The afternoon passed while I stared out the window to the endlessness of the ocean.
Maybe my plan would have to wait until tomorrow.
But I didn’t want to wait.
I listened at the door to see if I could hear Anthony, to see if he was still around. The TV was on, something with loud crashes and bangs, not Hanna’s kind of TV. I sighed and then paced the room for a long time. There was no other way out. I was on the second story as it was, and this room was right on the edge of the cliffs. I would never make it that far down, even if I had something to climb.
Then I heard a door closing, and voices.
With the excuse that I wanted something to drink, I went down to see what was going on. Hanna had returned. She set several fancy bags from various stores on the dining table. Only really nice stores gave you bags with ribbon handles.
“Do you need help?” the bulky man asked Hanna.
“I can manage.” Then she looked over at me and smiled as I walked past into the kitchen. I took a glass from the cabinet and filled it from the tap.
“I’ll just put these things away and then start on dinner,” Hanna said to the two men.
“What’re we having?” her shopping partner asked.
“Pasta, I think. I don’t have time for much else.”
“Alfredo?”
There was a smile in her voice. “Anything for you, James.”
“Nice.”
I heard as she walked away, up the stairs with her bags. A few minutes later, Hanna came back, and we started on dinner. She made Alfredo, as promised.
Alec did not come to the meal.
Once they were done eating, James and Anthony put their plates in the kitchen and then disappeared down the hall.
After helping Hanna clean up, I resolved myself to following through with my plan. The day had been frustrating, but everything had actually worked out well. At least that was what I kept telling myself. Alec still wasn’t home, and night was falling—both helpful to my chance of success.
I went up to my room early and listened for Hanna to go to bed and for Ben to take his chair in the hall. By ten o’clock, the house was silent. I cracked the door just enough to see that Ben was asleep in the chair, and the house was dark. The only light came from the moon and the security lights outside.
And Alec still wasn’t home. I’d listened carefully to make sure of it. This was my opportunity. I had to go now.
With my hooded sweatshirt on and zipped, the wire cutters tucked under my shirt, and my wallet in my back pocket, I slipped out the door and down the hall. Ben remained slouched in his chair with his eyes closed and head tilted back.
I skipped the creaky second step and was out the front door a few seconds later. I glanced around to make sure no one was in sight and then bolted across the lawn and through the garden. Once in the trees, I pulled up my hood to help make sure my fair skin didn’t give me away in the darkness.
I moved as quickly as I could without making sound. The ground was still soft with moisture from the rain. No twigs snapped, and no trees rustled.
A sound on my left, like a branch brushing against a nylon jacket.
I ducked down behind some brush.
A minute later, a man came into view. He glanced around as he walked.
I lowered my head so that my hood obscured my face, the lightness of my skin. But that also meant I couldn’t see him anymore. I listened to his quiet footsteps, not completely sure which sounds were his steps and which were the scamper of nearby animals or birds.
The sound died away, and I chanced looking up.
Nothing.
I waited an extra minute before emerging to make sure he was out of earshot.
Then I ran. The fence should only be about ten yards away.
I came to the fence and found a spot where I could tuck myself into the brush, and I took out the wire cutters. Hopefully, they were strong enough. I positioned them against a piece of the chain link and squeezed the handles with both hands.
Snap.
They worked. I cut several more times, until I made a big enough opening.
I stuffed the wire cutters farther under the bush and covered them with soggy leaves. I glanced around one more time, and then squeezed through the little opening. Once I made it through, I pushed the fence back into place so it was less noticeable it’d been cut.
Then I was running.
Even after I couldn’t pull enough air into my lungs, I kept going. Since I didn’t own a car, I did a lot of walking. I was able to keep a decent pace for a good couple of miles.
I passed a few more houses, beautiful homes, but nothing like Alec’s—no fences or guards, only patio furniture and tree houses. I was careful to stay in the woods, out of sight. The families all stayed asleep, nestled in their beds, and didn’t see the girl running through their property. Sometimes I hated people like this, these perfect, happy families.
The decline became so steep I thought I might end up rolling the rest of the way. At least it was helpful in keeping my pace.
Then I came to the freeway. I had to cross it.
