37. Willow
37
WILLOW
I wake slowly, my body warm and heavy with fatigue. The first thing I register is Axel’s arm draped across my waist, his chest pressed against my back. For a moment, I’m disoriented—the unfamiliar surroundings, the hard floor beneath us, the thin blanket barely covering our bodies.
Then it all comes rushing back. The escape. The blood. The forest. We made it.
Sunlight filters through the cabin’s dirty window, painting the room in a golden hue. Dawn has arrived. Our contact should be here soon.
I shift slightly, trying not to wake Axel, but his breathing changes immediately. Even in sleep, he’s alert, ready.
“Morning,” he murmurs, his voice rough with sleep. His arm tightens around me.
“Hi.” I turn to face him.
His green eyes study my face with an intensity that still makes my heart race. In this light, with his guard down, I can almost forget who he is—what he’s done. What we’ve done.
“Sleep okay?” Axel asks, brushing hair from my face.
“Better than I expected, considering.” I glance over at the bedroom door, wondering how Tommy is doing.
Axel cups my face, drawing my attention back to him. “We’re gonna make it, little pixie. By tomorrow, we’ll be in Brazil.”
His confidence should be reassuring, but the stakes are too high for comfort.
Axel leans in, pressing his lips to mine. The kiss deepens quickly, hungrier than I anticipated. He shifts his weight, moving over me, his body pressing mine into the mattress. I feel the hard length of him against my thigh as he rocks against me, a low groan escaping his throat.
My body responds instantly despite the aches and exhaustion. My hands reach Axel’s back, feeling the muscles tense as he moves.
A sound outside breaks the moment—tires on gravel, an engine cutting off.
Axel freezes, instantly alert. “Contact’s early.” He reaches for the gun beside our bed.
I jolt upright, my heart hammering. Despite Axel’s calming touch just moments ago, adrenaline floods my system as the sound of tires on gravel hits my ears.
“Stay behind me,” Axel orders, his voice dropping to that deadly serious tone I’ve come to recognize.
We’re both fully clothed—neither of us had the energy to undress after yesterday’s ordeal. We’d simply collapsed onto the mattress, bodies intertwined for warmth and comfort. Now I’m grateful for that small mercy as Axel moves toward the door, gun raised.
I follow closely behind him, feeling oddly calm despite the danger. My hand finds the small of his back, a silent signal of my presence.
The front door creaks open, and a man steps inside—mid-forties, with a weathered face. Our contact. Relief floods me until I notice his gaze narrowing at Tommy emerging from the second bedroom.
“You said two.” The man glares at Axel, who hasn’t lowered his weapon. “Papers are for two.”
“He needs to come with us,” I step forward, moving slightly to Axel’s side, though still behind his arm’s protection. Tommy’s part of our deal.”
The man shakes his head. “Not my problem, lady. Two sets of papers, two crossings. That’s what was paid for.”
I feel Axel tense beside me, his trigger finger twitching. Before he can escalate, I reach into my pocket and pull out a small USB drive—my final insurance policy.
“This contains evidence linking you to three prison breaks in the last five years,” I say calmly, surprised by how steady my voice sounds. “I wasn’t planning to use it, but plans change.”
The man’s face darkens. “You threatening me?”
“I’m negotiating,” I correct him. “Three people cross today, or this information finds its way to every law enforcement agency in a hundred-mile radius.”
A tense silence fills the cabin. I can feel Axel’s approval radiating beside me without looking at him.
“Fine,” our contact finally spits. “But it’ll cost extra. And we leave now.”
I sigh as Gary finally relents. The standoff dissipates, though tension still hangs in the air like smoke.
“Ten minutes,” Gary orders. “Get your stuff and be ready.”
Axel keeps his eyes on the man while I hurry back to gather our meager belongings.
“Tommy, you good?” I ask.
He nods, his face pale but determined. “Yeah. Thanks for... you know.”
I squeeze his good shoulder. “We stick together now.”
When we return to the main room, Axel has Gary backed against the wall, speaking in low, threatening tones. I catch fragments—“if you try anything”—before Axel notices my presence and steps back.
“Ready,” I announce, shouldering my backpack.
Gary leads us outside to an old Suburban with tinted windows. The morning air is crisp, birds chirping obliviously to the fugitives in their midst. Freedom feels so close yet terrifyingly fragile.
Axel insists on sitting up front with Gary while Tommy and I take the back seat. As we pull away from the cabin, I watch it disappear through the rear window—another piece of our past falling away.
