Chapter 44 #2
Varen puffed out her cheeks as her brain continued to tick off a list of things she had to do. “We’ll head toward Seattle. I’ll grab some cash at an ATM when we dump the car.”
“Dump the car?”
“You heard me.”
Oh, she did. The moment they were in the countryside, Varen prompted her to get out before she had the chance to pull off the side of the road.
She parked her car behind a small grove of trees.
It wouldn’t be enough to cover it forever, but it should be enough to give them a head start… wherever they were going.
They got out, taking whatever valuables they could carry… which wasn’t much. Nala had her small backpack and Varen had her wallet. She brought her keys, not that she needed them.
She grabbed a large wad of cash from the nearest ATM and peered around a quiet town in search of something.
Hawk? Cops? No. It was a used car available for a couple of thousand bucks.
Varen paid extra cash in exchange for the seller’s silence.
The way the gruff-looking man nodded… He probably thinks we’re drug dealers.
Nala had never felt dirty like this before.
She kinda liked it, if only because it took her mind off the terrors they had been through.
This car was far from as nice as Varen’s old one.
It grumbled. It shook. The seatbelt barely worked, but Nala made it work because the last thing they needed was to be pulled over by police.
Varen kept to the back roads as they headed north to Seattle, where they, in her words, could lay low for a while.
Nala had no idea what to expect in the next few hours, let alone days.
They didn’t say a damn thing the whole drive to Seattle.
Nala fought back a wave of shivers that could have either been illness or more fear.
When will I be safe again? She looked to Varen, whose grim face was set and sticking to the road before them.
Signs announcing turn-offs to the outskirts of Seattle eventually appeared.
Nala wondered what they would do once they got there.
Did Varen have friends? A safe-house? Were they wanted now?
Nala tried to sink into her uncomfortable seat and take a nap, but sleep did not come easy with her adrenaline still on high.
It wasn’t until they were checked into a hotel outside Seattle that Nala finally allowed herself to breathe, and it wasn’t an easy breath.
Even with Varen sitting on the bed with her, their eyes staring emptily at a picture of a vase of daisies on the wall, Nala still waited for another bullet to whisk by or for the car she was no longer in to swerve in either direction.
Finally, she threw herself into Varen’s arms and held on for dear life.
“It’s okay,” she said, patting Nala back. “We’re safe for now. We’ve got a car nobody is looking out for. I’ve got cash so I don’t have to use my card. I can easily hack the GPS in our phones. I’ve got a fake ID so I can get us rooms…”
“You’ve got a fake ID?”
“Sure do. They’re easy to get, especially with my connections.”
She’s probably seen fake IDs being made since college. Those tech geeks… “Is there anyone we can trust here? I don’t know anyone in Seattle. Ravenwood owns half this city too…”
“That may be so, but there was nowhere else to go in the moment. If we have to, I can sneak us down the coast toward California. I’ve got some friends there who may be able to help us.”
Varen pulled away from Nala and gave her shoulders a firm, reassuring squeeze.
“Don’t worry, darling. Rest. I’ve got some calls to make.”
Except Nala couldn’t rest. She lay on the bed, afraid to take off any of her clothes even though they were the only ones she had.
“…I’m serious. I have all the evidence we need to get an arrest and a conviction. Yeah, I hacked it. Do you think I would admit otherwise?”
Varen must have been on the phone with the lawyer they were supposed to meet.
“I need your help. No, stop, listen. I know you don’t want to get involved, but you were involved the moment you met that man. He’ll keep making your life hell until this is over, so you want to help us right now. Okay? Good.”
Varen sat at a table in the corner of the room and jotted something down on a hotel notepad. “Make sure you hire some security. I can give you a number. If they’ll let you, have a guy at the hospital. I’m serious, Lucian…”
Lucian? Nala turned over.
“I know you’re freaked out, man. How do you think I feel? It’s what I’ve been telling you since the beginning. You think you know the guy, but he’s a fucking killer. That Hawk has tried to kill us twice now,
and I have all the evidence I need to prove that she killed my fiancée and my girlfriend’s sister. You think she won’t come after you and Clara too? She already has!”
Silence. Varen glared at her phone as Lucian said whatever he had to say.
“No. Don’t leave Portland unless you have to. I need someone there, especially since I don’t have access to my computers. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to look up the address of Jay and Marguerite Jones. Yes, I’m serious. They are somehow involved with this. Ravenwood killed their kid.
At this point, anyone in The Aviary who hasn’t been touched in some way by Ravenwood’s disgusting deeds is probably working with him. Look into that as well. Look for any tragic or mysterious deaths in the other members’ families. Yeah, you remember Ravenwood’s girlfriend Crow?
That was Nala’s sister. I’m not fucking with you. Start digging. You’re already in hot water, you might as well enjoy the bath.”
When Varen hung up, she sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Nala’s side.
“So, what now?” she asked. “What are we gonna do? I doubt the police here are any help either. If anything, they want our asses as much as the ones in Portland do. Or anywhere. Oh my God, Varen, how fucked are we?”
“Pretty fucked,” she admitted. “That doesn’t mean we can’t get through this, though. Our main goal right now is to not get killed or arrested.”
“Oh, well, that’s easy.”
She ignored Nala’s sarcasm. “We need to get the evidence into the hands of someone who can do something with it. The news? He probably owns all of it around here. Still, it won’t hurt to look into it.”
Varen tightened her grip on Nala. “I’m so sorry it has come to this. I knew going into The Aviary that I was putting myself at risk. I should have thought more about you as well, but…”
“Back then, I was your means to an end. Things have changed.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry. I was short-sighted.”
“You did what you thought was right. Do you think I was planning things any better? I don’t blame you for any of this, Varen.”
“I’m glad.”
Nala sat up. “Do me a favor? Could you hug me and say that we’re going to be okay? Even if you’re lying, I want to hear it.”
Varen drew her in and kissed the side of her head. Nala had to fight back the urge to cry into the crook of her neck. Be strong. Now is not the time to show too much weakness.
“We’re going to be all right, Nala.” She knew that voice was fake. There was no way Varen could say that so reassuringly. “At the very least, I’ll make sure that you’ll be all right. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you. Because I…”
Nala’s breath caught in her throat for the tenth time that day… and this time it had nothing to do with adrenaline. Is she going to say it? This would be a helluva time for Varen to admit she loved Nala!
“Because I wouldn’t make it if I lost you too.”
That was as close to a love declaration as Varen Lake would ever make.
Nala rolled into her arms, letting her cheek feel the softness of Varen’s clothes.
I’m here. She’s here. We’re safe for now.
I couldn’t be safer with anyone else in this world.
I fucking love her. I know she loves me. That’s all that matters.
Whatever happened now didn’t matter. Nala was scared, but she was still willing to go down if Varen was by her side. She hoped she felt the same way. She had to. For Nala’s sake - and her own.
Entry 22
We are on the run again, this time in Seattle. Every time I think I can’t come closer to death, I’m proven wrong again.
This time, it’s indisputably personal.
Not only my hatred for him.
But his hatred for me.
One of us will destroy the other before it’s too late.