Underestimated u-1

by Jettie Woodruff

  “What the hell is this?” I wondered, pulling out a thin sleeve of some sort. I pulled it on, and it literally looked like I had a tattooed sleeve from my fingers to my shoulder. I quickly undressed placing my expensive pant suit in the bag. The jeans were old, ratty, and way too big. I put on the flannel shirt with the cut off sleeves and topped if off with nerd glasses and work boots. My heart was going crazy. If this didn’t work, I knew I would be spending the rest of my life eating carrot sticks and apples, locked in the gym.

  I threw the duffle bag over my shoulder and left with a bubble in my mouth. I didn’t know whether I was supposed to take the duffle bag or not, so I did. Derik was waiting right outside, arms crossed leaning against the wall to the left. I didn’t look at him but could see him out of the corner of my eye. I knew I had seconds when I heard his knuckles knock on the bathroom door, telling me to hurry.

  There were two yellow cabs parked right out front. I panicked. I didn’t know which one to take. I just knew that Derik was going to grab me from behind at any second. I couldn’t even open one of the cab doors and ask if they were going to I didn’t know where.

  I stood in a frozen state, not knowing what to do. I almost jumped out of my skin when someone grabbed my elbow and shoved me toward the first car. They opened the back door for me, and I got in. I didn’t even look to see who it was. I did turn around once we were in traffic. There were a lot of people on the sidewalk. I didn’t see Derik anywhere.

  It took forty five minutes for my heart to regulate, and the nerves to settle throughout my body, and then it started all over. The driver handed me a manila envelope, chucked full of information and ID’s.

  “What’s this?”

  No answer. He wasn’t going to discuss anything with me. I opened the flap and pulled out the prepaid phone as the driver pulled off the side of the road, and I was quickly rushed into another vehicle parked right behind us.

  “Thank you,” I said to the driver who only nodded. I didn’t know what I was thanking him for. I didn’t even know how much he knew.

  “I need your cellphone,” my new driver said before I exited the cab. I handed him my new prepaid cellphone.

  “Not that one,” he stated, and I fished Drew’s phone from the pocket on the side of the duffle bag. He handed it to the cab driver and ushered me on my way. I had never thought about being tracked, and the panic started all over again. I was sure he was tracking me.

  I jumped again when the new phone rang in my hand.

  “Hello,” I cautiously answered.

  “Are you doing okay?” the unidentified voice asked.

  I hadn’t even noticed I wasn’t breathing until that moment. I inhaled deeply.

  “Yeah, I think so. This was just so unexpected. Are you Ms. K?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am. It’s always best that you don’t know what is happening. You have full instructions in the envelope. I will call you later. Don’t answer any calls from that phone unless it is this number, understand?”

  “Yes, thank you Mrs. K.”

  “You’re welcome. Relax, it’s over. You’re going to be fine.”

  It’s over?

  That was the first time that I had realized that I was on the run. I was away from Drew, but still had no idea where I was going. I pulled out the contents of the package and begin to find out who I was and where I was going.

  I was Lisa Fitzgerald first, and when my new driver, who also didn’t talk to me, pulled to the front curb of the first of six banks that I would stop and withdraw my money, it started to become real. I was nervous as hell there too. I just knew that Drew was onto me, and I would be escorted to an office by bank security where I would be held until he arrived for me. He didn’t come, and I walked out with a seven thousand dollar prepaid Visa card, one of many that I would accumulate during journey.

  Everything started to sync in when I was driven to the last bank by my fourth driver. This was really planned out, and I had no idea. I had gone into six different banks, with six different identities and was carrying over twenty five thousand dollars in prepaid cards. The majority of the money had been withdrawn for the purchase of my new home. I still didn’t even know where I was going. I had been in four different vehicles, but at the stop of every bank it became easier for me to walk in, withdraw my money and leave. I never removed the black wig until my last driver pulled into a parking garage hours later from my escape. I knew that we were in Freemont, Nebraska, but that was it. I had never been out of West Virginia until I was sold to Drew Kelley almost six years prior.

