A tear streamed down Abby’s cheek, despite her best efforts to hold it in. With her eyes closed, she said, “Please, don’t hurt the boy. Ben, leave.” She shuddered and opened her eyes to look at the intruder, “Whoever you are, I don’t know what he’s paying you, but I’ve got money. I’ll give you everything, every penny I have. Just please leave. Leave and pretend you never saw us.”
Eric spoke up, “Me, too. We’ll give you everything. Just walk away, that’s all.”
JJ shook his head, “You guys really don’t want to be found?”
“Please,” Abby said. “I’ll give you whatever you want.”
JJ looked into her eyes. She was just as beautiful as he had seen on TV, and just about as deadly, too. He wasn’t surprised they didn’t want to be found. He had been searching these islands for months without so much as a hint that they were out here. The thought had never occurred to him that his target would attack him over it. “Abby, you don’t have to pay me a thing. I’ll walk away and pretend I never saw you. If I let go of your wrists, do not move. Understand? I don’t want to hurt you.” He paused and tried to read her face. “Can I trust you?”
Abby shook her head yes.
Slowly, JJ released his grip and stood, backing up a step, still breathing hard. Abby didn’t move a muscle, but spoke softly, “I don’t understand. You’ll just walk away? You don’t want anything in return?”
JJ shook his head, “No, I’m taken care of Abby. You don’t want anyone to know where you are, that’s fine by me. I’m just here to deliver a message.”
Abby slowly rolled off Eric and sat up to look at JJ, “Bryce just wants you to deliver a message?”
JJ cocked his head to the side and looked confused. “Bryce? No. Robert sent me.”
Abby’s eyes lit up, and she exchanged a curious glance with Eric before looking back at the tall stranger. “Robert sent you?”
“Yes,” JJ said. “Bryce Haydenson is dead.”
6
ABBY FELT AS THOUGH her brain had just been smacked into wall and couldn’t process the information. “What? What did you say?”
JJ was still standing over Abby and Eric, catching his breath. “Bryce is dead. He has been for a few months now. Robert wanted you to know, so I’ve been scouring these islands for months trying to find you.”
Abby and Eric looked at each other, unsure how to react.
Eric spoke up first. “Mind getting me untied?”
JJ laughed, almost embarrassed, “Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He knelt down next to Eric, produced a blade and freed his hands even more quickly than he had tied them. “No hard feelings, right?”
Eric shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”
They both turned to Abby who sat still on the floor, quietly trying to process what she had just heard. Her brain was in overdrive. Emotionally, she was conflicted. Bryce is dead. She knew this was a good thing, a very good thing. She had been in hiding because she feared he would kill her, and while she couldn’t explain it, part of her was sad. Or perhaps part of her felt that she was supposed to be sad. This man was my husband... is it OK to be happy about his death?
As she sat in a daze, staring into space, Eric knelt next to her. “Abby, you OK?”
She looked at him, though her eyes did not connect with his. She almost seemed to look through him, yet she tried to reassure him. “Yeah, yes... I’m fine.” Looking at JJ, she asked, “How? How did it happen?”
“Massive shootout with the FBI. A bunch of mob guys got it that day.”
Abby searched his face and suddenly had a thought. “Robert sent you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
JJ let out a small laugh. “He knew that would be the first thing you asked. Hold on.” He took a small phone from his pocket and with a few flicks of his thumb dialed a number and held the device to his ear. After a few moments, his eyes lit up. “Yep. No, not good news, great news.” He paused, listening. “Yes, I found them. It didn’t go exactly as I anticipated, but we’re all OK.” He listened silently for a moment, then laughed. “Absolutely, yes, that’s the first thing she asked. Hold on.” He held the phone out and handed it to Abby, who took it and held it to her ear.
“Hello?”
Robert’s big, jovial, British voice boomed through the phone. “Abby, my dear!”
“How did you find me?”
“I had a hunch you would be out there somewhere.”
“Is it true?”
