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“Is there somewhere you can stay? Somewhere they won’t track you?”
She looked down, realizing she couldn’t bring this trouble down on anyone she knew.
“Do they know you’re from there?”
“No. I never told anyone but you and Ben. You’re the only ones they could get that information from.”
“Let me make a call. I know someone in Birmingham. Maybe he can help.”
****
>
An hour later, Skylar was driving down I-20 toward a hometown she hadn’t seen in ten years. Eric had made a deal with a man that owned a second home he rarely used. He’d agreed to let Skylar stay there for a few months in exchange for use of Eric’s condo in Florida. He was going to meet her with the keys. She had the directions in her purse.
Along with three thousand dollars.
Money that Eric had pulled out of his office safe and shoved into her hands, insisting she’d earned it and to consider it an early Christmas bonus. When she’d tried to refuse, he’d insisted, vowing Ben would ‘have his head’ if he let her leave with no money. God bless those two men. What would she have done without them?
****
Two hours later, she glanced at the directions once again as she drove down highway 119, south of town. ‘Over the mountain’ as anyone from Birmingham referred to it. She passed mile after mile of tall pine trees, rolling hills with horses grazing behind split rail fences and some very expensive homes. Slowing down, she turned right onto the driveway hidden in the overgrowth. It was barely visible from the road. If she hadn’t been looking for it, she would never have noticed it.
About twenty yards off the road was an ornate iron gate, woods and bushes on either side. Parked in front was a Black Lexus and a man leaning against it.
Skylar pulled her Miata up behind him and got out.
“You must be Eric’s friend,” the man asked, extending his hand.
“Yes, sir. I’m Skylar.”
“You must mean a lot to him, he really twisted my arm on this one.”
“He’s a good friend.”
The man reached inside his pocket and pulled out what looked like a garage door opener. “This is the remote for the gate.” He aimed it at the gate and pushed a button, and the gate began to slowly swing open. “I’d appreciate it if you kept it closed at all times.”
She accepted the remote from his outstretched hand. “Yes, sir. Of course.”
“Get in your car, and follow me up to the house.” He turned and headed back to his Lexus.
Skylar looked at the gate and the long tree lined drive that curved to the left, disappearing into the woods. What the hell kind of place had Eric made a deal for her to stay in? This seemed like a damned estate, not a house.
She followed him up to the house.
House? Right.
The drive had come up through the woods and approached the back of the residence, passing it on the left. The drive then looped around to the side and ended in a circle in front of the home, complete with a fountain in the center.
Skylar climbed out of her car and looked up at the place. The home was huge. It was built of dark wood and stone work in sort of a Craftsman style that blended in with the rustic wooded setting. Stone steps led up to a large front porch. Skylar followed the owner up and waited while he unlocked the door. Then he turned and handed her a set of keys.
“Here’s your set.”
They stepped inside. He immediately stepped over to a security alarm. “The four digit code is one-four-seven-eight. It forms the letter L when you look at the keypad. The only way you’ll remember it.” He smiled.
“Thanks. That’ll make it easy to remember.”
He showed her how to set it when she was going to bed and how to set it when she left the premises. Then he gave her a tour.
