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I studied her. I’d worked so hard to build this life for us. I was almost done with school, and I had connections at a real hospital. There was a good chance I could get a job and start to earn more soon. All of Lucy’s friends were here; her entire life was here. But Renato De Sanctis wasn’t a man to cross, and Miguel’s boss was looking for his money. The police were watching us, and it was a tightrope walk that I was tired of walking.
Our lives here had become too dangerous, and nothing else mattered in the end.
“We each pack a small bag, and we go. Tonight. As soon as it’s quiet. We leave here, and we don’t look back and we don’t stop until a thousand miles are between us and them.”
“We’re running away?” Lucy’s eyes narrowed.
I had no idea what she thought of me suggesting the idea, and I was past caring. I wanted to live. I could worry about everything else later.
I nodded. The panic in my chest had slightly eased as the plan took shape in my head.
“We’re running away, and we’re going tonight.” I reached for the silverware drawer and pulled it out, finding the smallest, sharpest blade I could. It needed to be sanitized, and then it was good to go. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best we had. The tracker itched under my skin, but not for long.
“First, I need you to do something for me.”
* * *
In the end,it only took an hour to pack up our entire lives and abandon the apartment we’d called home for the last five years.
We bundled up in layers. Soon, it would be truly cold, and while I didn’t know how far we’d end up running, it seemed a good idea to take as many clothes as we could we easily carry.
We left the house and took a long, twisting route around the neighborhood before heading to the jitney stop.
It was only a few stops to reach the bus station. I stood at the counter, cap on and a mask hiding the lower half of my face. I was grateful that wearing a surgical mask had become more normalized. It certainly made hiding our identities easier.
Small town or big city? A direct route or something with a lot of stops? My mind conjured pros and cons for every alternative.
In the end, I went for lots of stops and a random small-town destination that was a stopover for other larger destinations. I could only hope that if anyone did follow us, they wouldn’t be able to follow the trail. I paid in cash for the tickets and and sat with Lucy as we anxiously waited to board the bus.
Inside, we settled into the cramped seats for a long journey. Neither of us had phones anymore. We’d left them on the city jitney, going round and round town.
I stared out at the bus station as we pulled out, staring at every new face, peering into every dark opening.
Every time the bus paused, I worried it would stop and someone would get on who was hunting us. But it didn’t happen. Slowly, we worked our way out of the city.
I dozed, haunted by dreams of opening my eyes to find a dark shadow walking up the aisle toward us. Renato De Sanctis, knowing every move I made before I’d done it.
This is pointless. He’s always watching.Even before he’d injected a tiny microchip under my skin, he’d known where everything about us. The chip wasn’t the only eyes that Renato De Sanctis had on us.
Even though I knew as much, I had no other bright ideas about what to do. I was truly trapped.
With nothing else to do but stare out the window, Lucy grew tired quickly and fell asleep on my shoulder. I stroked her hair like I used to when she was just a kid. I had nothing but the night passing outside the window to distract me from how horrible my reality had truly become in less than a week. Everything I’d worked for was gone, just embers in a fire that had ripped through my carefully laid plans. All the nights I’d worked extra shifts, all the classes I’d forced myself through, so tired I could die, had all amounted to nothing. I’d worked my entire life to provide something real for Lucy, and now, I had nothing. Not that she appreciated all the sacrifices I’d made. Ugly resentments and hopeless disappointment threatened to overwhelm me.
The road looked familiar as we worked our way deeper into New Jersey, away from the shore. It was the same road we’d taken the other night. We were going to pass close to Casa Nera. A chill went over me at the very thought.
I snuggled deeper into Lucy, trying not to picture those blood-red halls with the imposing paintings staring down at me, or the dark and terrible basement level with a corridor of cell-like rooms.
We pulled in at a rest stop an hour in. “Lucy.” I tapped her arm gently. I hated to wake her, but the chance to use the bathroom was too important to pass up.
She woke slowly and and groggily took in her surroundings. For a second, she looked serene and carefree, just like the old Lucy. But then she seemed to remember the situation we were in, and her features became tight with worry. “Are we there already?”
“God, no. We just need to go to the bathroom. The next break might not be for a long time.”
“Okay,” she mumbled and slid out of the seat after me.
The night air was cold, and I was glad for our layers as we crossed the parking lot and made for the restrooms. Waiting in line, I couldn’t help watching the other people around us. Were they running from something, too? Or were they just taking a trip at a discount rate?
“I’m hungry,” Lucy muttered as we inched along in the line.