“Yes, Abby, it’s true. I wish I could have told you straight away. I knew you would want to know, but it took months to track you down!”
“Who is this guy you sent?”
“JJ? He’s the best. He’s a good man. So when am I going to see you?”
Abby was quiet for a moment.
“Abby?”
“Yes, sorry. I’m... I’m just a little overwhelmed. So... he’s dead?”
“As a doornail. It was all over the news. It was not just Bryce; it was a huge sting that went bad. A bunch of these mafia guys wound up dead. Can you believe their families are suing the government? What a country. Anyhow, I had my people keeping an eye on him for news anyway, but this was impossible to miss. I saw his face on the evening news myself before my assistant even had a chance to call me. You’ve got your life back, Abby!”
She managed a meek, “Yes, I guess I do.”
Had she been face to face with him, she would have seen him furrow his brow. “I thought you would be elated.”
“It’s all happening so fast. An hour ago I was living in complete secrecy, and now... this.”
“I see.”
“Robert, I really appreciate you tracking us down, I do. I just need to wrap my head around this, that’s all.”
“I understand. I’m so happy to hear your voice again. I understand this is a huge thing for you, but please promise that we will see each other again soon. That would be so wonderful.”
“It would, Robert, it really would.”
“Take care, my dear. JJ will see to the details, yes?”
“You, too, Robert, and thank you again.”
She handed the phone back to JJ.
Abby finally allowed the thought to sink in. Bryce was killed in a gunfight with the F.B.I. She heard the words, processed the words, but somehow had trouble feeling the words. She was supposed to be thrilled. She should be dancing. So why wasn’t she feeling that joy? I’ve got my life back, she told herself.
Just as quickly, a little voice in the back of her head told her why she was feeling how she was – Do you want your life back? She stood and walked through the open door where Ben was standing and onto the pristine beach where she stood on the white sand watching the small waves crash at the waterline.
Eric walked onto the porch. “Abby, you OK?”
She stood, not turning around, watching the water, “Yeah, just give me a few minutes.”
Eric nodded his head and went back into the villa, putting his arm around Ben and bringing him inside.
Ben quietly asked, “Is Miss Abby OK?”
“She’ll be fine. She just got hit hard with some pretty big news. Sometimes women need to think things through a little more than us guys.”
Ben nodded thoughtfully. “Who is Bryce?”
Eric chuckled, “There’s an awful lot about us that you don’t know Ben. An awful lot.”
Back on the beach, Abby walked down to the surf. She had spent so much time these past eleven months or so trying to force herself not to think about Bryce, not to question whether leaving him alive was the right thing, that she found it nearly impossible to will her mind to actually think about him.
She was thrilled – at least she told herself she was – though she didn’t feel it. She was free. She could have her life back. But there was that little voice again – Do you want your life back? Having shed the baggage of the past ten years, she thought about the new life she had built with Eric. It was a simple
life, yet far more fulfilling than anything she had remembered before.
No, she didn’t want her life back. Not her old life anyway. She didn’t want to know what kind of person she must have been to get together with someone like Bryce. She was a new person now, so why revisit her past?
So Bryce is dead. That has no impact on me; no bearing on the life I lead. He has already taken so much from me, an entire decade, that I will not allow him to take anything more. He will not take another moment from me. I am free, I live free, and I’m here with Eric because I want to be. I am not in hiding anymore, but rather choosing to live a quiet life.
Abby smiled as she surveyed the endless sea in front of her. I’M FREE! She let this realization wash over her. She couldn’t stop smiling. As she turned and trotted back toward the villa, Ben came out. She took him in her arms and gave him a big hug. “I love you, Ben, you know that? And I love being here. This news changes nothing, so don’t you worry, OK?”
Ben was confused, but unable to look at Miss Abby and not smile. His brown cheeks beamed as he smiled back. “OK Miss Abby.”
She smiled warmly. “Good. Now you go tell your dad we’re alright, OK?”
“Yes, Miss Abby.”
