“Great,” I plopped into a large leather chair tucked into the corner. “So, am I a prisoner in our house now?”
“For the time being, it looks like it,” Charlie sat on the edge of his desk facing me. “Sorry, babe.”
“What about our Christmas shopping? What about delivering my jewelry orders?”
“I’ll just have to do those, too.”
“Because you aren’t spread thin enough already,” I rubbed my temples, fighting the headache I could feel coming on. “Do you have any idea how long this will go on?”
“Not really. But once she’s gone, that means she’s ready to run her story. That could be even worse.”
“True,” I acknowledged. It was frustrating, but true. With everything going on around us, it looked like the only thing I could do for the time being was hole up in my house and wait.
Chapter Seventeen
The next weeks were long ones. Anjelita was busy trying to help Manny complete the last of the Christmas orders. Gabrielle was crabby about being stuck in the house with me. Even crabbier when she realized that one of the few things I had to keep myself busy was schoolwork with her.
Conrad came up on his days off and always left too soon. One trip, he brought me my first cell phone. It was a pay as you go phone which I immediately stuck in my travel bag. I sent him home with explicit instructions and enough money to do my Christmas shopping for me. It was the first Christmas I could celebrate in a long time—I wasn’t about to let it slip by because of this.
Even though Rachel had disappeared from our lives, it was decided Gabrielle should stay close to me. If the reporters came back, it was best to have kept her tucked out of sight. While the men were concerned about reporters, I was terrified Todd Winslow’s family would catch wind of her.
Charlie made brief appearances at breakfast, the end of the school day and sometimes dinner. I missed him and was just hormonal enough to be sinking into a pretty deep depression. Waiting patiently wasn’t my best skill. And just when I thought I would explode if I had to wait even one more second, the waiting was over.
As is often the case, when a long-anticipated event finally comes, there’s a sense of disbelief that it actually did.
We’d just put the girls in bed and had decided to curl up on the couch with a pint of ice cream to vegetate in front of the television.
“I hate these exposé shows,” I went to snatch the remote from his hand. “There’s gotta be a good nature show on somewhere.”
“I can only watch camels mate so often, Neena. Come on,” he held the remote just out of my reach.
“No fair… I don’t want to spill my ice cream!” I tried to balance the ice cream and climb him to get the remote.
“Nope, nope, nope,” he tickled my side. I laughed and wriggled away. I was just about to go in for my counter attack when a name from my past stilled me.
“Just what happened when Todd Winslow and Kali Langston went into the woods on that warm spring night? Take a walk with our own Rachel Cooper as we follow a story that began on so innocently and ended so deadly.” The announcer finished his sentence with a seriousness that normally would have made me roll my eyes. I dropped to the couch, too shocked to even smart off about the cheesy shot of a gator snapping its jaws.
“Oh wow.”
“I can change the channel,” Charlie hit the guide button and started looking for the nearest nature show.
“No,” I laid a hand on his arm. “We need to know what’s been said.”
Neither of us spoke. The ice cream sat melting on the coffee table in front of us. Rachel had certainly done her homework. She started by giving a brief bio of me and of Todd. Tears sprang to my eyes when I saw my old friends being interviewed. Had I aged as much as Benjamin Carter? Chills ran down my spine when I saw Todd’s family. Pictures of both of us faded in and out of the shots.
It was sickeningly surreal watching a re-enactment of that night.
“According to court records, Kali Langston lured young Winslow to this remote stretch of woods…,” Rachel walked the viewer through the prosecuting attorney’s view of the events. I couldn’t speak. I also couldn’t seem to stop shaking my head no.
Charlie pulled me to his side. I wasn’t sure if the human touch was comforting or somehow more disturbing. They really painted me to be a monster. Maybe I was.
Next Rachel took her viewers on a journey through the dark hallways of Dixon Correctional. She interviewed inmates about me, including Mary. Brief mention was made that Mary had been recently released, but it was obvious that wasn’t the story of the day.
I felt oddly compelled to smile as they reenacted my escape. It was pretty accurate, right down to the actress running through the moonlight in her state-commissioned underwear. Where the commercial break began was where my story had really begun, but the only people who knew that were sitting on a couch watching television. As for the show, it went to commercial with a gator supposedly taking the actress down for a death roll.
“Was the escape at all like the real thing?” Charlie was staring at me incredulously.
“Amazingly close,” I nodded a little sheepishly.
“You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
“It wasn’t exactly planned.”
“Son of a… wow. Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow. Hey, do you need a refill on your drink? I’m going to toss the ice cream in the trash.”
“It’s coming back on,” Charlie pulled me back down when I started to rise.
With fifteen minutes to go, Rachel raised the question—what if the story wasn’t as the prosecutor would have us believe? There were rumors about Todd’s temper and his tendency to hit his girlfriends. She’d even found a few sorority girls willing to hide behind a shadow and voice masking to say he had hit them while they dated at LSU. It wasn’t quite the smoking gun Charlie had been looking for, but it raised the question he’d asked before. What if I had been caught up in something much bigger than myself?
