It would be okay, she told herself. Once she got to her brother’s house, she could think of a plan that would get her out from under Julian’s thumb and hopefully keep her out of jail. If only she was the calculating type, like Julian.
But the closer she came to Victory Hollow, the more nervous she became. So the more she drank, telling herself just this last sip to take the edge off.
Reaching up, she switched her stereo from CD to radio and switched through a few stations before landing on a friendly voice.
“Maybe you’re burning the midnight oil or trying to stay awake on a long trip,” the enthusiastic radio show host said, “Whatever your reasons, thanks for tuning into Southern Comfort. I’m your host, Sadie and here’s a little song to get your blood pumping again. And, as always, stay tuned for the call in hour.”
An upbeat song began to play, so Cameron turned it up. She’d heard it a few times before, usually in a nightclub. And nightclubs reminded her of Julian, so she reached for the flask yet again.
Before long, the double yellow lines ahead looked like four lines, blurring together. Sitting up straight in her seat, she tried to focus on her lane.
“Just stay between the yellow lines,” she instructed herself, “And it’ll be fine.”
In the darkness, she didn’t see the deer in the road until she was right in front of it. Slamming on her breaks, she yanked the wheel. The car swerved and veered off the road, hurling itself straight into the town’s welcome sign. Her head slammed against the steering wheel and the air bag puffed out, smacking her in the face. The sign landed across the windshield, creating a large chasm in the glass. Through her blurry and hazy vision, fading around the edges, she read the words “Welcome to Victory Hollow.”
Chapter Two
Fresh off a shift, Sam Baker hadn’t even had a chance to shed his police uniform when he got the phone call about a car accident. He was tempted to stay home, but if some drunken idiot had crashed into the town’s welcome sign, he wanted to see it.
Pulling his cruiser up to the scene of the accident, he saw the town sign was completely broken off its legs, with the widest part of the sign covering the windshield of a wrecked sedan. A few other squad cars lit up the night with their flashing red and blue lights. Behind the car, an ambulance was parked with its back doors wide open. Sitting at the back, he could make out a slim girl being checked on by a paramedic.
Walking up to his commanding officer Sam said, “Quite the mess here.”
“I’ll say.” Jim, an older man with graying hair who’d worked on the force with Sam’s dad, turned from the car holding up a sparkly purple flask. “This looks like the culprit.”
“Fashionable,” Sam said, taking the flask from Jim. “Whatever happened to kids drinking soda?”
“Parents bitched about it,” Jim said with a smirk.
Sam chuckled. “So no one else was involved?”
“Just a deer.” Jim turned toward the ambulance. “The girl won’t give us her name. Maybe you can turn on that Baker smile and charm it out of her.”
“I’ll give it a try.” Sam headed over to the ambulance, taking the flask with him.
As Sam approached, he recognized the girl even though she held an ice-pack up, covering half of her face. She’d grown a few inches and thinned down a lot, but it was definitely his little sister.
“Cameron?” Sam asked, tilting his head to get a better look.
“Hi, Sam,” she said quietly, still holding the ice-pack to her left eye. “Sorry about…” looking around the accident site, her cheeks flushed. “Um…all of that.”
He looked back toward the accident, and suddenly it didn’t seem so humorous. Now he realized if that metal sign had broken through the windshield, it could’ve taken off her head. “That’s your car?” he asked, still a little blown away by seeing her again.
Biting her lip, she nodded once.
“And this?” He held up the purple flask.
“Actually, a friend left that in my car weeks ago. You should see the thing—it’s a disaster. Even before the damage to the front end.”
“I noticed some empty bottles in the backseat, too.”
“Now, those…I were drinking…” her cheeks flushed as she rambled, “I mean was drinking. Last night when I slept in my car. I mean, I just pulled over for a few hours, but it was boring, so I...”
She seemed flustered and shaken up from the accident, and it made him feel bad for her. Stepping up, he took a seat next to her at the back of the ambulance and nodded at the paramedic, signaling for a moment alone. After the man left, Sam turned his attention to his sister. “So, where were you headed?”
***
It was the million dollar question, one that really had no answer. Because the truth was, she wasn’t heading anywhere, but running away. If she hadn’t been running so fast, maybe she wouldn’t have crashed her stupid car and caused this impromptu meeting. So much for a graceful entrance.
And yet, here was the brother she hadn’t seen in years, just another officer reporting to the scene. He seemed younger than she’d imagined. His short brown hair and caring expression made her think of the framed pictures of her parents in Anne’s living room. He looked a lot like their dad. Though his size was intimidating—he stood a good six-feet tall and had arms the size of Mr. Clean’s—he seemed friendly and concerned, which was a welcome relief compared to the other officer’s stern and disappointed expressions.
Suddenly, the story she’d cooked up on her way to town seemed ridiculous and full of holes, and it occurred to her he might see right through it. So she decided to go with something a little simpler.
“To see you,” she said. “See, I have the summer off and everything, so I thought maybe we could spend it together. Get to know each other a little, you know? I mean, I guess I probably should’ve called first…” Looking over to her car, parked in the town’s welcome sign, she blushed again. “I guess I didn’t think it all the way through.”
