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“Where are you?”
It was probably a bit sadistic of me, but that question, nearly four hours into my drive, made me smile.
I’d removed any tracking I knew about from my cell phone, laptop, and car, and I hadn’t even told Pen where I was going. If they’d gone to her already to ask questions, she had nothing to give up.
Therewasthe minor matter of my email confirmations for the trip, which I’d downloaded directly to my laptop and then deleted from the mail server.
If she wanted to know bad enough, I guess she could check my banking transactions. But maybe she didn’t feel like it was quite that serious yet.
“I’m safe, not being held against my will, nothing like that,” I answered Alicia, completely relaxed as I lounged in my seat, my foot pressed evenly against the pedal as my car chewed through the miles.
“Is Isaiah with you?”
“If he is, he’s a lot more skilled than I thought, because I’m looking around and definitely alone,” I told her. “Which is exactly what I want, if that’s okay?”
“You say that as if someone is constantly down your throat here, Dacia.”
“Aren’t they though?”
I was being a brat, sure.
Butshewas being dismissive, downplaying her overbearing habit of worrying about me. I never felt alone anymore, and coming from a scenario where I had to retreat into my mind just to get some peace, the way she went about her desire to keep me safe was kind of… overwhelming.
“This isn’t cool, Dacia.”
“You’re completely right,” I told her. “It’snotcool for a supposedly grown, supposedly free, supposedly independent woman to not be able to take an impromptu road trip without having to make sure she isn’t being followed. It’snotcool to have babysitters hired for you behind your back. It’snotcool to have a sister who thinks you’re too naïve, or too stupid, or too… whatever the fuck, to take care of yourself.Noneof that is cool at all.”
For a long time, the other end of the line was quiet. So quiet, for so long, that if it weren’t for the steadily ticking call time displayed on my console, I would have thought she’d hung up.
“At least tell me where you are. Please?”
I rolled my eyes. “Why are you even asking? I’m sure you’ll know soon enough. Surely one of your people will have rifled in my trash or something and found out.”
“I’ll call everybody off. Just tell me where you are, promise to take care of yourself and… call me every day. And I’ll call them off.”
Shit.
“I’m… still on the road right now,” I admitted. “But I’m on the way toEscaperesort, out in California.”
“California?!” Alicia replied, her voice raised until she tempered herself halfway through the word. “You… just up and decided to drive toCaliforniawithout telling anybody, and you want me not to worry about you?”
“It’s not even a full day of driving, don’t be dramatic,” I said. “I just want to be to myself. See something different. And I want to go swimming.”
“Swimming?”
“Yes, swimming.”
It had been one of my favorite pastimes as a little girl. Later, as a Rose, I’d hated the water - an intense, unexplained aversion. I never quite understood why they wouldn’t just train it out of me. Of course, I understood now that the Garden hadgivenme that apprehension. One of many perverse therapies from the cruel mind of Etienne Belrose.
I had touched nothing larger than a bathtub since claiming my freedom, but between the lagoon, the ocean, and the pools at the resort, I planned to change that this week.
Howlovelywould it be, to finally see some forward progress, some transformation after being stuck in place for what felt like a year.
“What’s going on, Dacia? Are you trying to get my attention? Because I promise you, baby sister, you have it. Do you need to talk to someone? Do you need—”
“Alicia, I’m doing what I need to do, if you could just… hear what I’m saying, instead of charging off with whatever it is you think I’m trying to tell you. You know where I’m heading. I’ll be here for a week. I said I’d call every day, and I’ll stick to that. Bye for now, I gotta go.”
I wanted to finish my drive in peace.
