Chapter 1 #2
“Nope. Not my place to judge. Sometimes good people are forced to do bad things. Or things that are considered wrong but they had no choice. Sometimes people are just dicks and do bad things because that’s what dicks do and I wouldn’t have let you in my truck if I thought you were a dick.
So if you’re running from the law, well, you had a good reason for doing whatever it is you did. ”
“I could be a dick,” I mumbled.
“I can sniff a dick from a hundred miles away.”
I couldn’t stop my junior high self from making an appearance and snickering at his comment.
“You can sniff…a…dick,” I stammered around a giggle.
“And that right there, is why I know you’re not running from the law.”
Troy reached over and patted my shoulder. It was not creepy or weird, or anything but something a nice person would do.
I relaxed a little in my seat and told him a little bit of the truth. “I just need to get to Annapolis and then I’ll be safe.”
“Then Annapolis is where we’re going,” he returned.
“You said you could get me to Philly. That’s far enough—”
“I’m taking you to Annapolis.”
I wanted to argue but I didn’t. I needed help and if Troy wanted to go out of his way to get me to Theo I wasn’t going to turn him down.
“Thank you.”
“I’d tell you to close your eyes and take a nap but you don’t strike me as stupid so I know you won’t.”
He was correct. I wasn’t stupid and there was no way I was closing my eyes.
“I hope that doesn’t offend you.”
“It doesn’t but we’re stopping to get you some ice for your swollen cheek. Now, if you bitch about the detour, that I will find offensive.”
At the mention of my cheek my hand went to my face.
“And tell me something, Cindy, the person who put those marks on your neck…” Troy let that hang.
Shit . I hadn’t looked at myself in the mirror. I had no idea there were marks on my neck though it made sense seeing as I was almost choked to death.
“The reason I wasn’t safe,” I answered.
Talkative Troy turned into Silent Troy as he drove to the next gas station. It wasn’t until he parked his rig that he turned in my direction and scowled.
“I debated asking you this again since you misunderstood the first time but I have to know. The person who did that to you, did he get his?”
For the first time since I got into the truck I was freaked out, really and truly freaked out. Not weirded out by stories of celestial beings, not worried my kidnapping and subsequent death-by-truck driver would be inspiration for the next CSI episode, but freaked out because Troy looked irate.
Not at me. At the person who hurt me.
I also understood his question this time.
So I answered, “No. He got away.”
“Shame. A piece of shit who puts his hands on a woman at a minimum deserves a beat down.”
And with that he got out of the truck.
I watched as he walked toward the gas station store. I did this thinking I was wrong earlier. Luck had been on my side when I found Troy.
* * *
“I don’t like this,” Troy said as he looked around the no-name motor inn.
I didn’t like it either but I had limited funds and still had to buy a junker car to get me around until I could find Theo.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that since I was pretty sure my new identity could be tracked, and using my old name wasn’t an option beyond the obvious reason that when you entered witness protection they took all your old documents and did whatever they did with all your belongings.
Maybe getting taxis to take me around would be a better option.
“Can you pay for taxis with cash?”
Troy emitted a grumble that sounded an awful lot like a growl before he answered begrudgingly, “Yes.”
Okay, that was good.
Tomorrow I would have a taxi take me to… where? One of the safe houses I stayed at? I was pretty sure those weren’t recycled, waiting for the next federal witness to use.
“I didn’t think this through,” I mumbled.
“Think what through?”
Without thinking I told the truth, “How to find him.”
“Him?”
I was exhausted, traumatized, and the day had finally hit me.
From the moment the attack started I’d gone into survival mode. Then when I was free, autopilot kicked in and I did everything I’d taught myself to do.
I got myself safe.
But now six hours later sitting in Troy’s truck outside of the motel everything came crashing down around me. The fear, the anxiety, the dread, the panic, the terror that I’d been able to shove to the side was no longer possible. I couldn’t remember what it was like not to be afraid.
“The man I need to find to get me safe,” I told him through tears. “He’s here, in Annapolis. I just don’t know how to find him.”
“You’re killing me, sweetheart. It’s not my place to hug you, but damn if I don’t want to.”
He was right, it wasn’t his place; he was a stranger.
Or he had been six hours ago when he’d picked me up.