  We parked beside an older white Honda Civic, and I had no idea what was going on.

  “This is it, good luck to you, I need the envelope and your phone now,” my last driver said, holding out his hand and wishing me luck. Those were the only words that my chauffeur had spoken to me the entire three hour trip.

  He pulled the keys from the package and handed them to me with a smile. Where the hell was I supposed to go? The contents of my package only had information about the banks and my identities. I didn’t know where I was supposed to go in this car.

  I got in the older car, and the black SUV pulled out and left me alone. There was another package in the passenger seat, along with a brown leather purse. I sat there forever trying to pull myself together. I was scared. I didn’t know what was out there. I had lived in a bubble my entire life. Could I really do this? It was a little too late for that. I was there. If I went back now, Drew would kill me for sure. I had been gone for over three hours. I was sure that he was beside himself.

  I noticed the little black GPS stuck right in the middle of the windshield, took a deep breath, and opened the new packet of information. There was another phone and papers, paper clipped together. I rummaged through the purse and smiled a little. Lipstick, mascara, fingernail clippers, a tiny little mirror, and a wallet. I opened the wallet to my new identity. Riley Murphy, 1712 Long Gate Road, Misty Bay, Maine. Was this where I was going? Did Ms. K expect me to drive clear across the United States in this car? I pulled out my driver’s license and wondered who had taken the picture. I knew that it was taken at the library even with the blue background. I was wearing the same outfit that I had worn there not too long before. I had a credit card, an insurance card, a social security card, and a registration to the car, all with my new name. I must be Riley Murphy, and that would be the last name that I would have from my multiple identities.

  I turned on the GPS, and it was already set for my destination. I was nervous about driving. I hadn’t really driven much, but I did just fine and was out of that city and on to the next. I actually turned on the radio and felt myself relax. I was free. I couldn’t believe it.

  It was at that moment that I realized that I never got the chance to thank Rebecca. I would never see her again, and I owed her so much. I wondered if Drew would make her leave. I assumed that he would. She was kept there to babysit me. He didn’t need her anymore. I hoped that he wasn’t too hard on her. I knew he would be trying to get information out of her. I was glad that she didn’t know anything.

  My new phone rang after a couple of hours of driving. It was Ms. K, telling me that the rest of my trip would be left up to me. I had already figured as much. She told me not to get off track and to go where the GPS took me. It was already set for food and the hotels that I would check into. She told me that she would call the next day and not to answer the phone unless it was that number again.

  I was scared that first night in the hotel. I should have just kept driving. I didn’t sleep a wink, waiting for the door to burst open and find Drew or Derik. I took a shower and pulled on the clothes that had been sent with me. The duffle bag with my designer pant suit was left in the second car that I had been driven in, and this was what I had to work with. Three pairs of jeans, a couple of sweat shirts, new panties, socks, a few shirts, and a box of brown hair dye. I was happy to see that. I hadn’t seen my natural brown hair since the first week that I was at Drew’s house.

&nb
sp; I hadn’t realized that I was talking for so long until I looked at the clock. It was almost midnight and Dawson, and I both had to get up for work the following day. I looked up to him, and he smiled, kissing my lips.

  “And that was almost two years ago,” I said kissing him back.

  “I’m glad you’re Riley Murphy,” he said as we both slid down into the bed.

  “Me too,” I agreed, snuggling my back to his front.

  I lay in Dawson’s arm contemplating on where I had been and where I was. I was by no means looking for love when I ran from Drew, but that was exactly what I found. I couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as I loved Dawson Bade. I had never felt the security that I felt with him, and I knew that he truly did love me. Who else would have loved someone as messed up as I was? I wasn’t always going to be screwed up. I was getting stronger and better every day, thanks to Starlight, Lauren, and my sheriff.

