Don't Let Them Find You

by Brandy Isaacs

  Stepping closer, he stared down at her. “What the hell are you doing?” he growled.

  “Running,” she gulped.

  He slammed his palm against the door next to her head and she flinched again. “Where?”

  “I don’t know.” She wanted to look away but couldn’t. His eyes were burning into hers and his chest pressed into hers with each breath he panted. He hadn’t had to run her down hard enough to be out of breath, so why is he breathing so hard?

  Xander leaned in so close she could feel his breath on her face. “I should have known you would pull something like this,” he growled. “But I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. You aren’t going anywhere without me. Even if I have to handcuff myself to you—and trust me—I have handcuffs.

  A tiny whimper slipped out of Sydney’s throat. I’ve lost my damn mind. I can’t figure out which I would rather do, knee him in the balls and keep running or wrap my legs around his waist. “OK,” she finally muttered with a dry mouth.

  He leaned in closer and, sarcastically tilted his head. “What was that?”

  “I said OK.”

  He turned and stalked back towards his office. Sydney hated that he knew she would follow him—and she did. His bare back taunted her. Nearly every square inch was covered with tattoos, even more than his chest and arms were. Of course he was covered tattoos. She rolled her eyes at herself.

  ***

  After they had both showered, Sydney and Xander ate leftover pizza while he packed a bag. “What are we going to tell Shay?” she asked.

  “That we’re taking a road trip?”

  “This sudden?”

  “She knows me. It’s not the first time I’ve just up and taken a trip with some girl.”

  Sydney scowled at the “some girl” comment. “What about the store? Who’s going to help her watch it?”

  “She’ll get Zak to help. We’ll tell her we are going to a cabin in Michigan or something.”

  “She’ll believe it?”

  “Of course. We just need to figure out where we are going? We’ll go back to Michigan? Retrace your steps.”

  “No!” Xander looked at her over his shoulder, alarmed by her reaction. “I just don’t...think going back there is going to help.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “Well, it’s where you started.”

  “But it’s not like there is going to be evidence there.”

  He studied her carefully for a few moments. “OK. Indianapolis it is then.”

  “Huh?”

  “Why not.” He shrugged. “You got a better idea?”

  “No.”

  “Right.” Xander tossed his packed bag over his shoulder and tossed the empty pizza box at the trash can. “Let’s go.”

  “What about Short Man?”

  “He’s not going anywhere.”

  Syd rolled her eyes. “I mean, aren’t we going to ‘take care of him’ before we go?”

  “Do you want to take care of him right now?”

  “No,” she shook her head. “I just want to get out of here,” she admitted. The more time they wasted the more she worried about Short Man’s friends coming to look for him—if they weren’t already.

  “What about the guy who runs the blog?” Xander stopped short.

  “What about him?”

  “Where is he located?”

  “Uh, I don’t know.”

  “Can you figure it out?”

  “It wasn’t on his blog.”

  “Message him.”

  “I don’t know about that?”

  “Why not?”

  “What if it’s a trap?”

  “Leading to what?”

  “Getting captured?”

  “Well,” Xander gave her a look indicating he was stating the obvious. “They found you anyway.”

  “Thanks,” she replied dryly.

  “Hey, it’s the truth. Right now, he might be the best shot at finding out what is going on.”

  “True.”

  “And, if it is a trap, you aren’t alone. I’m with you. But don’t tell him. Pretend it’s just you.”

  “OK,” Sydney finally relented.

  Xander set his bag down and pulled his laptop out. “Here.”

  Sydney sat on the floor and took the computer from him. Her back stiffened when Xander sat down so close his leg pressed against hers. I swear he does this on purpose. The smirk on his face made her think she was probably right. Shaking it off, she opened the computer and when it connected to the Wi-Fi she opened the internet and typed in the blog’s address from memory and found a new entry:

  Things have been getting worse. I’ve had more nightmares and I’ve been sleepwalking. This morning I woke up on my balcony with Stacy yelling at me. I scared the shit out of her. But I think I scared myself worse. I don’t know why but her seeing just pissed me off. I started yelling and cussing at her. Guys, I don’t hit women. Never have I even come close before. But this morning, I almost did. It was just this blackout rage. When I realized what I was doing and came to I was standing over Stacy and she was cowering on the floor. My nose was bleeding again. So bad it was dripping on the floor. I don’t know what’s happening to me. Stacy keeps trying to get me to go to the hospital. But I don’t have insurance and I can’t afford that. And I just keep telling myself that it’s just stress or whatever. And, if I’m being honest, I think I’m afraid to find out it’s not.

  “Well, you’ve not had anything like that happen, right?” Xander asked her.

  “No,” Syd shook her head. “Do you think meeting him is still a good idea?”

  “I don’t know what else we can do. He’s still our best lead.”

  “OK.” Sydney found a contact link at the bottom of the page. She sent him a short message.