Now he felt like a long-lost uncle. Not that I knew what having an uncle was like.
My mom only had sisters and none of them were very nice.
And I’d never met my father or any of his family.
But Troy was what I imagined a good uncle would be like.
I prided myself on being smart—not book smart but street smart.
But I couldn’t stop myself from doing something stupid.
After everything that had happened today I needed something…
kindness, connection, a little bit of compassion, even if it was from someone who I didn’t know.
I unclasped my hands resting in my lap and reached across the cab of the truck and covered Troy’s hand resting on the gear shifter.
As soon as I did, his other hand landed on top of mine and he patted it.
That was it. That was all I needed. Just a kind gesture from a man who had gone out of his way to help me.
“My name’s not Cindy.” I continued to be stupid. “But I can’t tell you my real name.”
I didn’t know why I blurted that out other than it felt wrong lying to Troy.
He ignored my confession to ask, “How firm are you about staying in this place?”
I stopped staring at our hands and looked up to find concern etched in his weathered face.
“Firm.”
“Right. Would it freak you out if I got the room next to you?”
Yes. But not for the reasons it should. I found nothing creepy about his offer. But his kindness freaked me plenty.
“You don’t—”
“I know I don’t but I want to. If that’s going to make you uncomfortable I’ll stay in my sleeper.” Troy jerked his head to the side, indicating the sleeping area behind us.
“Really, you’ve done enough,” I protested. “You have someplace to be.”
There was a long stretch of silence before Troy finally broke it.
“I have a daughter. I’d like to think if she was in a tight spot someone out there would help her. I also have a son. He’s real good with computers. He works for some of those fancy internet companies. Maybe he can help you find who you’re looking for.”
I didn’t miss the softness in his tone when he mentioned his daughter or the pride when he spoke of his son. His offer was a godsend but I couldn’t accept it.
As if sensing I was going to deny his help he made a suggestion. “I’ll give you my driver’s license. You can take a picture with your phone and send it to a friend. I think that’s what women do nowadays to keep themselves safe on those dating apps.”
I would’ve smiled at his obvious disdain for those ‘dating apps’ if I wasn’t in the middle of a poorly thought-out plan. How the hell I messed up the last and biggest piece of the puzzle I’d never know. It hadn’t occurred to me that I didn’t know where to find Theo.
And since I’d already been stupid I continued down that path when I admitted, “I don’t have a phone.”
That sounded better than admitting I didn’t have a single friend I could send his information to.
“You don’t have a phone?” he asked incredulously. “Do you know how incredibly unsafe that is?”
Yes, I knew, but being tracked by my phone was more unsafe than not having one.
I nodded my response. Troy narrowed his eyes and sighed.
That made me want to smile again. He was giving off pissed-off-dad vibes instead of the kind uncle vibes he’d been giving me the last few hours.
“That does it. We’re calling Lewis. I’ll step out of the truck. You tell him who you’re looking for and he’ll help you.”
He said that like it was a done deal and he didn’t need to ask his son if he wanted to help. He also said it like…
Wait …
Lewis.
Zane Lewis.
That was Theo’s boss. The only man who’d given me his last name when I was dropped off at the first safe house.
He came in after the Marshals had left to introduce himself and explain that he and his team would be keeping me safe until the trial.
I’d only seen him a few times. But Zane was not a man you forgot.
Well, you didn’t forget what his presence felt like; obviously his last name had escaped me.
“I know how to find him,” I announced. “May I use your phone?”
“One condition,” he demanded. “You don’t pitch a fit that I’m staying until I know you’re safe. And by safe I mean I see with my own eyes you’ve found whoever you’re looking for.”
I took in Troy, really took him in. From his gray hair to his equally gray beard to his kind eyes.
Then I remembered him stopping to get me ice for my face and snacks for the trip.
After that I remembered he thought that any man who hit a woman deserved a minimum of a beat down.
He’d seen my swollen cheek and the marks around my neck and he’d still offered me a ride even though there was a possibility I’d bring him trouble.
No, he offered me a ride because he saw the marks on my face and he knew I was in trouble.
Plus, he could smell a dick a mile away.
“Deal.”
Troy handed me his phone.
“I’m going in to book us rooms.”
With that he jumped out of his truck, trusting me with his phone.