—Rae must’ve knocked her down. She pointed, and I followed the direction of her finger.

 

Some of the buses had opened their doors. Shit. She could have climbed inside one. I would never find her. I had to think fast.

 

“Flash, are you looking?”

 

“Yeah, I’m looking.”

 

“Okay. Jax, bring it in through the back door. Slate, come in through the front. Keep an eye out for her. I want one of you at each end of the terminal. I want you to watch, see if she runs out anywhere. She’s wearing a blue backpack, purple t-shirt.”

 

I stood in the center of the room, turning in a slow circle. She couldn’t get far. No driver would leave with her on the bus if she didn’t have a valid ticket. I kept circling.

 

“Third row!” I hardly had time to register Flash’s warning before Rae darted out from between two buses around twenty feet down the row. I went from zero to a sprint in no time, following her. I didn’t take my eyes off her.

 

“I’m following!” I yelled, waving people out of my way as I went. “Move! Move!” They jumped aside, cursing at me. I didn’t care. All I wanted to do was stop her. I had to stop her.

 

She hung a quick right, and I kept yelling for everybody to get out of the way before I even rounded the corner. There, I found a beautiful sight. She ran straight into Flash, who took her by the arms.

 

“Hey, Rae,” he said, grinning. She screamed and squirmed, but the bus’s engine drowned her out.

 

“I have to get on a bus, you fucker! Let me go! Don’t touch me! Help!” She fought against Flash’s hands as I bent at the waist, huffing and puffing. I needed to get in better shape if I was gonna chase crazy junkies through bus stations.

 

Jax and Slate caught up to us. Rae’s eyes went wide when she figured out it was four against one.

 

“You’re not going anywhere, Rae, so you might as well start talking. Tell me why you’re running.”

 

She stared hatefully at me. I didn’t think she could hate me so much, especially since we hadn’t seen each other in so long. “Why should I tell you anything? You don’t know my life. You don’t know shit about me.”

 

“I know you had my daughter all these years without telling me. What was that all about? Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

 

She shrugged. “What did you care? You left me.”

 

“It didn’t matter. I should have known. You should’ve told me.” I looked her in the eye, wondering where the Rae I used to know went. She looked like a stranger. Like a caged animal. I half expected her to start clawing at Flash.

 

“I gotta go! I’m gonna miss my bus, damn it!”

 

“Tell me what I wanna know, then. We’ll let you go. Shit, I want you to go if it means Gigi never has to see you again. She’ll be better off without you.” I saw how my words stung her, and kept going. “You can get on the bus, but you have to tell me what I wanna know.” I got close to her and glanced up at Flash to let her go. He let go of her, but there was nowhere for her to run. I had her pinned against the bus, with Jax and Slate on either side. We boxed her in.

 

Her eyes darted back and forth, looking at one of us, then the other. Over and over. It was nauseating, watching her freak out like that. Her chest rose and fell like she was panting for breath. “I’m going to New York, okay?”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know. How do you think I found you? Do you think I just hang out at the bus station every day?”

 

“How did you know?” She looked terrified. “Who told you?”

 

“Nobody had to tell me. I found the receipt at your house.”

 

“You broke into my house? You fucker!” She swung at me, but I blocked it easily. It was like swatting a fly.

 

“Come on, Rae. You’re stalling. Your bus is gonna leave any minute. Who are you running from? Why are you so scared?”

 

She trembled, looking from one of us to the other again.

 

I sighed. “Rae, it doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t wanna hurt you. I wanna know who’s trying to. I wouldn’t be treating you like this if you didn’t run from me. Don’t tell me you’re not running away, when you ran from me like that as soon as you saw me.”

 

She bit her lip, eyes wide. “I thought you were coming for me to punish me for leaving Gigi with you.”

 

“I wouldn’t punish you for that, Rae. Christ.”

 

“You’re not pissed at me?”

 

“For leaving Gigi with me? No, not for that.” I looked at the clock on the wall. “You only have a few minutes. Talk to me.”

 

Her chin wobbled. For a second, I felt sorry for her. She was still the girl I used to love. I saw her in there. I wondered if she was clean. Her eyes looked clear enough.

 

“I have to get away from him.”

 

We were finally getting somewhere. “Who?”

 

“The Scarecrow.” I heard sighs from my crew. They were just waiting for her to say it.

 

“What did you do? Why do you need to get away from him?”

 

“I tried really hard, Lance. You have to know I tried real, real hard. I did everything I could to stay clean for Gigi. I wanted to be a good mom.” She started shaking, crying. I didn’t have the patience for it. I didn’t have the time for it, either, and neither did she.

 

“Why do I feel like you’re stalling, Rae? Are you really in a hurry to get on that bus, or what?”

 

“Yes! I have to get away from him! He’s gonna kill me!”

 

“For what, damn it? Why did you do?”

 

“I owe him so much money.”

 

“How much.”

 

“Ten thousand dollars.” Tears streamed down her face, mixed with snot. She ran a hand under her nose, and I felt sick.

 

“You tried to stay clean, huh? You don’t shoot ten thousand bucks into your arm on the first relapse, babe.”

 

“I know, I know. I’m so ashamed. You don’t know what it’s like. I was working it off in other ways…”

 

“Oh God, I don’t wanna hear about this.” She turned my stomach.

 

“Just with him. Only with him. He made it sound like that would make us even. Only it didn’t. He changed his mind all of a sudden. The last time I went to see him, the night before I left Gigi with you. He told me it wasn’t enough. I owed him all this money. I didn’t understand why, what he meant. So I packed Gigi’s stuff and took her to you. I borrowed the neighbor’s car and honked the horn so you would come out.”

 

“Yeah, I know you did.”

 

“I’ve been hiding from him all week. But he found me. I’ve gotta go!” She made a move like she wanted to bolt again, but we stopped her. She cried out, a weak, broken cry. “Please, he probably already knows I’m here. You’ve gotta let me go. You’ve gotta get back to the clubhouse.”

 

Her words stopped me. I glanced at Flash, who looked as surprised as I did.

 

“What do you mean, I’ve gotta get back? Why?”

 

“Because…” She started crying again, harder than before. I lost all patience. I took her by the arms and shook her until her head rocked back and forth. She was like a rag doll.

 

“Lance, chill.” I didn’t care what Flash or anybody said, or whether anybody else saw me shaking her. I wanted to kill her.

 

“Why do I have to get back? What did you do? What happened when he found you? Why did he let you go?” I shook her again. “Why did he let you go after he found you? Why did he let you live? What did you do, damn it?”

 

“I had to tell him something to settle the debt. I had to give him something!” She sobbed.

 

“What did you give him? What?” My voice rose over the bus engines.

 

“I’m sorry.” She broke free from my hands and fell onto the floor. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was so scared.” She rocked back and forth.

 

I looked at Jax, who looked just as stunned as I felt. “Call the clubhouse.” I knelt down, shaking her again. I needed her to look at me.

 

“What did you do? What did you give him? I don’t understand. Help me, damn it. Help me, Rae. Tell me what I need to know.” Nothing I said got through to her.

 

“Lance!” I looked up. Jax was as white as a sheet, phone in his hand.