Twelve
Cole fought for breath as he made his final ascent up a street called Pioneer Trail to the top of Rendezvous Mountain, where his family should be waiting for him. Because he’d so aggressively attacked each winding road, his legs felt like they were on fire. The running had been difficult on his knee, but it had held up okay. He was almost there. Thankfully the streets were dark, and it was easy for him to pass by homes without being noticed. He wondered if the police had posted anything about him on social media. He didn’t want to have to deal with some old man trying to make a citizen’s arrest right now.
Halfway up the mountain, Cole began to hear police vehicles swarm the city block around the concert below. Word was probably out that a police officer had been shot and killed. It was a horrible thing to witness firsthand and would be a devastating blow for this small town. But Cole couldn’t stop wondering if the police would think he’d pulled the trigger. After all, the last thing the officer had said on his radio was that Cole was in his custody. Had anyone seen the stocky guy go in or out of the alley? Would someone be able to verify Cole was innocent of the crime? He couldn’t get the stocky man’s face out of his mind. It was shocking to see him after all this time. Who the hell was the guy?
That was a question he’d been asking himself for more than thirteen years. A question he’d never come close to answering, no matter how much time he’d spent searching the internet and trying to sort it all out. He still had no clue. What was the guy suddenly doing here in Winter Park? How had he shown up in the alley out of nowhere? Had he also been following Cole around? Could the guy somehow be working with the Feds? That seemed highly unlikely considering he’d just shot and killed a police officer. But why had the guy done it? Did he not want Cole arrested?
None of it made sense.
Just like none of it had made sense thirteen years ago.
He couldn’t waste energy thinking about it right now. He needed to place all his focus on getting his family out of town as quickly as possible.
He followed one last switchback neighborhood road and finally spotted Lisa’s Subaru Outback parked along the curb up ahead of him. There was a trailhead near this spot where they would often go hiking. They could see all of Winter Park from up here. Lisa and Jade stood next to the vehicle watching what was happening in the valley below them. They were clearly fixated on the wild scene at Hideaway Park and didn’t notice him at first. Cole had no idea what Lisa had already communicated to Jade. He wasn’t sure what kind of response he was going to get from his daughter. Was she furious at him? Thankfully, when his daughter turned and noticed him, she ran toward her dad and threw her arms around him.
“Daddy, I’m so scared,” she said. “The police are at our house right now.”
“I know, baby,” he said, holding her tightly. “I’m scared, too.”
“Mom won’t tell me anything . She said I had to wait for you.”
“We’ll explain everything soon. I promise. But right now, we have to go quickly.”
Lisa came over to their circle and hugged them both. He wrapped his arms around his whole family, his whole life, and felt momentarily relieved, considering just a few minutes ago he hadn’t been sure he’d have this opportunity again. He could see the shock written all over his wife. Pale face. Wide eyes. Trembling hands.
“You okay?” he asked her.
“I don’t even know how to answer that right now.” Then she squinted at his face and touched his cheek with her fingers. “Cole, is that blood?”
He’d forgotten all about having the police officer’s blood and tissue splattered across his face. He quickly grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and wiped it off.
“It’s nothing,” he insisted.
“Dad, what happened to your arm? It’s really bleeding.”
“I fell. That’s all. I’ll be okay.”
Lisa pitched her head, clearly not believing a word of it. But he subtly shook her off, like a pitcher with a catcher—as if to say, Not now, later . She didn’t push him.
“Everyone in the car. Right now. We have to go.”
Lisa quickly got into the front passenger seat; Jade climbed into the back. Cole turned around, took one last look down at the town. There seemed to be blue and red blinking lights nearly everywhere. Police vehicles, ambulances, fire engines. Around the park and on the street where they lived. It was a surreal scene. They’d left their home with basically nothing. Every physical part of the life they’d built for themselves over the past ten years was still inside. Photos, office files, financial statements, mementos, Jade’s cheer trophies and ribbons— everything . It would probably all be destroyed as the FBI searched every square inch of the place. But the Feds would find nothing connecting them to where they were going next. He always stayed prepared for that. It was all part of the plan.
He sighed. The plan. He’d hated having to have a plan all these years.
But he needed the plan more than ever now.
He took another deep breath and let it out slowly, recognizing the finality of the moment.
Cole and Lisa Shipley, and their daughter, Jade, were officially dead.
They no longer existed. It was time to become someone new.