Chapter 9
I was up early, well before dawn, repacking my clothes and gear as well as sterilizing the room of my presence.
Pack on my back, crossbody on my front, and carrying the excess clothing in the shopping bags, I left the motel and pedaled toward Pittsburgh’s Amtrak station, circling around the busiest parts of the city before sucking it up and braving downtown.
The bags went into a Salvation Army clothing box which looked close to bursting.
My train didn’t leave till much later in the morning, so I had plenty of time to take a winding path while watching my backtrail.
Half a mile from the station, I stopped at a small café, chaining my bike up in front of the newsstand next to it.
Coffee and a muffin in hand, I settled into a seat that put my back to the wall and watched out the window.
I used the restroom and when I came back to my table, I noticed two uniformed cops looking at my bike.
Instantly, I grabbed my pack and walked casually out the door, turning left and walking away from my expensive bike and well-equipped panniers.
The two officers were talking, and I caught a snippet of their conversation.
“Same model as the BOLO description,” one said to the other.
This morning, I was dressed in my dark jeans, gray hoodie, dark blue ball cap, and hiking shoes.
Fake Oakleys covered my eyes, and the brim of the hat would provide some shield from overhead cameras and facial recognition.
I moved casually and looked straight ahead, posture relaxed.
So much for my bike and the gear in the panniers.
So be it. Sometimes you only get to keep what you have on you.
So make sure you always have stuff on you.
Layer your essentials from your body to your pack to your vehicle.
I made it to the street corner and turned left, hit the next corner crosswalk just as the light changed, and crossed with a varied group of pedestrians.
Five minutes later, I was four blocks away, studying bus routes at a stop.
When the next bus pulled in, I climbed aboard, paid my fare, and settled in.
Luck would have it the bus actually went close to the train station, and I got off just a quarter mile from the station.
At the station, I changed clothes in the ladies’ room, putting on yoga pants with a University of Pittsburgh t-shirt.
I changed from hiking shoes to my white running shoes.
Camouflage complete, it was time to hunt.
There were three families in the waiting area.
One had extremely young children, one family was Asian, but the third was dark of hair and close enough in skin tone that I might conceivably have been born to them.
Mother, father, young son, and a girl about middle school age.
I sat right next to them, turning my body slightly as if I was part of the fam and studied my phone like a normal teen.
There were multiple cameras, but keeping my face pointed at the phone was both expected behavior and kept my face from the cameras, as did the brim of my hat.
The police presence in the station was noticeable, and they were clearly scanning the area, but the problem with hunting a teen girl in America is there are millions of us.
I was no longer blonde, but was now dressed like a college student and sitting with what could easily be my own family.
When my train was announced for boarding, I stood up along with my new fam and followed right aboard, choosing a seat just behind the two kids.
This train went to DC, as there was no direct line to Atlanta from Pittsburgh.
But that was fine because I didn’t want to advertise my ultimate destination or the forces hunting me would make it impossible to get there.
Also, why would a girl running from federal authorities head to Washington, where all those authorities were headquartered?
The train left the station and about ten minutes later, the conductor came to scan our tickets. Mine was on my phone, purchased over the internet from the motel room to minimize human contact.
The family in front of me was loud, as the excitement of riding a train overwhelmed the boy till he bugged his big sister, causing her to complain.
I just settled down, my pack on the seat next to me, my hat pulled low as I watched out the window.
Pittsburgh to DC was seven hours, with many stops for stations along the way.
I plugged my phone’s power cord into the outlet by my seat and scrolled the news, looking for any info on the manhunt for the ex-Ranger, Oscar Wymer.
He should be on the run somewhere behind me, somewhere in Pennsylvania, but my father’s voice whispered in the back of my head. Never assume.
I had dollar store peanut butter and crackers in my pack to snack on and a full water bottle.
My munching drew the attention of the little boy in front of me.
He peered over the seat, and I smiled, offering him a cracker.
By the third one, his mother noticed and told him in no uncertain terms not to bother other passengers.
“Oh, it’s fine. He’s keeping me from overeating. Freshmen fifteen is a real thing,” I said to her. I handed him the last cracker and put away my wrapper.
The daughter was listening and her curiosity evident despite her attempts at playing cool.
“What do you study?” the mother asked, eyes flicking to my t-shirt.
“Dual major in Economics and Poly Sci,” I said.
“Oh, is that why you’re headed to DC?” she asked.
“Yes. I may have an opportunity to shadow some federal people this summer.”
“Oh, how exciting,” she said, her tone indicating that almost anything would be more exciting.
“I know, right?” I said brightly.
The middle schooler immediately lost attention and now that the crackers had dried up, so did her brother.
The family settled down, and I continued my doom scroll online.
The train continued to rumble along the tracks, stopping every so often at various towns along the way to pick up more passengers or discharge existing ones.
When noon came, the family sent the father to secure lunch from the food car while I delved further into my supplies, not willing to put myself in front of more sets of eyes.
The conductor asked me to move my pack off the seat as the train got fuller with each stop. The crowding made me a little anxious. Being locked into a window seat was a terrible place to fight off an attacker.
As I tucked my pack under the seat in front of me, I opened the very top zipper to the sunglass compartment and pulled out a little something to give me peace of mind.
I slid the object into the side pocket of my yoga pants and then settled back.
Sometime later, the food and the rocking of the train sent me to sleep.