  To: Pandaren87@mail.com

  From: sydneyinfinity@mail.com

  I think we should meet. I’ve been going through weird stuff too. And I had the same dream you did. The same night you did.

  She didn’t leave her name or a number. The less information she gave the better. They could probably track her anyway, but why make it any easier on them.

  “Alright. Let’s go. You can check your email on my phone.”

  “Should we take phones? What if someone tries to track us?”

  “My phone is in a fake name.” Sydney stared at him. “What? It’s my ‘business’ phone if you know what I mean.”

  She shook her head. “Fine. Let’s go.”

  Xander

  As they drove away from the garage, Xander scowled. He shouldn’t have gotten so mad at Sydney. But, the idea of her running scared the shit out of him. And any time he got close to her it was hard to control himself. When he was leaning over her, pressing her against the garage door he saw her eyes go wide—not in fright—not really. She wasn’t afraid of him, and that was hot. He loved that he didn’t have to pretend to be something he wasn’t. She was excited by him—not an idea of him. Seeing how much she wanted him made it really, really hard to back away.

  Given the circumstances, some people would be appalled that either of them were able to joke and flirt, but it made everything easier to handle. They both resorted to humor when things got too intense. It helped soften the harsh reality of their current situation. He shouldn’t be excited to be on the run with Sydney, but if he was honest with himself he was. And he was glad that she was leaning on him, it was an unusual feeling, being needed by her. And he liked it. But he knew she wouldn’t like it so he concentrated on playing it cool and trying to not be obvious.

  He went over everything she had told him and it spun his brain so much he felt dizzy. Logically, he should probably drive her right to the loony bin and drop her off. But, and damn if he knew why, he believed her. It was all crazy but had enough ring of plausibility to it and he found her story convincing. Maybe, in the end, he would realize she was only a little crazy and had managed to twist whatever had really happened into this crazy story, but if that happened he would deal
with it.

  His rational brain told him that anyway. Soap-opera style amnesia wasn’t supposed to be real. Men in black suits weren’t supposed to be real. But something weird was definitely going on. And it was easier to believe that it was something...supernatural...than just some kind of mental illness. It shouldn’t be easier, but it was. Because if Sydney was crazy he was even crazier for believing her. And he had met more than a few crazy people in his day, and Syd didn’t strike him as crazy. Just scared and troubled.

  On top of his worry, he was angry. Once he admitted he believed Sydney, he had to accept that someone had done some really shitty stuff to her. He ground his teeth and felt like punching something. He glanced at her and she was worrying at the skin on her lip. She did that whenever she was nervous but he knew he couldn’t do anything to make her feel better, other than what he was already doing.

  Shay had asked so many questions when he called her and he hated that he had to lie to her. His sister had assumed it was because he was playing coy about what was going on between him and Sydney, she hadn’t guessed it was something very different. That was the one thing that worried him the most—would their leaving protect Shay? Or was she in danger regardless of what they did.

  A part of him wondered if he should hold that against Syd, but another glance at her and he knew he couldn’t. She didn’t ask for this. It wasn’t her fault. She was lucky she had found him and Shay, anyone else could have freaked out and called the police or at the very least let her deal with everything on her own. But that wasn’t how he and Shay worked. If it wasn’t for Shay and her family, there was no telling where Xander would have ended up. He knew what it was like to be alone and need help. He had been lucky to have a family there to provide it and sometimes the family you choose—or that chooses you—is better than the real thing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  On the road, Sydney couldn’t help but wonder if they would end up breaking down when Xander’s truck finally gave out. “Uh, is this truck good to make a road trip?”

  “Excuse me?” he scoffed.

  “Well…”

  “This truck is indestructible. Besides, if something happens I can fix it. My toolbox is in the back.”

  “What about your business?” she wondered out loud.

  “Which one?” he grinned.

  Rolling her eyes she tried not to smile back. She didn’t think they should be in a good mood and laughing felt wrong. “Your tow truck business. And the garage.”

  “The nice thing about running your own business and making your own schedule is you can take time off when you want.”

  “OK. I just wondered. And thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “Everything.”

  Xander glanced at her as they stopped at a light. “I’m glad I can help.”

  The seriousness of his look and words caused tingles to spread through her stomach. “Let’s head towards Indianapolis. Lay low there until we know where we are going.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  They were on the road for less than an hour when Sydney decided to check her email. Xander fished his phone out of his pocket and handed it over. It was warm from his body heat and she smiled a little as she ran her thumb over the phone to unlock it. After logging into her email she raised her brow is surprise. “He emailed back.”

  “Already.”

  “Yep.”

  “What did he say?”

  Sydney read the email out loud. “This better not be a joke. I’m serious. This shit is weird and I’m hoping to talk to someone who is going through the same thing. I don’t have time to deal with pranks.”

  “Write him back.”

  “I’m going to. Just give me a second.” Sydney tapped reply and began typing.

