AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My phone vibrating distracts me from my Big Tasty with bacon. It’s a text message from Betty. She wants an update. More questions arise. Callie has been gone for six years. Why is Betty so insistent that she’s found now? Something must have happened to set her off. Callie must have something on her, something that Betty can’t afford to get out.
The message I write back is vague at best. I need her to think I’m onto something without giving her anything substantial. The message works, but she sends me a reminder of her power in the form of a photo. It’s Daniel. He has a black eye and has been crying. I want to scream. I thought I had left this world behind. Daniel is a grown man. He made his choice and I should let him deal with the consequences. He’s still my brother, though. Goddamn idiot.
Betty is getting sloppy. In the rush to show her dominance, she has given me more proof of her malevolence and criminal ways. I save the picture in my virtual vault. That’s where all my evidence against her is kept. Maybe with whatever Callie has, we can finally bring Queen B down.
Fuck, Callie has disappeared again. She’s gone off road. Not literally, but she’s no longer using the highway. What do I do now? I have a hunch. I think she is going to the south of Spain. I don’t know why I think that but my gut tells me I’m right. I book a flight to Malaga.
The temperature in Sweden is very different from Malaga. I’m not dressed for the heat and I have no other clothes. The hot air slaps me across the face as soon as I land in Spain. My armpits start to eject water at an alarming rate. I’m a sweaty gross mess. There has to be a shop at the hotel. I just need some shorts and a tank top. Flip-flops, too. I’m laden down with clothes I intend to purchase, when my phone vibrates again. Gary, oh joy.
“Daisy, where are you? I thought you’d be back by now.” His weasel face makes me want to visibly cringe. There is no reason he should be calling to check up. I work remotely and only go to the office once a month. I visited last week.
“Can I do something for you, Gary? I’m rather busy.”
“Just wanted to make sure you were on top of the High Tree file.” I grimace. He knows better than to speak of any files over an open line. He is a moron of the highest class. I glare at him without responding. If he wants to shoot himself in the foot with the bosses he can, I’m not going to do the same. “Shit, sorry shouldn’t have said that. Anyway, now I have you on the phone. The annual gala is approaching. I thought it would be good for us to go together. Show a united front to the bigwigs.”
I can’t stand it anymore. I have tried to be nice, but enough is enough. “Gary, I will not be going to the gala with you. I will be taking a date, a female date, because I am very, very gay. Your mother has more chance of going out with me than you do. Do you understand?”
Puce, that’s the colour his face is turning. Did I go too far with the mother thing? Probably, but I’m tired and he needs to step the fuck back. I have more pressing things to concern myself with than his fragile masculinity.
Chapter 5
Callie
Torreguadiaro is absolutely beautiful. It really is a Mediterranean paradise. I have booked the only hotel in the town, it’s a seafront property with its own private section of the beach. The room is a two bed, with a balcony looking out over the water. I could easily forget my worries here.
Chris is a cool guy. He offered his last fifty euros to pay towards the room bill. I didn’t take it; he needs it more than me. The amount of money I stashed away before running was significant. Even after six years, I still have the majority left. I enjoy picking up off-the-books, cash-in-hand jobs as I travel. Bar work is nice and low-key. That’s my preferred choice.
Speaking of work, I noticed the local beach bar is looking for someone part time. I’ll speak to the manager later today. For now, I need a stiff drink and some food. Chris was careful not to ask too many questions as we drove down here, but I can see his curiosity is piqued. He wears his emotions on his face. Should I tell him? I think I can trust him and he has a right to know that being near me could pose a threat to his well being.
The wig I have been wearing since Sweden is irritating me. Chris blinks rapidly when I whip off the offending item and release my red locks. “I think we need to have a conversation.” I say, hoping I haven’t just scared the living shit out the lad. His face tells me he’s a little nervous, but not scared.
“Are you in some sort of trouble?” He has kind eyes as he asks.
“Yes and no, mainly yes. It’s complicated, but if you want to stay with me, you should know that it might not be completely safe for you.”
“Why not?”
Okay, here goes. I take a big swig of my cerveza that we picked up in the local market. I love Spanish beer, especially when it’s ice cold like this one is. I swallow and launch into my story. He doesn’t need every last detail, just enough for him to make an informed decision. I won’t blame him if he wants to leave. I will miss the contact though. We had a blast in the car.
“Wow, that’s a lot. So your real name isn’t Rose, I take it?”
“No, it’s not, I won’t tell you my real name, for your own protection.”
“Fair enough. I want to stay though, if that’s okay. We’re both on the run from assholes. We might as well do it together, right?” A weight that I didn’t realise I was carrying lifts. My life is scary, but a little less so with Chris by my side.
“Chris, are you sure? I don’t know how they found me in Sweden and I don’t know If I lost them again.”
“That makes it all the more important that you’re not alone. We can deal with it together. I can be an extra pair of eyes and ears. Rose, for the first time in a really long time, I feel like I belong somewhere, and that’s because of you and your kindness.”
Fuck, this kid is going to make me cry. I simply nod. I don’t trust my voice not to break. We sip our beers, watching the water.
“Have you any ideas about how they found you?”
I have no clue. I have been wracking my brain. I’ve done nothing different, and that has kept me safe for years, but obviously I fucked up somewhere along the way.
I find it strange that after all this time, someone is pursuing me. I knew in the first few months Betty would search for me, but once she realised that I had no intention of releasing her little black book for pure shits and giggles, I believed she would let me go. Was she that hell-bent on revenge, that I would never be safe? Or had something happened that forced her to resume her search for me?
“How long do you stay in a place? Like two weeks, a month?”