I jumped the ditch at the side of the road and then climbed over the guard rail. Cars and semi-trucks zoomed by and whipped the cool night air at me. My timing would have to be just right. There was no grass median in this stretch of the road, only a cement barrier, not much space for me to dally and wait for the other lanes to be clear. It took a couple minutes to find an opportunity.
I hurtled across the three southbound lanes, and then paused to climb the median.
A blaring horn of a passing truck made me jump and almost lose my footing. I looked to the right to make sure I could get across without being squashed by oncoming traffic. Then I lunged forward, across the road, and down the hill on the other side.
I allowed myself a few seconds to catch my breath and try to force my heart back into my chest cavity. You’ve made it this far, Adriane. You can do this. Then I looked up into the hills behind me.
A part of me wanted to go back.
He made me feel safe. I hadn’t felt that in so long, always afraid of walking home alone through some not-great areas, of being alone in my house. I was always scaring myself with thoughts of someone breaking in to attack me. My father had always told me I had an overactive imagination. Well, maybe not so overactive. If Alec hadn’t taken me when he had, a home invasion was likely exactly what would’ve happened.
With clenched teeth, I turned away, toward my destination. I didn’t need anyone to save me, and fear wasn’t real. I’d been on my own since I was eighteen, five years now. I didn’t need help—and I certainly would not stand for being babysat.
I stood up off the grass and weeds and continued forward. The bus station was still several miles away. I wanted to be on a bus before dawn. A bus to anywhere. It didn’t matter. Then I would find a new job and beat down a new familiar path. Life would be simple again.
Surely, once Councilman Dean realized I was gone, no longer a threat, he would forget about me and move on. And Alec wouldn’t have to protect me anymore. He would be safe.
***Alec***
Alec approached the gate, and instead of it opening like it always did, it remained closed. He stopped the car, ready to fire whomever was manning the gate.
Manuel stepped out and leaned down at Alec’s window. Zoe stayed in the guard booth.
Alec rolled the window down and looked over.
Manuel hesitated, and Alec tried to relax his expression.
“I’m sorry, sir, but Miss Graham is gone.”
Alec’s jaw tightened, and his hand gripped the steering wheel. “Gone where?”
“We don’t know, sir. She didn’t get by the gate. She must’ve found another way.” He paused. “Hanna checked on her, and she wasn’t in her room. Vincent and Ben searched the house. Vincent ordered everyone else to sweep the grounds.”
“Why didn’t someone call me?”
“Vincent said she was probably just out for a walk or something. He called down just a second ago to tell us she wasn’t on the grounds.”
“How in the fuck did she make it off the grounds without anyone knowing?”
“I…I don’t know, sir.”
Alec turned toward the windshield and tried to keep calm.
Several of his men were walking toward his car, out of the darkness, from various directions.
He left his car running and stood, and he noticed Manuel making a call, likely to Vincent. The men collected in front of Alec. He waited for someone to talk, to explain.
Finally, one of them spoke up. “She couldn’t have made it over the fence, and we’ve checked the woods—she’s not on the grounds.”
Alec’s voice was low. “She must be somewhere.”
Someone else said, “She couldn’t have made it out by water. The waves are nasty tonight.”
Alec’s voice rose. “Figure it the fuck out.”
The men glanced around at each other. “We can search the grounds again, sir.”
“Are you saying you did an inadequate job in the first place?
“No, sir.”
“Then that would be a waste of fucking time, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, sir.”
Zoe stepped out of the guard house. “I told Vincent I found her in the woods before.”
Alec didn’t turn to her. “I’m aware. She’s welcome to go where she pleases.”
“I think she was scouting the area.”
Alec’s jaw clenched. He still didn’t turn. “Take my car. Check anywhere you think she might’ve gone.”
She walked around the car. “Yes, sir.”
He stepped out of her way and finally looked at her. “Do nothing other than find her. Then call me.”
She nodded, and then took the driver’s seat, and backed down the drive.
Alec faced his group of men. “Someone get me a car.”
One of the men turned and ran up the drive.
He looked at Manuel. “Tell Vincent to get Anthony, Charlie, and James to search the city.”