  I had to open the shop earlier the next day because Dawson had to drop me off. I didn’t mind, and I was happy to ride the short drive with my hand in his. I kissed him, and he waited until I had the front door unlocked and was inside before waving and pulling out.

  It was fairly slow that day. I wasn’t surprised. I wouldn’t have gone out in that cold either if I didn’t have to. Dawson came in around one and brought me a hot roast beef sandwich and a bowl of broccoli cheese soup from Millie’s. He ate with me, and we sat at the table in the empty shop, right in front of the window.

  “Charlie thinks you need a starter,” Dawson said as we ate.

  “Is he going to get it fixed today?”

  “No. He said it would probably be a couple of days before he could get to it. He’s coming to tow it later on today. What? You don’t like being escorted to work in my cruiser?” Dawson teased.

  “I love it,” I smiled. “I’ve been thinking about something, Daw,” I said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Where are we going to live once we are married?”

  “I don’t know. Where do you want to live?”

  “Well, your house is bigger, but mine is closer to the ocean, and I kind of like being close to Lauren.”

  “You have got to be joking. That girl is a pain in my ass. You know she is only your friend because you feed her, don’t you?”

  “She is a pain in the ass,” I agreed, “but you still have to love her.”

  “You have to love her. I don’t. I have to go, Ry. I’ll come and get you at six.”

  “Call me when you get off. If I am this slow, I might just close up an hour early.”

  Dawson kissed me goodbye, and I cleaned up our lunch trash.

  * * *

  I didn’t think we would ever make it through the long Maine winter. I pretty much lived at Dawson’s for the entire winter. He was in love with his fireplace, and my house was not equipped with one. March wasn’t warm, but at least it wasn’t freezing either. I was not looking forward to the trip to Las Vegas again, even though I was when Star had first told me about it. The closer it got the more and more I hated the idea. I hated the idea of being away from Dawson for four days, and although I knew I was being silly, I still feared running into Drew or someone seeing me. I didn’t know who. I never got to know anyone there except for Jena, and now that I had Star and Lauren, I knew that Jena and I were never truly friends. Not like what I had with Star and Lauren anyway.

  I was looking forward to the hot weather. That part I was excited about. I was anxious to wear shorts, a skirt, and short sleeves, anything but the winter coat that had become attached to me over the past few months.

  Starlight left almost two weeks before our scheduled trip. Her daughter Moonie would be accompanying us on the trip and Star was going there first and flying out with her. I was picking up a rental car and would meet them the same day in our shared hotel room. We did need to visit the many vendors and come up with some new merchandise for the shop. Tourist season in Misty Bay was right around the corner, and if we were as busy as the previous summer, we would need all the merchandise that we could get.

  On Saturday night, Dawson, me, Lauren and Joel built a fire outside, roasted hotdogs and drank a few beers. It was cold out, but the heat from the fire made it comfortable. We were having a good time when my cellphone rang with an unidentified number. It was Star’s daughter Moonie, letting me know that her mother had broken her ankle and was having surgery as we spoke. She wanted to inform me that they were not going to make the trip to Vegas. Star still wanted me to go and said that her two friends Wendy and Marsha, who I had met the last time, along with her sister, Sunny would still be there. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to my weekend with Star and Moonie.

  “You should just go with me, Dawson,” I suggested after hanging up with Moonie.

  “Yeah, well, had I known Star was going to break her leg a week before you were leaving, I would have. It’s too late for me to get vacation now.”

  “Lauren?” I looked to my friend for help.

  “Sorry, I’m in the same boat,” she replied. “I need more than a week to get vacation too.”

  “Joel?” I joked.

  “Sure, why not,” he teased.

  I was a little apprehensive about going alone although I wouldn’t actually be alone. I would have Marsha and Wendy, and Sunny was now going to be my roommate. I knew I would have a blast with the free spirit. She was a lot like Star.

  Chapter 13

  Dawson drove me to the airport on Thursday morning.

  “I told you the last time that you did this that I didn’t like it,” he said, sitting in an airport chair beside me while I waited for my flight to start boarding.

