Unleashed

We’d been driving for hours. My head was throbbing, my son was fast asleep, and Lyndsey was wavering. If I wasn’t still watching her for a concussion, I would have let her sleep, but right now I couldn’t. So instead I poked and prodded her every few minutes, demanding she respond to me. I’d even given her a map and asked her to navigate, even though we both knew I didn’t have a particular direction in mind right now. I just needed to go west.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Lyndsey asked meekly. I glanced at the gas gauge and then out at the road before me, seeing that a town was coming up in a few miles. We’d run out of gas soon, and I wasn’t going to risk another fill up. The more we went to gas stations, the higher the chance that we’d be caught on camera with a stolen vehicle.

“We’ll stop at the first motel we see,” I answered. She frowned.

“Motel? Like…”

“Dirty, dingy, prostitute frequented motel?” I questioned. “Yes, one of those.”

“But why,” she whined. “I just want to shower. A clean shower. And to sleep.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead to try to keep myself awake. “But they won’t have security cameras. You’ll be able to shower and sleep soon.”

“Promise?”

She almost sounded like a child, and had such a pathetically hopeful look on her face that I had to crack a smile. She’d put so much trust in me following me, when most people would have told me I was insane and called the cops. Only for me to drag her into this even deeper.

“I promise. Did Brian text back?”

I’d called Brian once we were out of town to explain the situation. He’d immediately told me that we were to go straight home, as if I’d had any other option. Then he’d gone into a ten minute rant about making sure I wasn’t followed, staying out of crowded areas, and other things that I’d already known. I swear he thought I was still a child. He had set out immediately to come get us, telling me to find somewhere to lay low until he could get there. Since then, I’d had Lyndsey text him every so often to keep him updated.

“Yeah, he said to call Ray when you found somewhere for us to stay,” she explained, slowly. “Something about him being able to track the call and find us?”

I nodded, deciding now was not the time to tell her that Ray was actually a girl. There would be a better time for that, preferably when we weren’t on the run. Seeing Raychel and Lyndsey interact would be pretty entertaining. A woman who grew up and lived and breathed the life, and someone who had grown up on the straight and narrow, thinking this shit was all made up for TV and movies.

We finally came upon a beat up looking trucker oriented motel and I pulled in. I handed Lyndsey a hat and a wad of cash.

“Go in, get a room under the name Maria Sanchez-“

“Do I look Hispanic to you?” she cut me off. I rolled my eyes and continued.

“They won’t care, just do it. I’m going to call Ray while you do that, okay?”

“No one is going to shoot me when I go in there, are they?” she asked, only half joking. I sighed and shook my head.

“Just go, it’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” she mumbled, sliding clumsily out of the car. “Fucking Maria Sanchez…”

I watched her go into the poorly lit office before pulling out my prepaid phone and hitting five on the speed dial.

“Raychel? It’s me.”

The past five hours had been some of the longest of my life. I had resorted to actually pinching myself to stay awake. My body and mind were exhausted, but I had to stay awake. I had to keep watch. My son was here, and Lyndsey was concussed and probably couldn’t point a gun to save her life. It was left up to me.

God I was out of practice. I used to be able to stay up for three days straight if it was necessary. But now, I was going on thirty-six hours and it was killing me. Maybe I was just getting old.

My nerves were a wreck, I jumped whenever I saw headlights shine through the window. I’d been on no contact with everyone since my phone call with Raychel, just as a safety precaution. We didn’t know who had found me, or why, but Brian was insisting that no one but his most trusted knew about me coming home until I was already there and protected.

But I wasn’t the one that needed protection.

I’d let Lyndsey start sleeping, but I kept waking her up every hour or so. She’d curled herself around Tristan, refusing to sleep under the blankets. I can’t really blame her, they looked disgusting.

Nausea was starting to set in now. I wasn’t sure if it was from stress or exhaustion or both, but I wanted it to go away. It was making my job even more difficult.

I was about to stumble into the bathroom to go into another bout of dry heaves, but I stopped short when someone knocked on the door. Lyndsey immediately jerked back into consciousness, staring at the door in fear while I just waited.

“I’m here about the family discount,” was yelled through the door. I released a sigh of relief and unlocked the deadbolt. I tugged the door open and practically threw myself at the first person I saw.