“Yes, sir.”
A few seconds later, his SUV barreled down the drive and stopped in front of him.
***Adriane***
Most of the city was asleep as I passed through the neighborhoods, but as I moved closer to the downtown area where the bus station was, rowdy voices began to crowd the streets like fleas on an alley cat. I kept moving and looked at no one. I wished I’d brought the wire cutters with me; they could’ve served as a weapon. The only self-defense I knew was from a seminar for women I took once, which basically boiled it down to: poke them in the eyes, punch them in the nose, and kick them in the groin. Right now I wished I’d spent my childhood training in that rather than ballet. I was terrified I would go to hit someone and nothing would happen. I had nightmares about it, being powerless to struggle, to fight.
Thankfully, a police cruiser was sitting at the curb outside the station. Its presence seemed to keep the area a little more quiet. Then I thought about Councilman Dean. As a city official, could he have any influence on the police? There might even be a missing person’s report out on me, an excuse for the police to pick me up.
As I passed the cruiser, I turned my head slightly and used my hood to conceal my face.
I walked into the station and up to the counter lit by bare, fluorescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The place smelled like urine partially camouflaged by bleach.
The woman behind the thick glass looked up. “Where to?” Her voice sounded like a saw blade cutting through a pipe, and her hair was plastered into place, like a TV anchorwoman’s.
“When’s the next bus?” I asked.
“To where?”
“Anywhere.”
She looked at her computer screen. “Got one headed to Spokane in ten minutes.”
“How much for a one-way ticket?”
She told me the price. Then I went over to the ATM in the corner, took out four hundred dollars, everything in my checking account, and went back up to the counter. Eventually, I would have to figure a way to access my savings.
I slipped some cash under the glass. “One-way to Spokane, please.”
She gave me my change and a ticket, and I turned to find someplace to sit. The place was one big, open room with glass that looked out onto the covered area where the buses pulled up. I found a bench on the side of the room farthest from the door to the street and sat where a group of people partially obscured me from view. I kept my head down and tried to hear everything in the room. I started to worry that having my hood up might make me look conspicuous, rather than hide me. But then I looked around and saw a couple of men were also hooded. At least I fit in, just another person trying to be invisible, though I’d wager I was more skilled at it than most.
As I turned back toward the glass doors, away from the rest of the room, someone walked into the station through the door that came from the street.
Zoe.
Crap. It had to be her. If it was one of the men, I could’ve hidden in the ladies room.
I was pretty sure she hadn’t seen me, not yet. I listened for her footsteps while trying to figure what to do. The bus should be here any minute. Maybe I could just casually walk out to the platform and find a place out of sight. My natural tendency was to sit still and try to be invisible, but that wouldn’t work this time. People were actively looking for me, not my normal circumstance. I had to change my behavior accordingly.
Zoe’s footsteps, it sounded, stopped by the thick window shielding the clerk. She was likely waiting to talk to the clerk and faced away from me.
I stood and headed for the glass doors that led to the platform. As they slid open, they squealed, a long, whining sound.
I kept moving and didn’t look back. No buses were in view. I glanced around to see if I could find someplace to slip out of sight. Nothing. Not even the columns that held up the roof were wide enough, only metal poles painted a dingy yellow. I walked toward the edge of the building. Maybe I could just stand around the corner.
The doors behind me squealed open. “Miss Graham.”
I ran.
Her feet pounded behind me.
My steps moved faster, but I knew her strides were longer. It would be a battle between size and speed.
I burst through a group of young men.
“Hey, baby,” one of them called.
I glanced back and saw as one of them stepped into Zoe’s path. She punched him in the face and pushed him away.
I kept running, with no idea where I was going. I barely knew the area well enough to find the bus station. I turned the corner. The street was a galley of closed doors and barred windows. Not even any alleys. I ran anyway.
“Hey!” she yelled.
She was close.
I pushed myself to move faster. But I was already exhausted from my stint through the woods and my lack of sleep.
The sun was starting to peek over the buildings. I hoped it would stay away for just a little while longer. Maybe I could find a dark alley or…
A hand on my arm.
I ripped away.
She grabbed my wrist and yanked me to a stop.