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I knock, just like Buzz instructed, and only seconds later the door opens.
“What?”
“Buzz sent me.”
The man in front of me nods and steps aside, slamming the door behind me.
“Is your husband beating you?”
The question takes me by surprise, causing me to let out a gasp. The man stops in front of me and looks at my face.
“Is he?”
I shake my head. “No,” I squeak out.
“Follow me,” he says, turning away from me. His stride is long and I have to jog to keep up with him as we walk down a long hallway. When we come to a door, he punches numbers onto a keypad before it opens and we step in.
“She can sleep on the couch.”
I’m reluctant to put Claire down, but do so anyway. Right now I’m fucked if he wants to kill me so what does it matter?
“Buzz called, said you were coming. Said some fucked up shit is going on.”
I nod, but am confused as to why he’d ask if Tucker was hitting me.
“Why did you ask about my husband?”
“To make sure I’m getting the same story. Give me your license.”
I do as I’m told and peer over my shoulder at Claire, sleeping without a care in the world.
“I’m going to give you cash for your car and drive you the bus station. I’ve wiped out the cameras on the interstate so no one can trace you here. Your new name is Amy Jones. What do you want to call her?”
“Um … I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head.
“What’s her name?”
“Claire.”
He punches a few keys before saying, “Her name is now Chloe Jones. It sounds the same and shouldn’t confuse her. She seems young enough to not have many memories.”
No memories of her father.
I wipe away tears and stare at the new license he’s printed for me. It says I’m from Austin, Texas. I sob when he hands me a new birth certificate for Claire … Chloe, and I see that I’m the only listed parent.
“Amy Jones, whoever it is that’s following you will have a hard time finding you now.”
“I have something to tell you both,” I say, as the tears start. Ray and Claire seem concerned, but I hold up my hand, assuring them that I’m okay, even when I’m not.
Swallowing hard, I glance at my husband, then my daughter. “I’m not who I say I am.”
“What do you mean, Amy?” Ray asks, concern and confusion lacing his voice.
I shake my head, biting my lower lip. Maybe Cara should’ve told them and I could’ve taken the easy way out. I could be a coward and sit stoically while she details my life on the run.
“Six years ago I was living in Coronado, California and married to a Navy SEAL. He deployed when our daughter was two. One day a man came into our home, brought by someone I considered a friend, and tried to hurt our daughter.”
I risk a glance at Claire to see her reaction, but she’s only staring at me.
