Prologue
Ally
Nervously straightening my shirt first and then trying to smooth back my fly-away hair with shaking hands, I knew there were only two outcomes possible today. Our lack of options was a bitter pill to choke down. Testifying against my deranged husband Tom, would either set us free or condemn us to a life of hell.
As I stared at my reflection in the mirror above the sink, I thought back to that last night Tom was home before he was arrested. When he whipped me that last time, something snapped in me. As each lash landed across my scarred back, he yelled words of condemnation, which was his norm, but then he said that Jacob would be next if I didn’t commit to being his alibi.
Tom was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency for selling drugs and guns. The detectives were questioning everyone who knew him and I was next on their list. He had his buddies at the precinct covering for him, but he felt I was a wild card. I actually worried him. He believed Jacob was my Achilles heel. He was right. If he hit my baby with even a fourth of the strength that he hit me, Tom would surely kill him.
After he left that night, I cleaned myself up as best as I could and pulled out the cell phone he didn’t know about. It was for one person only. The only person in the world that might be able to help us. But I was still scared to trust her. Kathy had been my lifeline for a few years now.
I was given a card with just a phone number on it from a nurse when I had given birth to Jacob. The nurse tried to get me to call that day but, I refused. She packed the card along with the baby diapers she sent home with me though. In the past, I called Kathy after my beatings, just to talk. To have another human being to connect to. Someone to understand what I was going through. Each time, she begged me to let her help us. I never had the courage to accept her offer. Until now. I would not let him touch Jacob. It was either call her and set things in motion, with no turning back or take the chance that this monster would kill not just me, but my baby boy too. I made the call and we met the next day.
When I met Kathy, I was so scared. She had given me odd directions to take. Different buses going in opposite directions and then we had to walk the rest of the way to the spot where someone would pick us up. She gave me specific code words and swore with her life that we would be safe while meeting her. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t the person standing before me. Kathy was older, maybe in her fifties, blonde hair that was greying but what stood out the most was the horrible burn scars on the left side of her body. But when she smiled at me, my heart gave a flutter and I knew she was a kindred spirit. She knew what my life was like because she had lived it at one time. I was safe with her.
Kathy would set everything in motion but it would take a little while to set it all up. It was an underground railroad of sorts. Each participant that helped abused men, women and children only knew a portion of the journey. That way, no one person ever held too much information that could be tracked down. They supplied new identities, a bit of money and a whirlwind of different transportations to get us from one safe house to the next.
She warned me that it could be months or even years before we would be able to settle down in one place, but it could still be dangerous if we stayed too long.
Kathy smiled at me and said, “I am so happy to meet you, Ally Black and even more so to meet this sweet boy, Samuel Black. These will be your new names from now on and you will be supplied with everything you need for identification. A driver’s license, passports, social security cards and birth certificates. The first few months you will not get to choose where you go but after that you can pick. It can’t be anywhere that Tom would know about. Is there anywhere special you might have in mind?”
“I had already planned to leave, Kathy, because I am being watched everywhere I go. I can’t even trust the police with Tom’s connections having such a far reach. I don’t have a lot of money and my car is on its last leg. I did however look at a map and picked a town Tom knows nothing about. It’s where my Gram’s grew up. The town is named Wordly and it’s located in Illinois, just far enough away that maybe I can breathe a little,” I told her nervously biting the inside of my cheek.
“Ok, Ally, I like this plan. But you must know that you will always have to remain vigilant. No banking. Pay your bills in cash and we will scout a place for rent that will accept cash. You may not live an extravagant life, but you will live and isn’t that the point to all of this? Do you think you can handle it? I won’t lie to you, it’s not going to be easy,” Kathy asked me as she held my hands firmly as a mother would with a scared child.
I sat for a few minutes and thought about what was coming if I didn’t do this. There was no choice if I wanted both Jacob and me to live. As I nodded my head to her, we both stood up and Kathy embraced me like a mother saying goodbye.
“Ally, you can do this. I know you can. You could not have survived this long, if you were not a strong person. The nightmares will follow you for a long time but I promise they will grow less and less. Be wary when needed, always vigilant and most importantly, go live your life. We will be here if you need us. The last person in your chain will give you a cell phone and passphrase in case of an emergency but you may only use it once. There is one more backup if that doesn’t work, but I am not privy to that information as it’s different for each family. I will be in contact as soon as everything is ready. Take as little as possible with you. It will be swift traveling when it begins. Godspeed to you, dear girl.”
With a final hug goodbye, we headed home in another bizarre zig-zag and I prayed the entire time that Tom didn’t know I was anywhere other than Jacob’s checkup with his pediatrician.
Shaking myself free of the memory and digging deeply for strength, I stared at myself and said, “You can do this Sarah. You can. Do it for Jacob. If you don’t, sooner or later, he will move on to hurting him. You cannot let that happen.”
Shoring up my inner reserves, I turned my numb body toward the exit door of the ladies’ room in the county courthouse. They would be calling my name soon and I would have to see my biggest mistake face to face, in full view of a crowded courtroom.