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Taking him by the hand, she took him to her office where she’d stashed some of the drugs. She threw everything she could in a small pouch—a bottle of water, money, and the drugs. When the pouch was overfilling, she placed it over Raf’s head.
“You need to take care of this,” she instructed carefully.
“What’s happening?” He frowned.
“You’re going to leave this place.” She swallowed hard. “Come, I’ll explain on the way.”
Already, she heard noises from the front of the building, so she led him to the back where they used to load the merchandise.
They managed to exit the building without running into more people, and Noelle tugged him as they both ran towards the hacienda.
She knew they would likely look for him, but if she hid him in plain sight? It might work.
Raf was following her blindly, accepting any explanation she was giving him. Unfortunately, she knew he wasn’t going to remember any of it when he sobered up.
Going through the back of the hacienda, Noelle led him to the garages.
There were a few cars parked there, most of them belonging to the staff from the hacienda who commuted from the villages to the hacienda for work.
“Here,” Noelle said as she found a truck that had better coverage. She helped Raf into the trunk, making sure he had everything with him.
“I don’t understand,” he whispered, utterly disoriented.
“You will. I promise you will,” Noelle murmured.
Taking a pen and a piece of paper, she wrote down all the directions for when he’d wake up.
“It’s too dangerous for you to stay here, Raf. You need to escape now. This car will leave in the morning, and by that time you should have sobered up. Stay hidden until they park the car somewhere and then find your way to the village to ask for help. I’ve included enough money to help you buy your way across the border if need be,” she explained as she wrote down the instructions.
“You’re not coming with me?” He frowned.
Noelle froze.
“I can’t,” she whispered, desolation eating at her. God, how she wished she could leave with him. But the only way they wouldn’t find him was if she served as a distraction, taking the heat off of him. “But I’ll find you. That is my promise to you, Raf. Somehow…” She pushed down against the tears that clogged her throat. “Somehow I’ll find you and we’ll be together.”
In this life, or the next.
But she couldn’t say that. She couldn’t admit that she was confident she wasn’t going to make it out alive. If Sergio didn’t kill her, the mob of disgruntled people would.
“N-Noelle…” he mumbled her name, and her heart clenched at the sound.
She closed her eyes, memorizing this moment as best as she could. If she had nothing else, at least she had the memories.
Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against his while she slipped the note she’d written for him in his pocket.
“Please stay alive, Raf. For me… Please…”
No matter how much she tried to keep the tears at bay, it was impossible as she felt herself breaking into a million pieces. Just knowing what the outcome was going to be…
Yet if he survived… If he managed to stay alive, then it wouldn’t be all in vain.
It would all be worth it.
“Noelle,” he rasped, a pained sound that took all the strength he could muster.
He reached for her at the same time she reached for him, his arms enveloping her just as his warmth surrounded her like a cocoon.
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” he uttered in a low voice. “I can’t leave you.”