Rachel’s final question still hung in the air as the phone started to ring. The first was Anjelita.
“Yes, we saw it too,” Charlie answered patiently as I slipped away to check on the girls. “I know; it did look a lot like Neena. Yeah, the thought occurred to us, too…”
If Anjelita saw the show and made the connection, others with less noble intentions probably had as well. It was one of the major networks. If I’d been smart, I probably would have gotten the hour head start instead of watching television. I changed out of my pajamas and put on jeans and a sweater. I knew this was it. I jotted a quick note to Charlie and slid it under my pillow.
The phone rang again as I tiptoed over to Cara’s room and shook Gabrielle’s shoulder. I motioned for her to be quiet and to follow me.
“They’ve found you, haven’t they?” her eyes were wide but her voice steady as we tiptoed down the back staircase.
“Do you really want to stay with me?” I paused and met her gaze. “Because if you stay here, Charlie will protect you.”
“I’m going with you,” there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in her.
“Okay,” I cupped her face in my hand for the briefest of seconds before handing her the pack I’d filled for the journey. I swung my own pack on my back as the doorbell rang. I could see Sheriff Taylor’s cruiser through my lacey kitchen curtains. That hadn’t taken long at all.
Charlie was getting off the phone. I listened to him cross the room as I looked to see if Jim brought back-up.
“Hey-a Sheriff Taylor,” my throat tightened as I remembered the last time I’d left Charlie to greet a uniformed man for me. Tears blurred my vision as Gabrielle and I slid noiselessly out the back door and across the lawn.
I slung saddles on the horses while Gabrielle bridled them. Between the two of us, we had them tacked and out the back gate before Charlie had finished pouring Jim Taylor a glass of sweet tea.
We rode in silence through the crisp night, both of us pretending we didn’t he
ar the sirens wailing by on the distant road. I came to a halt at the crossroads in our path and turned in my saddle to look at Gabrielle in the light of the half moon.
“We have a choice and I want you to help me make it.”
“Okay,” she seemed so much older than not-quite-ten.
“We can swing south and hide out in the bayou. I can keep us safe and hidden there.”
“Or?”
“We can head north and spy on Julie Russell.”
“Cara’s mom?”
“Yes.”
“Cara really doesn’t want to live with her mom.”
“No one wants that. Probably not even Julie. She’s just trying to hurt Charlie.”
“That’s sick.”
“Some people are.”
Sirens headed the other way on the road. It was just a matter of time until they brought out the dogs. We had to move.
“Which is it?” I prompted.
“North, of course,” Gabrielle looked at me as if I were crazy.
“If they find us, they’ll take you away from me, and maybe even from your uncle….”
“Then we’d better not let them find us, huh?”
“Fair enough,” I nodded once and clucked my horse into action. Gabrielle was right on my heels. I knew I didn’t need to worry about her keeping up. She could probably outpace me—I was the one out of practice and off balance. Even if I wasn’t showing yet, my waist was certainly thicker than I was used to and it was making it harder for me to find my seat in the saddle.
We headed due south until we found a creek then headed east for a few miles before swinging north again. Once we were north of Hampton, we found another creek and headed west before reemerging and striking a path northward again. I was fairly certain the dogs would follow us south and then lose the trail. Hopefully they wouldn’t pick it up again and if they did, I hoped we’d at least gained enough of a lead to get a safe night’s sleep. Gabrielle was leaning heavily in her saddle and the moon was high in the sky by the time I reigned in and set up camp.
Our home for the night consisted of sleeping bags in a cave with a small fire at the mouth. The horses were tethered close enough for me to keep an eye on them. I dozed in and out of sleep. It was enough for me to feel somewhat rested as the sun peeked over the horizon, but I knew I’d be exhausted after too many days of this.
Once we were far enough away I didn’t feel quite so threatened, we were taking time to sleep—really sleep. Today was not that day, however. So I rolled up my bag and nudged Gabrielle awake. We ate a breakfast of beef jerky as we rode. The air was crisp but dry. We pushed our little pasture ponies as far as we dared for the day before stopping and building another campsite.
I slept a little more soundly that night. Odds were good people would assume I’d gone south. Even Charlie and Conrad thought I’d headed back to the bayou. My note to Charlie mentioned home. I hoped Sheriff Taylor found the note. Maybe it would be enough to convince him that I’d duped Charlie. Better to be thought a fool than to be in prison.
“Hey mom,” Gabrielle stared into the fire on our third evening on the trail. “Who was my father?”
“A very rich and powerful man who hurt me very badly,” I answered honestly. I knew that question would come eventually. It was better I answer it than let her hear speculation from others.
“He was the guy you killed, wasn’t he?” there was no accusation in her voice, but I winced anyway.
“Yeah,” no sense skirting that one.
“Okay.”
“What? No, it’s not okay, kid. You deserve better than this messed up life. I’m so sorry. It’s not fair to you.”
“Conrad always told me not to worry about what’s fair. Just focus on what is.”
