On the Run

by Charlotte Greene

  “With the idea they’d get you out in a couple of years.”

  Annie frowned. “It wasn’t even supposed to take that long. Six months, they promised. They strung me along for a while until I threatened to give them up. Then they finally got their act together and planned the escape.” She paused. “Even then, I knew they were trying to screw me.”

  “And now you think they’re double-crossing you. If you’re caught again, they can string you along for a few more years, pretend it’ll be harder to get you out a second time. Meanwhile, your prison sentence will be even longer for breaking out.”

  “All the while, they’re spending my money.”

  “Some of it’s probably already spent. It’s been years now.”

  Annie nodded.

  “But why wouldn’t you turn them in if you were caught again? That’s the part I don’t get.”

  “They’re probably hoping I’ll think someone else turned me in. One of the other bank managers I worked with, Edward, was fired when I was caught. He had nothing to do with any of it, but the bank blamed him for not catching me before the IRS and the FBI got involved. He’s had it out for me ever since. He testified against me and has sent me nasty letters in prison. I finally had to put him on my no-contact list.”

  “But you don’t think it’s actually him?”

  “How could it be? He didn’t know anything about the breakout. And anyway, he moved to Kansas City a couple of years ago. I mean, I guess it’s possible he’s had some kind of contact in El Paso watching for news about me all this time, but that seems pretty far-fetched, even for him.”

  “Do they know he moved? These two ‘masterminds,’ as you call them?”

  Annie’s eyebrows shot up. “No. I don’t think they do. Not unless they looked into it. I’ve never mentioned it, anyway.”

  Gwen shrugged. “Even if they did, they might have thought you didn’t know.”

  “I wouldn’t have, except Tom told me. He was keeping an eye on him after he harassed me.”

  Gwen pointed a finger at her. “There you go. They’re counting on your not knowing.”

  “Jesus,” Annie said, standing up again. “I’m totally fucked.” She slapped a fist into her palm. “Goddamn it all. They really screwed me.”

  “They’re playing a pretty dangerous game. They have to know you’ll figure it out—unless they’re complete idiots.” She paused, wondering if she should ask. “Why not turn them in? Why not call someone right now and tell them all about it?”

  Annie seemed briefly hopeful and then shook her head. “No. The police would never believe me. Not unless I turned myself in.”

  “They might.”

  Annie lifted one shoulder. “Maybe. But then what? I’d still be screwed. I’d have to live like this the rest of my life.” She gestured vaguely at the terrible room. “I can’t use that fake ID now, and I can’t afford another one. At best I could get a crummy job that doesn’t ask too many questions.”

  “And you’d lose all that money.”

  Annie shook her head. “It was never about the money. Not really. I needed it, but not for myself. It’s too late now, anyway.”

  Her eyes filled up with tears, and without thinking about it, Gwen leapt up off the bed and pulled her into an embrace. She let Annie cry against her for a long moment before drawing back a little, hands on Annie’s shoulders.

  “Fuck them,” she said.

  Annie looked shocked for a second and then laughed. “Easy for you to say.”

  “No, really, fuck them. Double-crossing bastards. I don’t expect anything from criminals, but it sounds like they really screwed you.”

  Annie shook her head, moving away. “I should have known better. Even now, I’m not surprised. I didn’t actually think I could get away with it, not really, even before we moved all that money. I was so desperate.”

  “Why did you do it?”

  Annie eyelashes were still sparkling with tears. “I had to, Gwen. The money was for my sister. She’s mentally ill. She needed home care, and I couldn’t afford it.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “Now she’s in an institution, and I can’t do anything to get her out. They’d never release her to me, now.” She paused, collecting herself. “I was hoping I could…make an anonymous trust for her, or something. Get her out of that hospital and pay someone to take care of her full time. Somewhere nice—somewhere pretty. She always loved the beach when we were kids. I was going to ask Tom to help me, once I got the money. He has power of attorney now. I wouldn’t be able to visit, but I’d know she was taken care of. That would be enough. Even if I went to prison for the rest of my life, it would be enough to know she was safe.”