She watched him walk off toward the trees before she bounded up the stairs and into the villa. Eric and JJ were sitting around the island in the kitchen talking over two glasses of water.
Eric stood when he saw her walk in. “You alright?”
She jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I’m great!” She planted a big kiss on his lips before jumping down and turning to JJ. “And you, thank you!” She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Seriously, I can’t tell you what a relief!”
JJ and Eric exchanged a hesitant look as Abby turned her attention back to Eric and wrapped her arms around him. “This doesn’t change a thing, Eric. I love our life here; we won’t change a thing except we don’t have to worry anymore. No more looking over our shoulders; no more wondering if Bryce is out there looking for us. We’re free!”
Eric managed to smile, but Abby could tell something was bothering him.
“What?” She turned to look at JJ, “What is it?”
JJ said nothing.
She looked back to Eric. “What’s the problem?”
Eric sighed. “Well, there’s just a little more to the story.”
“What is it?”
Eric stood with his arm around Abby and looked at JJ. “Tell her what you told me.”
JJ nodded and indicated the chairs. “Let’s have a seat.” He sipped his water before he continued. “Eric says you’ve both been pretty isolated since the show, right?”
“Right.” Abby looked to Eric for reassurance, and he nodded his head in agreement.
“Well, after the show ended, the media went a little nuts that you guys just disappeared. I mean, you were the biggest thing on television, huge celebrities, and then you just vanished. The news hounds dug, but Robert keeps his people close, and frankly not many folks had any clue what happened anyway. That was what, about ten or eleven months ago, toward the end of last summer?”
“Yes,” Abby answered.
“You were lucky. Robert buried the story and put a gag order on anyone from the top down. No one was allow to speak about the show. They had to go on hiatus anyway, seeing as though they were without a cast. The election coverage kicked into high gear after a few weeks, the new fall season started on TV, and the news cycle went on. After a few weeks, you were forgotten about.”
“That’s good, right?”
JJ laughed. “It was. In fact, it was better than good for you. It was great! Until Bryce started a shootout with the FBI. No one had ever heard of him before, and suddenly he was the biggest crime story in years. So the reporters started digging.” He watched Abby for reaction, but she gave up none, as if she were an observer more than an actor in this story. When he thought about it, that actually was the case.
He went on. “It didn’t take a couple of days before it hit the news that you were Mrs. Haydenson. There was nothing Robert could do, it was out there, and the hunt for you has been in the news all summer. There are a million theories out there that Bryce had you killed, that you’re on the run from him, in witness protection, et cetera. I’m not the only one who’s looking for you. All the big news outlets have guys out here looking for an exclusive. One of us would find you eventually.”
Abby had so many thoughts swirling through her head. Does the FBI want me for something? My life is over, again! Where am I supposed to hide now? But a very simple question, one that the man in front of her could actually answer, came to the forefront. “So who are you exactly?”
“I’ve known Robert for a long time. I do a lot of work for him back on the East Coast. He keeps me on retainer. I mostly do background checks on his business partners. I’m an investigator, and I do mostly specialist work like that for a few big clients. In my former life, I was a bounty hunter. I still find people occasionally, and that’s what Robert hired me to do in this case.”
“So who else is out here looking for me? The authorities? The FBI?”
JJ shook his head no. “Not that I’ve caught wind of yet.
“How is it that you’re the one to find me?”
“A little bit of luck, but I also had a head start. Robert picked up the phone the minute the news hit that Bryce was dead and had me on a plane within a few hours. I’ve been out here combing the islands for months now. I knew I’d find you in a small, quiet place, out of the way, so that narrowed my search. I’ve been to somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred and eighteen of these quiet, out-of-the-way places.”
Eric let out a whistle.
“Well,” Abby said, “I’m glad it was you and not one of the others. I’m not about to put my face out there. Bryce gone or not, I love my life here, and I’m not giving that up.”
