Fourteen
Cole drove precisely the speed limit down Highway 40 through the small towns of Fraser and Tabernash on the way to Granby, even though everything inside him wanted to stomp on the gas pedal. But the last thing he could afford right now was to have a cop pull him over for stupidly speeding. He glanced over at Lisa, who was hunched in the passenger seat as to not be seen from the road. Jade was lying down in the back seat, as instructed. They rode in near silence. Mainly because he and Lisa didn’t want to talk about too much in front of Jade. Cole certainly wasn’t going to share what had happened to him back in town yet. The circumstances they were facing were already terrifying enough, and he was freaking out on the inside. He wanted more time to process what had happened before rolling that bomb out there.
Cole watched every passing car closely. It was late. The highway was not busy. This made him feel exposed. He wondered if the police were already searching for Lisa’s car. If not, he knew it would be happening shortly. Both of their vehicles were officially registered with the state. They needed to dump the Subaru ASAP.
Cole suddenly cursed, stiffened in his seat. He could see police vehicles with red and blue blinking lights coming straight toward him on Highway 40.
“What is it?” Lisa asked. She couldn’t see above the dashboard.
“Police. Up ahead, coming this way. Probably from Grandy.”
“Do you need to get off the main road?”
“There’s no other way to get to the unit.”
“Do you think they’re coming for us?”
Cole swallowed. “We’re about to find out.”
He tucked his head low, held his breath, as three police vehicles sped past him. His eyes locked on his rearview mirror. Lisa couldn’t help herself—she rose and turned in her seat to also look back down the highway.
“They’re not turning around,” she said, exhaling.
“Why are the police even after us?” Jade asked from the back.
“It’s just ... a misunderstanding,” Cole replied weakly.
“A misunderstanding?” Jade retorted. “Dad, I’m not stupid! You don’t have multiple police cars show up at your house because of a misunderstanding.”
“You’re right, honey,” Lisa said. “It’s complicated.”
“Did you break the law, Dad? Did you steal money or something?”
“If I’ve broken any laws, it’s only to protect my family.”
“What does that even mean?” Jade replied. “So ... you did break the law?”
“Get down!” Cole said, as two more police cars were suddenly in view around a twist in the highway.
Both Lisa and Jade dropped back into their hidden positions. Cole also felt the urge to scoot down in his seat this time, his nerves nearly shot, as both police vehicles again raced past them without incident.
“We’re good?” Lisa asked.
He nodded. “Hopefully all these police cars racing toward Winter Park means the FBI believes we’re still camped out there somewhere. We need the head start.”
“The FBI!” Jade exclaimed, her voice cracking. “Are you serious, Dad?”
Cole sighed, annoyed with himself for letting that slip out. “Yes.”
“Wait ... doesn’t the FBI mainly go after terrorists? Is that what you are? A terrorist?”
“No,” he said, but didn’t elaborate. He turned onto a dirt road inside the Granby city limits. They were almost there. He was breathing a little easier.
“You guys can’t do this to me,” Jade continued, getting herself worked up. “This is not fair. You have to tell me what’s going on. It’s my birthday, Dad! I’m not a little kid anymore. Whatever it is, I can handle it. Just tell me.”
Cole hit the brakes, the car skidding to a stop on the gravel road.
He turned around to face Jade. “Baby, do you trust me?”
She hesitantly nodded.
“Do you trust your mom?” he said.
“Yes.”
“Do you believe we love you, and we’d do everything in our power to protect you?”
“Of course. It’s just—”
“Then no more questions for now, Jade. When we get somewhere we can stop and breathe for a moment, we will tell you everything. I promise. But this back-and-forth with you right now isn’t helping us. Okay?”
He could tell she didn’t like that, but she nodded just the same. He floored the gas again, the tires spinning. A half mile down the road, he pulled up to a property with a secured gate and a big red sign that said Gilley’s Auto and Boat Storage . There was a rusted keypad in the short driveway. Cole rolled down his window, tried to type in a code he’d used dozens of times before. The digital box above the keypad flashed Error : Code 14. He typed the code again. Same result. Error : Code 14.
Cole cursed. This was bad. He did it a third time without success.
“Is it the right code?” Lisa asked.
“Of course. You think I’d forget the code?”
“No, I just ... what is going on?”
“The damn automatic gate isn’t working.”
“Cole, everything is in there,” Lisa said, panic surging up in her voice. “How’re we going to get the van? This is the only way in and out.”
Cole pounded on the steering wheel, racking his brain. He’d never anticipated something like this happening. He’d never had any issues with the automatic gate. He knew if they left in the Subaru right now, they likely wouldn’t get very far. That couldn’t be their only option. He studied the gate for a moment. It wasn’t a big, reinforced steel number. It was cheaper looking, with thin metal bars and some mesh wire. Could he blast through it?
“Both of you get out of the car,” he instructed.
“Why?” Lisa asked.
“So I can get us inside the property.”
Lisa and Jade climbed out of the vehicle and stood off to the side in the grass. Cole shifted the car into reverse, backed straight out into the dirt road, and then put the vehicle back into drive. He pushed the brake pedal fully down, revved the engine, and then released the brake. The surprisingly powerful Subaru rocketed forward toward the gate. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Cole ducked his head at impact. The vehicle collided violently with the gate, ripping it from its hinges and deploying the car’s airbags in the process. Cole’s head slammed forward against the airbag and then back against the headrest. He hit the brakes again, bringing the car to a stop, and pushed the already deflating airbag away from his view. His face felt like he’d just been punched by a prizefighter. But it had worked. The gate lay flat on the asphalt. He could see the front end of their Subaru crumpled up and slightly smoking. Something had flown up and put a huge crack in the windshield. The car suddenly went dead on him. He tried to start it back up but got no response from the vehicle.