“Aw, did you miss me?” the tall man laughed, holding me against his lanky body and rocking me back and forth. “It’s been a while, Haner.”

“I missed you, Jimmy,” I said pathetically, finally allowing my exhaustion and emotions to show. It was safe now, reinforcements were here.

“Apparently not that much,” he chuckled, pulling away from me and appraising Lyndsey slowly. “Is this why you took off?” he questioned, motioning to the bed where my best friend and son were laying. “I never took you for a muff diver.”

Lyndsey’s face flamed in embarrassment while I slapped Jimmy.

“She’s her roommate you asshole,” was barked from behind Jimmy. And now I could finally let go.

“Brian,” I cried, nearly collapsing in my brother’s arms as my tears came. He held me close to him and didn’t say a word, but he was here. He’d come. I was safe.

“Jim, get their stuff in the truck,” he ordered, setting me down on the bed and kneeling in front of me. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I whimpered. “I was so scared. Tristan and Lyndsey were at home and they-“

“I know,” he said calmly, hugging me once again as I began to sniffle. “But they’re safe, you all are. You did good, kid.”

“What if-“

“No what if’s,” he ordered sternly. “You know better than that. Now come on, let’s get out of here, okay?”

I nodded and took a moment to compose myself before standing and grabbing my emergency pack. “Grab Tristan for me?” I asked quietly. “I’m too-“

“Don’t worry about it, I got him,” he cut me off, saving me from admitting that I was too tired to carry my own son. He must have known how hard this was hitting me. Even though we were now safe, the fact that my son had been in danger at all ate at me. He could have been killed.

Lyndsey stood slowly, grabbing her sweatshirt off of the chair and slipping it on before following me out the door.

“Hey Lyndsey,” Brian called after her. She froze and turned to look at him. I could see in her eyes that she was appraising him, wondering how on earth she could have missed what he really was. She was scared of him now, not a lot, but a little. She didn’t just see him as Brian my brother anymore, he was now Brian, the criminal. “Thanks for looking out for my sister, and keeping her sane.”

“I don’t think I really had much to do with that,” she huffed out before heading glumly to the large black Suburban that Jimmy was leaning against. Brian and I traded a look, knowing just how essential she had been to getting me through the last forty-eight hours.

“How’s she handling everything?” he questioned, heaving my son into his arms and carrying him out of the dirty motel room.

“Repeatedly stating the obvious,” I chuckled, brushing Tristan’s hair out of his eyes as he slept. He was absolutely exhausted, the poor boy. “Better than I would have expected.”

“That’s good,” he nodded, motioning for me to open the back door for him. There was a brand new car seat buckled into the second row of seating. He had come prepared. “She’ll see a lot more shit before this is all over.”

“I know,” I sighed sadly, looking over to my friend as Jimmy helped her climb into the third row of seats. I climbed into the car next to Tristan and Brian got behind the wheel. “I thought Jimmy usually drove.”

“We’ve got some evidence to dispose of,” he told me, nodding to the Trailblazer that Jimmy was now in. I nodded, feeling bad that we were about to torch someone’s car. “We got their information, Taylor. We’ll make sure they’re compensated… well.”

I smiled in thanks and finally let myself relax. Time seemed to speed up a bit after that, thankfully. I slept on and off throughout the drive. I remembered hearing a loud noise and seeing the flames spewing from my getaway car as Jimmy drove us away. At one point Brian had me swap spots with him so I could sleep in the front and he could sit in the back and keep Tristan entertained.

Tristan was elated to have his Uncle Brian with him, it was written all over his face. Once or twice he asked if I was okay, but Brian simply told him I was tired, and once Lyndsey was awake and talking to him as well, he didn’t have a care in the world. The only three family members he knew were together, and he was off on some adventure. It was all great to him.

But he didn’t have to worry about what I did. He wasn’t considered a traitor for leaving. He didn’t have the bad stigma of a past relationship to cause problems. He was innocent, and would be loved unconditionally. I wasn’t exactly sure what my reception would be.

Though I’m sure Mommy and Daddy would be excited to see me.

“Go to sleep, Taylor,” Jimmy murmured quietly to me, watching as I continued fighting to keep conscious. “You’ll be home soon.”

Notes

Thoughts so far?