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Something in my stomach began to twist.
“Sophia!” I pounded on the door. “Sophia! Open the damn door.”
Done with patience, I slammed my boot into the door, sending it popping on its hinges. I rushed inside.
The bathroom was empty, the shower was empty.
The window, however, was wide-open.
19
Sophia
My lungs burned as I ran through the woods. I could no longer feel or move my face. My eyes stung in their sockets. My knees felt stiff. For a fleeting moment, I considered frostbite, but just as quickly, shook away that thought. Losing a digit was the least of my worries.
I was dangerously unprepared to be running through the Alaskan wilderness. But thanks to Justin’s sudden appearance in my life, I didn’t have time to cross my t’s and dot my i’s.
I hadn’t slept a wink. I couldn’t. I was too overwhelmed with conflicting emotions about that damn kiss.
On one hand, I’d never felt before the way I did the moment our lips touched. Fireworks? I now understood that expression. And the best part? It was mutual. I could feel in my bones that Justin felt the same. No man had ever kissed me like that. Ever.
On the other hand, I’d reverted to my old ways. One whisper of Black Cell, and I turned back into the disgusting whore I’d once been. In an instant, I resurrected the bad, manipulative decisions of my past.
That’s the thing about bad decisions—they’re always lurking in the dark corners of our subconscious, anxiously waiting for your next moment of weakness. I was embarrassed, ashamed, and worst of all, confused.
How could a single person turn my life completely upside down?
I didn’t trust Justin, not fully. And while I felt confident he had no intention to physically harm me, I had to look at the facts.
The moment Justin Montgomery entered my life, asking about my father, someone tried to kill me. Coincidence? Absolutely not. And even if I did believe Justin was one of the “good guys,” he now had a target on his back. He alone could not protect me, and if the Cell was tracking him, he’d lead them right to me.
So, while in my room—while Justin thought I was asleep—I’d put on every piece of warm clothing I had, concealing the bulky layers under a baggy sweatshirt and flannel sweatpants. I was able to hide my emergency go-bag (a small backpack) under the sweatshirt, although I had to empty half its contents. What remained was a wad of cash, energy bars, a burner phone, a charger, and identification. If I needed water, I could drink the snow.
Justin would discover I was gone soon enough, but I figured I had at least a thirty-minute start on him. He would be faster than me, but I knew the area much better than he did. That had to count for something.
My goal was solid—get the hell out of town.
Alone.
But how? Well, that’s where things got muddy.
My truck was shot to smithereens—no windshield, flat tires—so that wasn’t an option. In truth, I’d actually considered driving on the rims as far as I could, but Justin would have heard the engine fire up. So, I had no other option than to leave on foot.
I had enough money in my emergency go-bag to get a hotel room for a few nights. But where? The only thing I could think to do was to hitchhike. There were plenty of tourists driving through the area. I could catch a ride with one, then find another, and another, until I got far enough away where I felt safe.
After lying low for a while—no clue where—I would return to my home, retrieve the money and documents I had hidden in the mower in the shed, pack a suitcase, and be on the next flight out to God knew where. South America, maybe, where I could easily get another fake identity. There I would dye my hair, get a job, and start over, just as I’d done in Alaska.
I’d done it once, so I could do it again.
It was a shitty plan; I knew it was. But it was all I could think to do ... well, almost all.
My hands trembling, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the burner phone I’d purchased years earlier. Though one bar of reception out here usually meant zero, I dialed anyway. It went straight to voice mail, so I left a message.
“Ron, hi, it’s Sophia. I’m so sorry, but I need to take some time off work for personal reasons. Also, I—I was wondering if I could borrow your side-by-side for a few days? The one you use to haul wood and stuff? If you could bring it to the diner, I could come by and pick it up. You’re probably not even going to get this, but I really need—”
The call dropped.
“Shit.” I shoved the phone back into my pocket.
