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I almost fall off, but I find myself holding on. The pipe snaps, and I hear the sound as it breaks and I fall freely. Like a cat, I land on the platform and hop off to the ground, where I roll onto my feet.
I stand tall and look at the height from which I'd fallen, unscathed. Pride swells within me as I flip up the hood, which had blown off my head when I fell. I'm impressed by myself.
“You did good, girl,” I say to myself as I walk away.
I run before they can figure out that I’m gone. I know them; they will give me some time to calm down before they come talk to me again. Hopefully that’ll be enough time to put some distance between us.
After a few minutes, I stop running when I can no longer see the house behind me, slowing into a walk.
I walk down the street with both hands in my pockets as I momentarily steal glances over my shoulders. For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that I'm being followed.
Looking to the side, I see a guy walking in the same direction as me, but on the other side of the road. I'd seen him before now, just like I'd seen the one a couple of paces behind me. I adjust my hood and increase my pace.
I feel the steps of the one behind me getting closer; clearly, he's increasing his speed as well. I look at the guy on the other side of the street; he’s now crossing over to my side.
“Shit!” I whisper to myself, knowing I've been spotted.
The first time you leave the house on your own, you get tailed.
I rush into an alley, and soon, the one behind me rounds the corner into the same alley. I hit him straight in the throat, almost breaking his esophagus.
His hands reach for his neck as he wheezes in pain. I throw a punch at his face, and he falls to the ground. The other guy arrives and points his gun at me, but with a speed I didn't know I had, I kick the pistol out of his hand.
His eyes widen, as he obviously didn't see that coming. He swings a punch at me, but I deflect it and trap his hand in mine. With a practiced move, I flip him over to the ground and twist his wrist until I hear the satisfying sound of his bones breaking. He wails as I kick his face into the dirt.
I rush to his gun and arm myself with it as I contemplate putting a bullet in their heads.
“There she is!”
I hear a loud voice from across the street. I raise my head and see a couple of men rushing toward me. I try to pull the trigger, but the damn gun seems to be jammed.
Immediately, I turn and run as fast as my legs can carry me. I get to the other end of the alley and a car screeches to a halt, blocking my exit. Four men alight and stand outside the car.
There's nowhere else I can go. They've cornered me front and back.
One of them walks over to me and takes out his phone to place a call.
“Boss, I had our men follow Tanner.”
Wait, what?
“Our suspicion was right.” He looks at me. “They've been hiding her and lying about it all this time.”
He's quiet, and I can hear the indistinct voice over the phone.
“No. She's alone.”
It hits me there and then I am indeed alone. Everything starts to add up, and I realize that I was mistaken.
Tanner had been a gentleman to me on our way to get the tacos. He practically did everything I asked, even though it didn't sit well with him, but the one thing he went against was my request for him not to speed up.
I drift back to that moment in the car when he was taking me home. I search my memories, and I realize that I had missed the fact that he was jumpy, but trying to keep cool.
He had been constantly looking through the rearview mirror, like someone was following him. He sped up against my will and sheepishly smiled at me with the excuse that he only wanted to make sure I got home to eat.
I had ignored the look of worry hidden in his eyes when he'd made that excuse.
Oh my God. He knew.