He looked surprised. “You were coming to see us?”
She nodded and broke into a small smile. “Surprise.”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Well, it is good to see you.”
The officer with the grey hair came over, holding up a notepad. “So, did you get a name, Sam?”
Once again, her heart filled with fear and her body tensed. If they ran her name through their computer systems, they might come across Machado’s case against her.
“Yeah,” Sam said, looking up at his superior officer. “Cameron Baker.”
She bit her lip, knowing it was only a matter of time now, before someone found her.
Jim was halfway through writing it down before he recognized the last name, and looked over at them underneath his bushy white eyebrows. “As in…”
Sam nodded. “My baby sister.”
“Younger sister,” Cameron corrected stubbornly, prompting a light chuckle from Sam again.
“Aw, hell.” Jim dropped the notepad to his side and looked over his shoulder at Cameron’s wrecked car. “I can’t arrest Billy’s lil girl. If he was alive, he’d shoot me. God rest his soul.” Turning to Cameron and Sam, he waved his hands as if to shoo them away. “Go on, get out of here. Sam, just call your mechanic and get him to tow the car tonight, okay? And you, missy,” he added as Cameron stood up. “Try to stay on the road from now on, okay?”
“Yes sir,” Cameron said, and then quickly ducked away. Motioning to her car, she said, “I’m just gonna grab my bag…”
“Sure.” Sam waited by the edge of the road while Cameron ran down to the car.
Leaning in the open door, she grabbed her bag and searched for her phone. She groped around the seat and floorboard, but couldn’t find it. Finally, she gave up and headed back toward Sam.
“Is that all you brought?” he asked, eyeing the blue duffel bag.
“I travel light,” she explained, following him to his cruiser. “Never saw the point in keeping useless junk around.”
“Are you hurt?” he asked. “From the accident, I mean.”
“No. I’m fine. I’m kind of pissed the airbag messed up my face so bad,” she said, stopping to take a look in the glass of his passenger door. Though it was dark, she noticed the first signs of swelling like an expert. At least it gave her a good excuse for the black eye she’d already had. “That’s a drag.”
“You’re lucky it wasn’t worse,” he said, pulling open her door.
“I guess you’re right.” She sat down in the car, putting the bag in her floorboard as he shut the door.
He walked around the front of the car and got in on the driver’s side. “By the way,” he said as he started the engine. “It’s great to see you again.”
This prompted a small smile. “I’m sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”
“I’d love to yell at you for drinking and driving,” he said as he pulled back onto the road and headed toward their house. “But seeing as it’s your first night in town, it just doesn’t feel right.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It won’t happen again.”
“At least you’re okay.”
Not knowing what to say next, she let an awkward silence settle over the car. A little while later, Sam pulled up in front of a small country house, surrounded by at least an acre of land. The house was cute, painted yellow with dark green shudders. It had two stories and picture windows facing the front. A pathway of stones led up to a large warp around deck.
At the top of the driveway sat a large garage. A wooden staircase trailed up the side of the garage to another porch, outside of what looked to be an apartment added on to the building.
“That’s where Chad lives now,” Sam explained, following her line of sight. “Moved out there when he was, well just a year younger than you I guess.”
“That’s cool,” she said. At least it had a private entrance. The only private entrance she’d had at Anne’s house had been the window above her bed, which she came to rely on many nights.
She didn’t expect it to hit her like this, but seeing the house made her instantly think of her parents. She pictured them picking it out, all giddy and young. Or maybe they’d already had Sam by the time they bought it, she had no idea. What she had plenty of, though, were questions.
“Ready to go in?” Sam asked.
Cameron realized she hadn’t even moved yet, she’d just been staring up at that house. “Sure.”
She grabbed the bag and slid out of the car, shutting the door behind her. She let Sam lead the way, up the steps to a door on the side of the house. It opened to the kitchen.
As they walked in, she saw a guy who looked like a younger, thinner version of Sam sitting at the table in front of a pizza. He was in the middle of swallowing when she walked in, and he nearly choked.
“Cameron,” he said, coughing a little.
“Hey Chad,” she said, nervously switching the bag to her other hand. “Long time no see.”
“Too long.” Standing from the table, he pulled her into a big bear hug, squeezing her tight. It lifted her all the way off her feet. Sitting her back of the floor he stepped back a little, noticing the black eye and the scrape across her nose for the first time. “What happened to you?”
The concern in his eyes, the flares of anger she saw sparking up, stunned her for a second.
“She got into a car accident on her way into town,” Sam explained. “Luckily the only one hurt was her car.”
“A car accident?” he repeated. “That blows. What happened?”
“There was a deer in the road,” she explained. “I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it one piece,” Chad said, looking back down at her. “It’s been what, two years? You look so grown up.”
Finally able to speak, Cameron chuckled and said, “Right back atchya.”
“What brings you to town in the first place?” he asked.
“She’s staying with us for the summer,” Sam said.
“Really?”
Sam nodded. “And I’m glad you’re still up. Now you can go tow your sister’s car.”