“Where exactly are we going?” I ask as Gary navigates the dirt road back toward civilization.
“Private airstrip outside San Antonio,” he answers gruffly. “Got a pilot who doesn’t ask questions.”
I catch Axel’s eye in the side mirror. His face remains impassive, but I know he’s calculating every variable, ready for any threat. His hand rests on his thigh, inches from the gun tucked in his waistband.
The car jostles over uneven terrain before finally reaching smoother pavement. Gary turns onto a highway, merging with morning traffic. Signs for San Antonio appear intermittently—forty miles, thirty-five, thirty. Each mile marker brings us closer to a new life or capture.
I feel Gary’s suspicion before I see his face change. A subtle stiffening of his shoulders as he peers into the rearview mirror. My stomach drops.
“We’ve got company,” he mutters, accelerating suddenly.
Axel’s hand moves to his gun. “Who?”
“Police. Two cars, unmarked. They’ve been trailing us since we hit the main road.”
I twist in my seat, heart pounding as I spot the black sedans hanging back in traffic. “How did they find us?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Axel says, his voice eerily calm. “Gary, get us out of here.”
Gary veers sharply, cutting across two lanes to take an exit ramp. Horns blare behind us as the Suburban barrels down the off-ramp into an industrial warehouse area.
“They’re still on us,” Tommy says, his face pale as he watches through the rear window.
Gary takes another sharp turn, tires squealing. “I know these streets. We can lose them.”
We’re threading through a maze of loading docks and warehouses now, the Suburban bouncing violently over railroad tracks and potholes. My teeth clatter together, and my hands grip the seat as Gary takes another hairpin turn into a narrow alley.
“I’ve got a laptop if you know how to hack,” Gary nods toward a small laptop tucked under his seat. “Better put it to use now, kid.”
Tommy grabs it, fingers flying over the keyboard. “I need internet access.”
“Hotspot in the glove box,” Gary barks as we burst from the alley onto a main thoroughfare.
Sirens wail behind us now. They’re no longer hiding their pursuit.
“What are you doing?” I ask Tommy as he connects to the network.
“Accessing the city’s traffic management system,” he says, not looking up. “If I can trigger emergency protocols...”
The Suburban rockets through an intersection just as the light turns red. Behind us, the police cruisers halt as cross traffic surges forward.
“Nice,” Axel says, glancing back.
“That’s just the beginning,” Tommy replies, still typing furiously.
True to his word, as we race through the industrial district, traffic lights ahead turn green while those behind us go red. Digital road signs flash emergency alerts, diverting civilian traffic from our route.
I watch in amazement as Tommy creates a clear path for us while throwing obstacles in our pursuers’ way. By the time we reach the rural roads leading to the airstrip, we’ve lost all signs of police presence.
“There it is,” Gary points ahead to a small runway where a twin-engine plane waits, propellers already spinning.
The plane sits waiting for us, its propellers whirring in the morning light. My heart gallops so hard I wonder if the others can hear it. Gary gestures for us to follow him to the trunk of the Suburban, where he pops it open to reveal a hidden compartment.
“Papers,” he says, pulling out a manila envelope. “All here as promised.”
I take the envelope, checking its contents—two sets of passports, visas, and identification cards. The faces are ours, but the names belong to strangers. I’ll have to get used to being “Elise Carter” now.
“Money,” I say, reaching into my backpack and retrieving the vacuum-sealed package of cash. I’d prepared more than the agreed-upon amount, anticipating potential complications. “Extra for Tommy.”
Gary counts it quickly, his weathered fingers flipping through the bills with practiced efficiency. He nods, satisfied. “Smart to have backup funds.”
“Always prepare for contingencies.”
Gary tucks the money into his jacket. “Thanks for the business. Wish I could say it’s been a pleasure.” He glances at Axel, who hasn’t taken his eyes off him. “Your pilot knows the route. There shouldn’t be any problems from here.”
We hurry across the tarmac toward the small plane, the wind whipping my hair across my face. Tommy boards first, followed by me and Axel, who keeps one hand on my back, guiding me. I climb into the cabin, ducking my head beneath the low doorway.
The interior is sparse—six seats, three on each side of a narrow aisle. I choose a window seat, and Axel slides in beside me while Tommy takes the seat across from us.
The pilot, a middle-aged man with silvery stubble, gives us a curt nod without asking questions. Moments later, we’re settling into our seats as the plane’s engines come to life.
I stare out the window, releasing this is the last time I’ll be in the country I’ve known all my life. This is really happening. We’re escaping. We’re about to be free.