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Once I’ve gone some distance, I give myself a minute, my sides pinching from the running, something my body is not very good at. When I look behind me, I see they haven’t followed me this far, and I quickly hop down into a ditch on the side of the road. It’s at least four feet deep, and there are tumble weeds all around it. I gather some of them and lie down, covering myself and then staying as still as possible.
The irony of me lying in a ditch doesn’t escape me, but desperate times calls for desperate measures.
I briefly think about calling the number Liam gave me but decide against it, knowing he’s out there meeting with his contact and not wanting to distract him, and also not wanting to make any noise that would attract attention.
I wonder if I seriously injured that guy, but since he was trying to kill me, the guilt doesn’t linger.
The dark encases me from all sides, and I see how beautiful it is out here without all the city lights taking away from the stars. If I didn’t know people were trying to kill me, I would lie back and enjoy the view above me, but the fear of being caught keeps me stiff and alert.
My gun sits on my chest as I listen for any sign of movement. When I hear a car coming, I practically stop breathing. A beam of light shoots across the ditch, and I wait.
“Come out now, we don’t want to hurt you.” It sounds like the man is talking through a loudspeaker of some sort. Don’t want to hurt me?Um, the bullet zipping past my head told a different story, bud.
I don’t move. I don’t breathe. I practice round breathing like I did in high school band. Never did I think that was going to come in handy.
The light is right on top of me and I clench my eyes shut. It doesn’t really help me hide, but I can’t stop the instinctive reaction. The light moves again, going past my head and farther down the ditch.
I stay there for a long time. I can’t tell you how long it really is, but I wait and wait for them to come back. I hear other cars pass me by, but I don’t dare try to get out until it’s been enough time for them to be long gone.
I’m sure they’re still searching for me, so for my safety, I stay nice and low and creep my way back toward the motel.
I pray Liam is back and doesn’t think I left, but with how long I’ve been gone, it could be possible that he thinks I ditched him. My stomach knots as I hope he didn’t leave me behind.
It takes me a long time to get back to the motel. I still practice caution, aware that they could be anywhere still searching for me. Knowing I won’t be able to collapse on the bed has me growling in frustration, but I try to put it out of my head. I mean, considering I’m not dead, I should be grateful.
Eyeing the surrounding area, I see that no one seems to be occupying the parking lot. Our door is closed and left alone now, and I wonder if they went in. I walk around the back of the building in case they came back and are waiting for one of us to show our face. Again, I go to the window, and I nearly cry with happiness when I see Liam through it.
When I gently knock on the window, he spins around, gun pointed at me, and I duck. No doubt he would shoot first and ask questions later.
The window creaks open and he peeks his head out.
“What happened?” His voice is a mix of anger and concern, his brows pinched together as he hops out the window. Before I can answer his question, he wraps me in a hug and squeezes me to his strong chest. I can hear his heartbeat thumping against my ear, feel his lips touch my head in a kiss, and it takes me a moment to overcome the surprise from that and answer his question.
“Some people…” I try to swallow down the sudden emotion I’m feeling. I pull away to look into his eyes, and he keeps his hands on my shoulders, like he’s reassuring himself that I’m okay. “Two men came. They knocked on the door, but I didn’t know who they were, so I hopped out here.” He looks livid as I continue the story, hissing a curse when I tell him about shooting one of them. “You’re not mad I shot him, right?” I’d never considered that it could be someone he knew if they were FBI.
“Fuck no. I’m happy you did that. I’m pissed that they found you.” He pushes his hand through his hair then abruptly grabs mine and starts pulling me toward the parking lot, where he doesn’t hesitate to break into a SUV and hotwire it.
I jump into the passenger seat without a second thought. I shot someone today—stealing a car is basically nothing in comparison, right?
I breathe my first real breath in a long time once we’re on the road, and I can’t decide if it’s because I’m with Liam or just because I’m away from the people who were chasing me, though my suspicions are that it’s the former.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safer.”
I really look at him for the first time since I got back and realize he’s got dried blood on his face. I try to stay calm as I ask, “What happened with Ricardo?”
Liam scoffs. “Ricardo wasn’t there.” He lets out a deep sigh. “Well, his head was. His body, not so much.”
I feel the blood drain from my face and I roll down my window. I don’t puke this time, but I do breathe in like it’s the only remaining fresh air on the planet. The image in my head is grotesque, and I can’t imagine what really went down.
“Sorry, Mo.” Liam rubs my shoulder, and I try to calm down just to enjoy the affection I’m getting, which probably makes me pathetic.
“It’s fine,” I whisper, interlacing my fingers with his when he offers. It’s nearly instinctive, and I’m grateful for his touch.
“I’m lucky I got out of there.”
“Who were the people coming after me? Should I have talked to them?” I look to Liam. He takes a minute to answer, and I wonder if I did the wrong thing by hiding.
“No, you did good.” He takes a turn, getting onto a highway. “Where did you hide?”
I tell him my innovative hiding spot, and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him display admiration when it comes to me, at least since our first date anyway.
“That was smart. I’m glad you thought of it. If they’d gotten to you, I don’t know what they would have done. I don’t know what I would have done.”
I keep my reply to myself. I don’t have a good one, not knowing who was chasing me, who Liam was meeting up with, or how the hell any of this could end well for us.
“We’re gonna drive for a while. You might need to get some sleep now while you can.”
I don’t need him to tell me twice. I lean the seat back and finally breathe easy knowing I’m safe—for the time being, that is.