  “One point five million dollars would certainly help you do that for her.”

  “If it even exists anymore.”

  Gwen’s skepticism must have shown in her face, as Annie turned away from her and cried silently. Gwen was tempted to put her hands on Annie’s shoulders, turn her around, and tell her something comforting—a lie, but enough to get her to stop crying. She let the temptation pass, and soon Annie turned back, her face tear-stained but calm, and excused herself for a shower.

  As she waited, Gwen walked outside to get them some cold drinks from the vending machine. She didn’t drink soda herself, but the idea of something cold on her parched throat was inviting enough to tempt her to break her usual rules. She bought two of the least repugnant off-brand sodas and stood outside their door, thinking. After the turbulent feelings in the motel room, the cool mountain air was refreshing, invigorating. Despite what she’d said earlier, she didn’t entirely agree with Annie. Something was missing, some part of this whole mess she hadn’t quite understood, some angle they were overlooking. She stood there, an idea forming at the edge of her consciousness, but every time she tried to concentrate on it, it slipped farther away.

  She stopped fighting it, knowing it would return with more clarity when she wasn’t exhausted. She took one more deep breath of the thin air and opened the door with her free hand, sodas clutched in the other. As if summoning her, Annie came out of the bathroom at the same time, a towel cinched around her body with one hand, steam roiling behind her like a dreamscape. Gwen froze in place, the door to the room still open.

  “Let’s go to bed,” Annie said, and dropped the towel.

  Chapter Ten

  Pound, pound, pound, pound, pound. “Housekeeping!”

  “Jesus!” Gwen said, sitting bolt upright. The movement caused the blanket to drop onto her lap, and the cool air of the room hit her naked body. She pulled the blanket up to cover her chest.

  “We’re still in here!” she shouted.

  She heard some muttering outside and the sound of the maid’s cart being pushed away. She reached across Annie’s body and pulled the little string for the lamp. Annie blinked, squinting. “What time is it?”

  Gwen glanced around the room, not surprised there was no clock. She’d managed to remove her watch before they finally dropped off to sleep, and she pulled it off the nightstand.

  “It’s nine.”

  Annie stretched, the blanket bunching under her breasts, and Gwen openly stared at them. Annie saw her and, obviously pretending modesty, pulled the blanket back over herself.

  “Perv.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  Annie stuck out her tongue and giggled, and Gwen bent down, kissing her deeply. She pulled away and plopped down on her pillow again. Annie climbed over her, snuggling under her chin. They lay there in the darkened room, quiet for a long while. Entwined, they were a study in contrasts—Annie thin and soft and shockingly pale, while she was toned and firm and golden brown in the dark room. Gwen was relieved they weren’t awkward around each other now. Last night, before drifting off, she’d worried about just that, but Annie seemed to be taking things in stride. They’d been stressed out, tired, and the sex had been a distraction in the best way.

  “Mmm,” Annie said. “That was a nice kiss.”

  �
��Even with morning breath?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Do it again.”

  Gwen obliged, putting a little more heat in this one, and Annie pulled her closer. One of her hands slid along Gwen’s back, and she shuddered with a delicious pleasure. She made herself move away and climb out of the bed, naked and staring down at her. She shook a finger at Annie. “None of that, now. We have places to be.”

  “We do?”

  “Yes. First, we need a car.”

  “No—first, we need more kissing. Then breakfast. Then a car.”

  “In that order?”

  Annie flung the blanket off her entire body, revealing its softness, and Gwen climbed back into bed.