JJ nodded his head. “There are some other things; things that Robert didn’t share with me and insisted he tell you on his own. I don’t know how long you need to get your stuff together, but I can take you to him whenever you’re ready. I’ve been out here for a long time, and I’m itching to get back, but I can stick around a day or so if you need it.”
Abby stood and scoffed, “This is unreal.” She stood at the counter, looking out through the doors again. With a shaky voice, she declared, “I’m not ready. And I don’t know when I’ll be ready. If I’ll ever be ready.” She turned to face JJ. “Thank you for finding me, for delivering the message, but your job is done. I’m not leaving here.”
Eric spoke, “Abby, this is a lot to handle. Let’s sleep on it.”
She shot back, “No!” Closing her eyes, she breathed for a moment before speaking. “There’s nothing to sleep on. I’m not leaving.”
JJ spoke up. “There’s going to be others, Abby. Probably not tomorrow, or even next week, but you’ve got a few months at best. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but one way or another, your secret hideaway is going to be the lead story very soon.”
He produced a card from his pocket and tried to hand it to her, but she simply folded her arms and said, “No thank you.”
He sighed and left it on the counter, looking back and forth from her to Eric. “When you change your mind, there’s my info.”
“I’m not going to change my mind,” Abby said.
“That’s your decision. I’ll let Robert know.” He looked to Eric. “I’m going to leave you two alone. Talk to her. You can sit here and just wait for it all to end one day, but I’d think you want to do it on your terms.” JJ turned and trotted out the door to leave.
Eric followed him out the door, leaving Abby on her own.
“Hey,” he called ahead to JJ.
“Yeah?”
“I was out for a swim this morning and saw a couple guys. Did you come here with another guy on a boat today?”
JJ gave him a funny look. “Everyone here came on a boat, brother. Seriously, though, if she cha
nges her mind, call me. It’s impossible to find your way around these islands without a guide.”
Eric nodded. “Will do.” He turned to go back to the villa and saw Abby walking down the beach away from him. He started to walk after her, but then slowed and stopped. She wanted to be alone, or she would have come to him. He decided to give her some space.
The two of them could certainly go on hiding, and frankly, he wouldn’t mind that one bit. Given the media circus that was certainly awaiting their return, he had no desire to give up their simple quiet life. But they couldn’t continue to live it here. The best thing to do would be to find a new place where they could disappear permanently. Someplace they could live their simple, quiet life together, undisturbed. But he knew that until she came to that decision on her own, she’d fight it. He figured he would let her sort things out. For now, the sun was getting low and his stomach was getting hungry. He decided to make a small dinner and put some aside for Abby. No doubt she would be hungry when she got back.
He stood on the steps of their deck, watching her walk farther and farther away. He wondered how many more of these beautiful sunsets they would be able to enjoy on their beach. Despite her insistence that they weren’t leaving, he knew it wouldn’t be many.
7
ABBY RETURNED several hours later. Eric had set up a fire on the beach, but it had burned down to just embers. Walking through the open doors and into the villa, she found him asleep, sitting up in an armchair, with a book on his chest. She didn’t understand how he fell asleep reading, but she often found him like that, whether he was reading late at night or in the middle of the day.
She removed the book from his chest and set it on the table next to the candle he had been reading by. He woke up briefly, and after kissing him on the forehead, she told him to get in bed, which he did on autopilot. She chuckled a little under her breath as she put the covers over him. She knew he wouldn’t remember this in the morning.
Abby poured herself a glass of water from the tall steel water purifier, similar to the one they had seen in Robert’s cave the night they had first met him. Looking down onto the counter, she spotted the card that their guest had left. It was just his name printed in simple block lettering: JJ ANDREWS. On the back was a number in the 617 area code, which she was not familiar with. Handwritten under that was another number that began with (011)63, followed by more numbers than made sense for a phone number. Maybe it was a code for something. She didn’t want to know. Knowing full well it was unrealistic, she just wanted to pretend that today never happened.
Escape, the Complete Trilogy Page 27
