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Cole fell in beside me and we ran. Away from the city.
But I knew right where that city was.
Morning again. I bit my lip. If he commanded me to stay in, I'd find some way past the guards. I didn't want to hurt them if didn’t have to and I didn't want to get caught, obviously, which I would if I had to fight to get out of the compound and failed. It was possible worrying about hurting Cole's giant guards was just my ego trying to convince me we could do this. If I'd thought I could overpower even one of them, I might not be here now.
I didn't let myself think of the idea that if I had been able to escape, I might have chosen not to.
Today was the day. I had my storms and no proof they'd go on happening daily for much longer. I couldn't hear any thunder, though. As I lay tense in bed, waiting for it, all I heard was the downpour.
The slicker he'd given me was a bright obnoxious spring green, but the flip side was gray. It would be wet and horrible but I'd turn it around once I was far enough away. I didn't think the guards watched my entire runs anyway and the rain-darkened gray would be harder to track.
It was a chance and I was taking it.
The text from him read Don't be absurd. I am a sadist, not a masochist. Go back to sleep.
It was more than fifteen minutes old. I was awake and dressed and ready to run. Cole would almost undoubtedly be asleep again.
I loaded my protein bars and water. The distance to the city looked to be maybe twenty or thirty miles. Marathon length. I could do it. I pulled my slicker on. I checked my shoes. I left the hobbled phone behind because though it only called out when he unlocked it for me, it undoubtedly had GPS. Therefore it wasn't an asset, it was actually a problem, but it was still damned hard to leave it behind.
The guard at the gate nodded. "Didn't think you'd get him out there today."
He was one of the guards who at least spoke to me. "He told me not to be absurd, but I can't sleep," I said.
The guard looked profoundly uninterested. "Your funeral," he said. He opened the door. He electronically opened the gate.
I stood outside the desert compound of the billionaire who owned me, my heart thumping with anxiety, and breathed in the wet of the desert in the rain.
Then I fixed my sights on the city lights and began to run.