  * * *

  Freshly showered an hour later, they gathered their few belongings and vacated the crappy room, leaving the key in the door. The guy last night might not report them, but Gwen wasn’t sure the person in the office this morning would be so accommodating. They walked away from the motel as quickly as they could and into a fast-food joint one building over. Gwen hadn’t eaten at one of these places in so long, she wasn’t sure she’d find anything she could eat, but the woman behind the counter was friendly and chipper, and didn’t mind her request for an egg-white sandwich with no butter. Annie, as usual, ordered a huge amount: two sandwiches with eggs and cheese and meat, three orders of hash browns, an orange juice, and a Coke. Again, Gwen watched her eat with pleasure, finishing her own food long before Annie despite Annie’s usual voracious speed.

  Annie pushed the ketchup-splattered tray away from herself, sighing. “That’s better.”

  “Worked up quite the appetite.”

  Annie gave her a grin and squeezed her hand. “Yes. We did.” Her face fell, and she stared out the window, frowning.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Annie made eye contact before looking away again. “I just—I don’t usually…”

  “Sleep with women? Could have fooled me.”

  Annie’s eyebrows shot up, and she laughed. “No. That’s not what I was going to say. I meant I don’t usually sleep with strangers.”

  “You play hard to get?”

  Annie shook her head. “No—not that. More like I only sleep with people I’m dating. Seriously dating.”

  Gwen laughed. “So what? Do you feel guilty?”

  Annie was quiet for a few seconds and then shook her head. “No.”

  “Then what difference does it make? I had fun, you had fun, no problem.”

  Annie nodded but still looked grave, serious. “I guess.”

  Gwen leaned toward her. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t usually sleep around, either. Well, not anymore. When I was younger, yes, but not now. We were both…vulnerable, worn out, and you’re sexy as hell, even in that stupid getup I dressed you in. You don’t have to feel bad about it. Okay?”

  Annie stared at her, and some of the tension seemed to leave her face. They sat there quietly for a while, Gwen drinking her terrible coffee, Annie finishing her Coke. The sound of something crashing and breaking in the back of the restaurant startled them, and they grinned at each other.

  Annie glanced around and brought her head closer to Gwen’s. “So tell me how we’re going to get a car. You said we might be able to buy one, cheap. How? Won’t that give us away?”

  A wave of relief swept through Gwen. The last thing she’d wanted to do was talk about last night. She lowered her voice. “Car dealerships like that one down the street usually insure all their cars against theft. That’s money out of their pockets for cars they might not even sell. Most used-car dealerships shift their inventory pretty often to appeal to more buyers, so they’re losing money that way, too, on the car leases.”

  Annie lifted her hands. “Okay. So how does that help us?”

  “If I can talk to the right person over there, he’ll probably let us…borrow a car for a cash fee. In return, he won’t report it stolen for a few days, giving us a little time to get away and ditch it. We tell him where we left it later. He gets some money now, he’ll get the car back later, and everyone’s happy. Even if something happens to the car, he gets the insurance money. Either way, it’s win-win.”

  “Have you done this before?”

  Gwen laughed. “That car I had yesterday—the one I picked you up in—that’s how I got it. Done it tons of times. It only works with little, off-brand places like the one over there, and you have to be careful who you talk to. Not everyone will go for it.”

  Annie frowned. “Seems risky. Isn’t there some other way?”

  Gwen nodded. “We could steal one again. Not from the dealership, but somewhere else. Long-term parking at an airport is usually a good bet. Gives you a little head start most of the time.”

  Annie didn’t look pleased with this suggestion, either. She didn’t say anything for a while, and Gwen excused herself to the restroom to give her time to think. By the time she came back, Annie had cleared their table and gotten them refills on their drinks.

  “Let’s try the dealership,” she said before Gwen sat down again. “Use this.” She handed her the envelope of cash.

  Gwen smiled. “Okay. You’ll wait here?”

  Annie lifted a shoulder. “I guess. If you think that would be better.”

  “Yes. It would.”

  “Okay, but be careful. If it seems fishy, just leave.”