“Wise words,” I smiled a little sadly. Our mama used to tell us that. I was suddenly very overwhelmed by all of the hatred in the world. Why had so much of it been focused on me and mine? It was exhausting. “Get some sleep baby girl. We’ll see if we can get thirty miles out of these horses tomorrow.”
“Sure, mom…hey, I love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie.” I blinked back the tears. There was a beautiful irony in the fact that the first time I heard those words from my daughter was the very time I felt I deserved them the least.
Chapter Eighteen
We moved due north through the Ouachita National Forest and then to the Ozark National Forest. We were cold and sick of beef jerky and apples. I really wanted a milkshake.
The topography changed the further north we moved. The temperature dropped, too. By the time we reached the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, we had both reached the end of our patience. We came upon a string of nearly-abandoned lake towns, the tourists all having gone home for the season.
As a belated Christmas present to us, I broke into someone’s lake cabin. The horses were content to graze on scrub in the front lawn. They hadn’t had much grain or hay along the way and both were much closer to the weight they should be than they had been at the start of the journey.
We helped ourselves to our host’s firewood and were soon happily holding our fingers and toes close to the blazing fire. It was such a peaceful, happy moment I nearly jumped out of my skin when my cell phone rang.
I recognized the number. It was home.
“Hello?”
“Neena, thank God you’re okay,” Charlie’s relief was evident. “I’ve been trying to call for days.”
“We were probably out of cell range.”
“Where are you?”
“I don’t think I should tell you.”
“Please just tell me you’re okay.”
“We’re okay,” I promised. “We’ve made it through the worst of the journey. How are you?”
“Worried sick about you.”
“I mean it. Are you in trouble?”
“I’m under suspicion, but most people just think you tricked me.”
“Good.”
“Not good. It’s killing me to not shout the truth from the street corners.”
“Try to refrain,” I smiled. “That would totally negate all of my careful planning. How’s Cara?”
“Julie’s parents are asking me to relinquish custody.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I haven’t. I don’t know how much longer I can hold them off, though. I’m a little surprised Julie hasn’t shown up.”
“She’s giving you enough rope to hang yourself.”
“Thanks.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I miss you,” he said suddenly.
“I miss you, too.”
“We missed our first Christmas and New Years together.”
“I know,” I brushed tears from my eyes. Stupid hormones. “Hey, don’t let Conrad forget to give you your gift.”
“I won’t. Don’t let Gabrielle forget to give you yours.”
The tears really did flow then. “Hey, is Conrad around? I bet Gabrielle would like to say hi.”
“Yeah, sure.”
It was so good to hear Conrad’s voice; I passed Gabrielle the phone a little reluctantly. I missed them all so much.
I looked at the girl sitting beside me. She’d endured a lot without complaint. Maybe there would come a day when I could start atoning for the trials she’d been through instead of adding to them.
Charlie had ended the phone call with the promise of another one soon. Almost as much as I longed to hear his voice, I looked forward to an update on the happenings back home. Charlie wanted to try to file an appeal, but with me now suspected to be alive, he knew the court would want me to turn myself in before they’d hear my case. Neither Charlie nor I were ready to take that chance until we were sure our case was solid.
“So, I hear you and Charlie are in cahoots,” I informed Gabrielle as I raided the cupboards to prepare us our first real meal in days.
“Aren’t you stealing?”
“Technically, yes,” I admitted a little guiltily. “Would it make
you feel better if I mailed them a check when this is all settled?”
“Yes.”
“Okay then, I’ll send them some money… here,” I handed her a bowl of soup. She quickly forgot concerns about stealing with a hot meal in front of her.
“So you want your present from Charlie?” she toyed with me.
“Unless you’d rather have yours first.”
“You got me a present?” her face lit up with a brilliant smile.
“Of course,” I retrieved a small box from my bag and handed it to her.
“It’s beautiful,” she held the small silver cross up to the light. “Did you make it?”
“It was actually the first piece I made, many years ago, as a gift to my mother. She always wore it. It seemed fitting for you to have it now.”
“Thank you,” she impulsively hugged my neck then went to grab my present. I wasn’t sure what to expect. For my birthday, he’d bought me tools. While handy for jewelry-making, they wouldn’t have been worth sending on the road.
It turns out he’d sent several gifts with a note explaining each.
“Neena,” his scrawling script began. “I had hoped we’d spend our first Christmas together, but life rarely yields to our plans. I pray that wherever you are as you read this, you are safe. The book is a favorite of mine, I hope you like it. The compass is so you can find your way home. The gift cards are so you don’t spend the next few weeks living off roots in the woods. I know you’d never take money out of our savings account, so I did for you. The money has already been spent. You might as well use the cards for whatever you need along the way.”
I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and looked at the book he sent. I would have expected the Bible or something. I was a little surprised when it was an installment from the Chronicles of Narnia. Still, it gave Gabrielle and me a way to pass the evening. I read aloud to her by the fire until we both dozed off.
Part of me yearned to spend a leisurely day in our borrowed shelter. I didn’t want to ride through biting winds anymore. My thighs hurt from being in a saddle for so many days. My back screamed in protest.
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