Opening the car door, Cole stumbled out.
Lisa and Jade rushed up to him.
“Are you okay?” Lisa said.
He was dazed but okay. “Yes, I’m good. But the car won’t start. We’ll have to go on foot from here.”
After grabbing their bags, Cole took off running, Lisa and Jade on his heels, and followed the main storage facility drive all the way to the back. The place was full of covered slips. Boats on trailers—some of which looked like they’d been sitting there for twenty years—as well as company cargo trucks and several rows of RVs. Their parking slip was just around the corner and to the left. Cole was thankful there were no other people currently on the property. In that regard, the automatic gate system being down had aided them tonight. The last thing he needed was to run into someone trying to pick up or drop off their boat. He wanted to get in and out without being seen.
Cole hustled up to an old white van with faded blue lettering on both sides that said Gunderson Family Plumbers . He’d purchased the van a few weeks after they’d moved to Winter Park ten years ago. The company had gone out of business. He visited the storage unit once a month to take the van out for a quick drive to make sure everything was running okay. He’d probably put only three hundred miles on it in ten years. Lisa came to the unit twice a year to switch out the clothes stuffed in three large duffel bags in the back—mainly to keep up with Jade’s rapid growth—as well as update a small collection of nonperishable food items in a plastic cooler. The last two times she’d insisted Cole come here alone with the updated clothes and food. She said she didn’t even want to be on the property anymore, it was so depressing.
Cole found the key sitting on top of the back right tire and unlocked the vehicle.
“What are we doing here?” Jade said. “If I’m even allowed to ask that.”
“Switching vehicles,” Cole said.
His daughter’s face scrunched up. “For this old thing?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Does it even run?”
“Like a charm,” he said. “At least it did a month ago, when I was last here.”
Cole climbed into the driver’s seat, stuck the key in the ignition, and the vehicle started right up. “Hallelujah,” he whispered. Lisa was already busy tossing Jade’s backpack into the back of the van. She returned with a small gray bag, set it on the ground, unzipped it, and pulled out a black leather hair kit. She looked over at Cole, who was checking things out on the van’s dashboard.
“You still want to do this?” she asked, holding up the bag.
He turned. “Yes, for sure.”
He quickly got out, sat on the dirt ground right in front of Lisa, while Jade curiously watched what was going on. Lisa unzipped the bag and pulled out a pair of hair scissors. While Jade gasped, Lisa began chopping off big locks of his wavy hair, working quickly, getting it all as close to the scalp as possible. Then she switched to a battery-powered hair trimmer and began going to town, until his head was completely shaved. A pile of hair sat on his shoulders and on the ground around him. When she was finished, Cole took the hair trimmer from her and started working on his beard, using the shortest trimming option available to him. Within minutes, nearly all his head and facial hair had completely vanished. It felt strange, considering he’d had the longer hair and the beard for the entire time they’d lived in Colorado.
“I don’t even recognize you,” Lisa said, shaking her head.
“That’s the point, right?”
“I guess. It just ... sucks.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’ll grow back.”
“Dad, you look so weird,” Jade said.
He held up the trimmer. “You’re next.”
Her eyes went wide. “No!”
He forced a smile. “Just kidding.”
“That’s not funny.”
But she smiled back at him, which was nice to see. They could all use a little levity right now. It was important for them to survive this both emotionally and physically.
Lisa pulled two black baseball caps out of the bag. One was branded with the University of Colorado, the other the Denver Broncos.
“Which one do you want?” she asked Jade.
“I have to wear a cap?”
“Yes, and stuff all your hair inside. Unless you want to go Dad’s route.”
“No, thanks. I’ll take the CU one.”
Lisa handed it over, placed the Broncos cap on her own head, and began shoving as much of her hair as possible up underneath. Jade did the same.
“I need to patch up your arm,” Lisa said to Cole. “That’s a pretty gnarly gash.”
She pulled a first aid kit out of the bag, cleaned the wound with antiseptic wipes, wrapped his arm with gauze, and then sealed it with white medical tape to stop it from bleeding any further. Then she asked Jade to put the bag into the back of the van.
Lisa leaned into his ear, whispered, “You going to tell me what really happened?”
“Yes,” he whispered back. “Later.”
She huffed. “Fine.”
Cole slid open the back door to the van’s cargo area. “Okay, both of you climb in the back. We need to get moving.”
Jade walked over, poked her head inside. “Wait, there are no seats back here.”
“We’ll be fine,” Lisa said. “We have two beanbags. Come on.”
She climbed inside, followed by Jade. Two fluffy pink beanbags had been inside the vehicle for nearly a decade. Lisa dropped into one of them.
“This is crazy,” Jade objected. “What about seatbelts?”
“Your dad is an excellent driver,” Lisa said. “Sit down.”
Jade hesitantly sat in the second beanbag. Cole moved into the driver’s seat. He took a quick peek at himself in the rearview mirror. What he saw staring back was almost shocking. The last time he’d seen this guy was back in high school, when the whole soccer team had decided to shave their heads during the playoffs. But he looked nothing like the man the FBI and the police had just tried to chase down in the park.
He started the van again, put it into drive, began to pull out.
“Can I at least ask where we are going?” Jade said.
Cole adjusted his rearview mirror to see his daughter. “You like the beach, don’t you?”
“Yes, but we’ve only been like twice. And it’s been forever.”
“Then I guess we’re due a beach trip.”
Jade glanced over at her mom. “Are we seriously going to the beach right now?”
“If we can get away from here.” Lisa sighed.
“Where? What beach?”
Cole said, “A beautiful little town on the Pacific coast called Sayulita.”
“Is that in California?”
“No, we’re going to Mexico.”