  This isn’t a joke. In the dream the scenery just kept repeating. Like a funhouse mirror. And my nosebleeds have been bad too. I haven’t been sleepwalking, but I’ve had memory issues. I need to talk to you. Something bad happened. You should stop posting about what is going on. I’ve been watched.

  Syd read Xander her message. “Do you think that is enough details for him to believe me?”

  “Who knows?”

  “Do you think it was a bad idea to tell him to stop posting and that I’ve been watched? Does it make me sound like a paranoid nut job?”

  “Yes,” he laughed. “But I don’t think that will necessarily be a deterrent.”

  “Good point.”

  When Syd logged into her email the phone left her signed in. So less than ten minutes later, when the phone pinged, she realized Pandaren87 had replied already. “That was fast.”

  “What’s he say?”

  “It’s just an address.”

  “Where?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  Xander whooped with laughter. “Vegas baby!”

  Shit. Sydney shook her head and chuckled, this was going to be a long road trip.

  After changing directions, they headed towards Nevada. “How long will it take us to get there?” Xander asked as Sydney programed the GPS.

  “About thirty hours, give or take,” she groaned.

  “Damn. Well, I guess we better get comfortable.”

  “Right.”

  “So…”

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess Sydney Lake isn’t your real name?”

  “No,” she answered, wondering where he was heading.

  “How did you come up with that name?”

  “Well, Lake because I woke up next to a lake,” she laughed.

  Xander chuckled. “That makes sense. What about the Sydney part?”

  Syd sighed. “It’s the name of a road.”

  “What road.”

  “This place I stayed at for a while.”

  “The missing month?”

  “Yeah.”

  The reason Sydney finally caved and decided to tell Xander the rest of the story was because he didn’t push. She leaned back and propped her feet on the dash. He deserved to know the whole story and she let it tells itself, surprised by how cathartic if felt when she expected to feel more shame and guilt.

  ***

  After hoofing it from the farm, Sydney made her way towards town. She figured town was the way she came in last night since the farmer would have stopped at the first gas station to fill up his tractor and she hoped she was right and one gas station would lead to another. Focusing on eating the stolen food slowly gave her the added bonus of helping keep her mind off the pain in her nose and her feet. Not only were the cuts and bruises from running barefoot stinging and throbbing, but the too big boots were wearing blisters on the back of her heels.

  It was all she could do not to limp by the time she got back to the gas station. Surprisingly, at this hour, it was already open and had customers. A pickup truck sat at one of the pumps and Sydney kept her head low, she could still feel the stares of the two men in the cab as she passed. She had made it less than a quarter mile past the station when she heard a vehicle approaching from behind. She eased closer to the shoulder and kept walking. When the truck stopped next to her she cringed.

  “Hola!” a voice called.

  Sydney glanced up at the man speaking to her. He was in the passenger side and nodded politely at her. “You need a ride?” he asked in heavily accented English.

  “Uh,” she muttered. She knew he could see the bruises on her face even though she tried to keep her head down.

  “You heading towards town?”

  “Yeah,” she answered, not knowing what else to say.

  “Hop in,” he opened the door and slid out.

  Sydney glanced up, getting a better look at the man. He looked to be in his fifties and had kind eyes, he looked like a grandfather. She wasn’t sure why she agreed but, she finally muttered a thanks and shuffled to the truck. He gave her a hand and shut the door once she was in. Defying his age, he hoisted himself into the truck bed to give her a seat inside. Sydney glanced at the driver, but he didn’t even turn in her direct
ion. He just put the truck into gear and continued on. Less than thirty minutes later he pulled into the parking lot of a farm supply and equipment store where workers were waiting to be picked up for the day.

  Sydney opened the door and climbed out. The driver made his way towards the group of waiting men without a backwards glance but the man who had spoken with her hesitated. He dug into his pocket and held something out to her. Hesitantly, she took the object and realized what it was. It was a small folding knife. “Oh! I can’t take this.”

  “Sure you can,” the man said gently. “For whoever did that,” he nodded at her face.

  “Oh.”

  “Be careful,” he nodded and turned to the store, not giving her a chance to argue.

  Gratitude and amazement at the kindness caused her stomach to clench. When she examined the knife she found a fifty dollar bill folded inside next to the blade. A single tear slid down her cheek and she let out a heavy breath.

  Her feet hurt worse than before when she started walking again. She considered sneaking inside a store to buy some shoes that fit better, but hesitated. Sydney still hoped to avoid notice as much as possible, and right now her face would attract a lot of attention. Instead, she found a fast food restaurant busy enough with morning rush that no one would pay much attention to her and went inside. She bought more food and took it outside. Finding a small spot of grass near a smelly dumpster and she sat down. The few minutes she had been inside people had already begun staring at her. Including the young cashier whose eyes widened as she looked up to take Sydney’s order.

  After eating she finally broke down and bought a pair of shoes, large sunglasses and a pack of socks at a store that had a self-checkout. She left the boots near a trash can, sending a silent apology to the farmer she had stolen them from. Then she walked.