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My heart knew it as soon as I saw the picture, but my mind couldn’t catch up. As much as I wanted to, I never actually believed that I would ever find her.
It's Faye. It’s really her, and Blake knows where she is!
I jump into action, calling Blake back before I'm even out of the room. Becca shouts questions behind me, but I don’t have time to stop and listen to her. I probably should and I know it, she has often been the voice of reason, her gentle nature working to slow down Blake and I when we tend towards making snap decisions.
Right now, I can’t slow down. I have to move. I have to do something!
Blake answers and I growl through clenched teeth. “Don't let her out of your sight! I'm on my way!”
Knowing he will text me directions I run for my truck and slam it into gear as I race toward the only thing in my past that I regret. Finally, I get to make things right and fulfill my promise.
Faye
My nerves are on edge again. The same way they were last night while the stranger watched me in the diner. The source of my anxiety today is a black SUV parked across the street from my apartment. There isn’t anything special about it other than the darkly tinted windows. I haven’t seen anything to make me suspicious, but I think someone is inside it. I first noticed it parked across the street as I watered my plants this morning. It seemed a little out of place then, but it’s still there and hasn’t moved an inch, and that does raise my hackles.
Most of the buildings that surround my apartment are rundown houses with dead lawns and trash cans knocked over on the sidewalk. There are a few shabby storefronts like the auto shop below my apartment. Driveways are either empty or have old, worn-out vehicles parked in them. It probably was a nice neighborhood once, but it hasn’t been for a long time. The shiny new SUV stands out like a whore in church, and seeing it out there makes me scared and more
than a little bit angry. After all this time, how dare they?!
I swear I can feel eyes on me as I peak out the window again, then back away, closing the curtains tightly. I have things to do, even if I really wish that I didn’t.
Without letting myself think too hard about what I’m doing, I pull my old backpack out of the closet and start packing what I can't leave behind. My letters and Travis’ photo are still in the bottom. I add some clothing and a couple of paperbacks before filling a laundry basket with a few items I have managed to acquire over the past few years that I don’t want to leave behind. There isn’t very much that isn’t replaceable.
I'm hoping to make it look like I'm heading to the laundromat. Most of this stuff could use a good washing, so I might go there anyway. Sticking my bat under the clothing and blankets in the basket, I put my pepper spray in the pocket of my USMC hoodie and tote my belongings onto the landing at the top of the stairs. I lock the door behind me and pocket the key.
I'm resigned to leaving. At least for a short time. There really is no reason to stay at the moment. No close friends, no family. Just a job. And Chuck.
I should tell him I'm taking off for a few days, see if he will feed the fish while I'm gone. He’ll figure out that I left for good if I'm not back in a week.
After loading my stuff into the cab of my old pickup I pop into the shop. Chuck has a cot in his office and spends most of his time there when he’s not working on the cars and bikes that people bring in.
Chuck is a grizzled older man who looks like a member of a motorcycle club, if his tattoos and the leather jacket on the back of his chair mean anything. He’s never been anything but kind to me and he's happy to watch my fish, just like I knew he would be. I leave him my key since it’s the only one.
“You in trouble, girl?” he asks, taking in my tense posture. He motions toward the street behind me. Specifically to the dark SUV. I shake my head, not wanting to involve him if the guy from last night is part of whatever trouble got mom and Brad killed.
“I just need a break for a few days. I’m going out to my grandpa’s cabin,” I stumble just a little bit over the lie, but I don’t want him to worry. He has watched out for me ever since I rented the small space upstairs. We have talked about the cabin before. He knows I like to get away from my real life, so he accepts my words. At least I think he does. I can’t always tell with Chuck.
We chat for a couple more minutes before I use the shop phone to call the diner. Ana answers, and I let her know that I’m going to be gone for a while. She promises to tell our manager that I had a family emergency. Only a woman on the run would accept my vague story without question, and she does just that. All she says is be safe, and that she hopes I will be back soon.
“You take care of yourself too, Ana, and your little bean,” I tell her before hanging up the phone. She’s due in a couple of months, and I had hoped to be here for her when she went into labor. She doesn’t have anyone else, and I thought she might not want to go through that alone. I know I wouldn’t, and I’m sad that I won’t be here for her now.
With all of my arrangements made, the only thing I care about now is getting the hell out of here. It has been so long since that life changing night that most days I can convince myself that no one cares who and where I am. But obviously I’ve been wrong. So, so wrong. Someone was looking, and now...fuck. Now I’ve been found. Not for long, if I have a say in the matter. I got away once when I was a terrified kid. I’m smarter now, and less scared. That has to count for something, right?
There is someone in the driver's seat, just like I thought. I keep my head down so my hair shields my face, eyes focused in front of me, and walk to my pickup like I'm unaware that I'm being watched. I load my things in the passenger seat and stroll around the hood to the driver’s door. I’m trying to look casual. Nothing odd about me doing my laundry on a Sunday.
Shifting into gear, I roll out of my parking spot and onto the street. I keep my attention on the SUV as I drive past it and head toward the laundromat. I only get about a block and a half before I see it following me.
“Shit! Oh shit!” I wail, terrified that the big vehicle will catch up to me and force me off the road, but it doesn't. It just follows, staying about a block behind me. I don’t know if the driver realizes I noticed him or if he just doesn’t care if I did.
Not hiding his pursuit was a mistake.
A grim smile pulls at the corners of my mouth as I start watching for an opportunity to ditch him and make a run for it.
Chapter Six
Faye
I'm out on a county road somewhere, heading east. Knowing that I was actually being followed made me panic, and I took the first exit I came to, not paying any attention to the road signs. I ran a red light, hoping to get far enough ahead to lose the black SUV, but he's still back there. He hasn’t gotten any closer, but he isn’t letting me gain any ground either. Right now I’m sure that I’m safe, and he’s not going to run me off the road. My first thought was to make a run for the cabin, but I don’t want to lead anyone there. If all else fails, the cabin is where I will go to make a last stand… or to try to vanish into the woods.