Puzzled, Cameron looked up at Sam. “He’s your mechanic?”
“One of them,” Sam said.
“I know, I know,” Chad said with a humorous groan. “I’ll never be as great as the masterful Shane Harper, but I’ll try to measure up.”
“Keep tryin’ little bro,” Sam teased.
Chad grabbed his keys from a rack beside the door. “So where’s the car?”
Cameron chuckled a little.
“You know where the welcome sign is?” Sam asked.
Chad nodded.
“Just go there. It’s a green cavalier—you can’t miss it.”
“Got it. See ya later, Cam.” Chad walked toward the door, stopping to say. “Grab a piece of that pizza. It’s the best in town.”
“Thanks,” Cameron said as he left. Turning to Sam, she said, “I’m not very hungry, though.”
“I bet you’re tired, especially if you slept in your car last night.”
She nodded, admitting, “I am pretty beat. So where’s the couch?”
He shook his head. “You’re not sleeping on the couch.”
She raised an eyebrow in question and he walked across the room, opening a door off the kitchen. Walking over to the doorway, she peeked inside, surprised to find the pink, frilly room of a little girl.
A Beauty and the Beast poster hung above a twin-bed. Stuffed bunny rabbits were everywhere, sitting on the ruffled pink comforter, on the dresser propped up against the mirror, even on the antique looking rocking chair in the corner.
“Wow,” she said, stepping inside. “What’s with all the bunnies?”
“You don’t remember? You were pretty young, I guess. Mom and Dad got you a stuffed bunny for your first birthday and you loved them ever since. It was kind of like a tradition to get you one every year.”
“So this was my room,” she said, getting a very surreal feeling as she looked around. She’d thought for sure all signs of her prior life—when she’d been living here—were gone forever. “You didn’t change a thing.”
“Why would we?” Sam asked. “It’s yours. Always has been, always will be.”
She gave him a smile of thanks as she set her duffel bag on the bed. “You’ve been so great tonight, considering how I screwed up and everything.”
“What’s family for, if not to help each other out?”
Cameron shrugged. The subject of family was something she knew little about. “Still, I really appreciate it.”
“Any time.” Reaching out, Sam grabbed on to the door knob, ready to pull it shut. “You need anything before I go get some shut-eye?”
She shook her head. “Thanks, I’m good.”
“Sleep tight.” He shut the door, leaving her in the room alone.
As soon as he was gone, Cameron let out a slow breath of relief. All things considered, the reunion had gone smoothly. Nobody was suspicious of her and there was no reason to fear the police back in Baltimore would find her. Pretty good turn in a streak of bad luck, she determined.
Flopping back on her bed, she stretched out, searching for some sign of familiarity. Hoping that her body, if not her mind, would remember this bed, but there were no signs of forgotten memories resurfacing. It was as if the little girl who’d lived here was a complete stranger.
***
The second Chad pulled up to the welcome sign, he started laughing. Cameron’s car had plowed right through it, making the biggest part of the sign fall across her windshield.
Holding his side to fend off pain from a roaring laugh, he thought it was a hell of a way to welcome someone to town. Straightening himself up, he pulled the tow truck up to the back of her car and got out to hook it all up.
Opening the door, he slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key on, moving the gearstick down into neutral. Then he heard the annoying sound of a ringtone, the constant noise announcing
what must’ve been a phone call.
Thinking she’d lost her phone in the accident, he dug around, trying to find it. He finally touched something under the passenger seat, and pulled out the phone just as the ring ended and the screen switched to a display of six missed calls.
Standing out of the car, he started to put the phone in his pocket. But it rang again. He knew he couldn’t listen to that sound the whole time he was taking Cameron’s car to the shop, so he went ahead and answered it.
“Hello,” he said into the microphone.
Silence. Just the sounds of someone breathing.
“Hello,” Chad repeated, walking back to the bumper of Cameron’s car to make sure he’d hooked it up to the truck.
“Where’s Cameron?” A male voice finally asked.
“She’s uh…” with a small chuckle, he looked at the welcome sign draped across her car. “Not here right now, can I take a message?”
There was another pause before the guy demanded, “Who’s this?”
Chad didn’t like the guy’s tone, so he said, “Her brother. Who’s this?”
But the line went dead with no answer. With a shrug, Chad turned the phone off and stuck it in his pocket. After he pushed the sign off the hood of her car, he got back in his truck and drove away.
***
In the dark, trees formed terrifying shadows from every direction, transforming the forest into a land of terror. Cameron ran through the woods, the branches tearing at her skin and leaving tiny red slices all over her legs, arms and her bare feet. Tossing a frantic glance behind her, she kept running straight ahead. It wasn’t the shadows that frightened her, but what she’d left behind in them.
Her foot caught in a root, tossing her forward. Another branch caught her side, leaving a long scratch down her torso and tearing the thin fabric of her halter along the way. Shooting her hands out, she managed to catch herself before her face could slam straight into the ground, but she messed up one of her wrists. Without taking the time to check for more injuries, she jumped up and kept running. But she smashed into something hard and warm and she tumbled back, falling again.
Another Life: Another Life Series #1 Page 2