  Gwen turned to leave, but Annie grabbed her hand. “Gwen?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thanks for helping me. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

  Gwen shrugged, more pleased by this remark than she would ever let on.

  “I mean it, Gwen—you saved me. I owe you, big time.”

  Gwen wanted to tell her it had been her pleasure. Even at the beginning, when Annie had been pointing a gun at her, she hadn’t been that upset. She knew Annie didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to force her to do anything. Then, after Gwen had gained the upper hand, she hadn’t really wanted to leave her there in that first motel. She’d wanted to help her. She could admit that much to herself now. She’d pretended—to herself, to Annie—that it had been about the money, but even at the time, she hadn’t believed the money existed. No, she only went along with all this to help her.

  Now, in the bright, late-morning sunshine, with Annie’s freshly clean, nearly white ringlets of hair brushing the side of her pretty face, Gwen was almost ready to simply call this what it was. And after last night…well, she never kidded herself. Less than twenty-four hours with this woman, and she was completely and utterly gone.

  Annie was staring at her, obviously confused, and Gwen managed to give her a weak smile. “Sorry—just thinking. I’ll be back in less than an hour. If you see me running this way, we might have a problem.”

  “Jesus. I hope not.”

  “I’m kidding. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be back even sooner. I doubt they’d call me in.”

  The dealership lot was cramped with old beaters, but she was happy to see only one employee here this time of day on a weekday. He was, she was even more pleased to see, the owner—his face plastered on the poster for the dealership above his desk. She got right to the point, explaining her proposition briefly and clearly. There could be no misunderstanding what she meant.

  The man licked his lips, his eyes darting from side to side. “Are you a cop? You have to tell me if you’re a cop.”

  “I’m not. I am not an authority of any kind. This is not entrapment. I’m simply a person that needs a car.” She could tell he was nervous, so rather than give him a chance to keep thinking, she moved on to the next point. “Do you have cameras on the lot?”

  He nodded. “A few.”

  “Do they cover the whole place?”

  “No. We have a couple of blanks. But that wouldn’t matter anyway. We don’t keep the video more than a couple of days.”

  “Still, it would be safer to choose one of the cars the cameras don’t cover. How often do you do inventory?”

  “Every o
ther day. Did it this morning.”

  “That doesn’t give me a lot of time,” she said.

  This was, she knew, the real test. If he agreed to her proposition, he’d have to forge the inventory lists—say the car had been there when it was already gone.

  He stared at her evenly for a long moment, tapping a pen against his teeth. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. But the best I can do is Monday. My salesman comes back from vacation then. He’s the usual inventory guy, so he’ll see it’s missing right away.”

  Gwen understood. He was willing to take a little risk when it was easy, but he wasn’t about to ask someone else to turn a blind eye. It was Wednesday now, so Monday was generously fair. “Perfect.” She smiled. “Now let’s talk about your fee.”

  She managed to bargain him down to three hundred, a hundred more than she’d paid the last time she’d done this, but she hadn’t been in a hurry that time. This dealer also insisted that she take a much nicer car than the last one she’d borrowed, which she wasn’t happy about. He clearly wanted the extra insurance should the car be lost or irreparably damaged. She preferred older junkers when she could get them—no one noticed them—but she wasn’t in a position to argue. One benefit to this nice sedan, she realized immediately, was blissfully cool air-conditioning that functioned at once. It wasn’t as warm here as it had been in Texas, but it was still a relief to be out of the dry, hot mountain air.

  When she pulled up in the restaurant parking lot, Annie rushed out, clutching an enormous bag of food. Gwen rolled down the window and pointed at it. “What’s that?”

  “Provisions.”

  “You’re going to stink up the whole car.”

  “Sue me,” she said, and climbed inside and glanced around. “Wow. Swank.”

  “Yeah. Not my first choice.”

  Annie ran her hands along the leather seat. “Still—it’s a nice change.”

  Gwen pulled out of the lot and took the ramp to the interstate, heading north again.