  “I told you to come with me,” I countered, just as we heard my flight called.

  He carried my bag as far as they would let him.

  “I love you. I’ll call you during my layover in Chicago,” I said, holding him tightly around his neck.

  “I’ll be waiting. Hurry back to me. I love you.”

  I settled into the window seat and stared out the tiny window, reflecting on where I was. I never met Ms. K in my life, but I owed her my life. I hated to think about living with Drew, having his baby, and never having a life of my own. I felt safer and secure in Misty Bay then I ever had in my life, and of course I was madly in love with my sheriff.

  I did call Dawson and talked to him the whole forty five minute layover in Chicago, and then again when I was safely in my hotel room in Vegas. I walked down to the dining room around seven with Marsha, Sunny, and Wendy for supper. Star’s sister returned to my room with me. I loved Sunny almost as much as Star. She painted my finger and toenails with a neon green polish with black tips. It wasn’t my style at all, but I laughed and told her that I loved it.

  The swap meet was just as epic as I remembered it from the last time, and there were even more vendors. I knew I would be paying for extra weight on the way home. It was only the first day, and I had seven catalogues of the neatest novelty items ever.

  We went out for supper that night and had a blast once again. We had walked to the restaurant, and Sunny and Marsha had gotten a little intoxicated. Wendy and I told them both several times to quiet down as we walked back to our rooms.

  The next day was just as much fun. I found a vendor of old-time candies and thought that it would make a perfect fitment for the shop, and I of course grabbed one of his catalogues. There were candy cigarettes, those necklaces that you had to bite the candy off, wax lips, and every flavor of jellybeans imaginable. I crinkled my nose at the thought of sardine flavored jellybeans, but knew they would sell, just because they were different.

  The four of us went out for supper again at the same restaurant. I was the one that drank a little too much that time, but I didn’t care. I was having the time of my life, and I don’t think I have ever laughed that much in my entire life.

  I said goodbye to Sunny, Marsha and Wendy and headed back to the airport with the rental car the following morning. Sunny and Wendy were staying
another night. They wanted to catch one of the shows before heading home the next day. Marsha was flying out the same evening. I couldn’t wait to get home and see Dawson. It was crazy how much I missed him. If someone would have told me two years prior that I could be in love with someone the way I was with him, I would have deemed them crazy.

  I parked the rental car where I was supposed to. I called Dawson just before boarding and told him that I would see him in eight hours. I had another layover in Chicago for an hour, but I was fine with it. I would be going to bed in his arms that night. That was all that I cared about. I told him that I loved him and was getting ready to board when I realized that I had the keys to the rental in my hand.

  “How much time do I have?” I asked the lady at the gate.

  I told her that I would be right back. I had ten minutes to board. I wished that I would have just taken the keys and sent them in the mail.

  I rushed out to the parking lot to deposit the keys in the glove box of the car, where I was supposed to have left them. I was just crossing the crosswalk and like an idiot, turned when I heard someone yell.

  “Morgan?”

  I knew it was Derik before I ever turned my head.

  Fuck…

  What the hell was I supposed to do now? I panicked and sprinted to the rental car, started it and backed out of the parking space, trying to get out of there in the ridiculous traffic. I would catch the next flight. I knew they would track down every name on that plane if I would have gotten on it. I wasn’t chancing that. Every thought possible was going through my mind. What if he caught me? What would Drew do to me? I couldn’t go back there, and for the first time since I had met Dawson, I wished I would have given him his name or even mine before I became Riley Murphy. He had no way to find me. He thought that I was on a plane heading toward Chicago.

  I kept a close eye on my rearview mirror. Derik was one car behind me. I could see him on his cellphone and knew exactly who he was talking to. I could hear Drew’s voice on the other end, telling him not to lose me. I felt like my world was crashing in on me. Everything that I had worked so hard for, for the past two years was hanging by a thread, all because I was stupid. I should have never chanced being there in the first place.