Page 41 of Blood Revealed

“He won’t fucking find you, Han. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, Raif.”

Before I find the closet to hide in, I use the first aid kit they keep in the hut to take care of my cuts the best I can and then I clean up the glass from the window hoping that if he doesn’t get to me before dawn, it’ll take the groundskeeper a bit longer to see the broken out window and alert anyone I don’t want alerted. Then I wipe down any blood from my arm and feet and move to the small closet inside the tiny restroom. This is where they keep cleaning products and extra toilet paper. The bottom shelf is the biggest, though I have to fold myself like a shirt to squeeze my body inside, then I arrange the toilet paper in front of me. A pain shoots through my leg, but as long as I feel pain, I’ll be okay. It’s when it goes numb that I have to worry. That means the circulation is cut off.

After a while, there’s a startling crack of a door hitting the wall behind it. It cracks hard enough to shake the little shanty. I bite back a gasp, holding my breath.

Then I hear Goon One. “Cunt ain’t here,” he says, and I wonder if he’s talking to Goon Two or Escalante. “Just a second,” he then says right before the door to the small bathroom slams open. My heart pounds hard enough against my ribs that I’m sure it’s going to give me away. In a worst fear scenario, the door to the closet slams open. Between the slim spaces of stacks of toilet paper, I see his legs. “Just a closet inside the shitter,” he says into the phone. “Shelves. Nowhere to hide.”

“Fuck,” he screams, punching the cleaning products on the shelf above me. Bottles and cans fall to the floor cracking and clanking. But—thank you Jesus—he leaves.

My heart keeps speed-beating for a while after he disappears from the room. Maybe it’s the tight space and lack of fresh air. Maybe it’s an adrenaline crash. Whatever the reason, I pass out.

I don’t know how long I’ve been unconscious when out of the blue my eyes pop open. I shake my head to wake up a little more. There’s another noise coming from inside the hut.

Panic grips me. I feel like I could puke. Like I could pee myself. It could be a worker, but what if it’s a goon or worse, Escalante himself? What if Goon One had been messing with me earlier? Trying to get me to let my guard down? What if the groundskeeper had orders to detain me? What if he has a weapon?

The questions keep coming, faster and faster, until the noise, though slight, stops in front of the door of the restroom and I’m ripped from my thoughts. It pops open. My heart thunders again. I think this night has taken ten years off my life. The door to the closet opens.

“Han?” I hear. Oh god, he’s here. My Blood—myRaif.

“Here,” I whisper. He bends down, shoving the toilet paper out of his way, and using both hands, he pulls me from my hiding spot, throwing his arms around me in the fiercest hug of my life.

“Baby, it’s not safe. We gotta get out. Now.”

I nod but keep silent. He runs me the opposite way from the golf course, moving us toward the beach. It’s still dark, but I can see the hints of daylight in the distance. Our time truly is running out.

Hidden under a dock off one of the piers, he has a two-person kayak. “Where did you get this?” I ask.

“Stole it,” he says as he helps me climb in to keep it from tipping. Then he climbs in front, lifts the paddles, and begins to move us. We keep to the shadows heading for the dark, so going west. As I’m not good with miles, I have no idea how far we paddle before we reach another dock. There’s nothing else around it save for what looks like a large shadowy blob sitting among the tall grass that I assume to be a vehicle. It’s so dark that I can’t make out anything more than a rough shape.

He runs the kayak to ground next to the dock and throws the paddle on the beach. Then after climbing out, he helps me to stand, carrying me up over the stony beach to what turns out to be a van.

I’ve seen this van a thousand times sitting at the compound.

He unlocks it and has me slip inside the back. “We’re alone here, but I need to get us off the coast before we stop for rest.”

That’s the last he speaks to me. As we drive through the blackness, he makes a quick call to probably Hero. “Tell Brin I got her. She’s safe.”

Once we reach a paved road the van’s speed picks up. I can’t sleep. My heart is still racing too fast, even though Raif has me. My mind won’t shut off.

I stifle any sound as I let the tears I refused to show Escalante fall. I’m tired. Body, mind, and soul-deep tired. When the sun begins to rise, the sky appears purple and orange. It’s a gorgeous view.

Eventually, he clicks on a blinker and merges onto a different road. He turns and then turns again, then stops.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“Rest stop,” he answers. “We’re sleeping in the van for now. Don’t want you seen yet.”

“Okay.”

This is the first time I notice the rolls in the corner. The white van has no back windows. He pushes from the front seat to climb in back with me. Though strangely, he doesn’t hug me again or even speak. I figure he must be tired from driving all that time. Raif sets to work rolling out the sleeping bags. They have pillows stowed at the very center of the roll.

Then he drops his cut over a seat, pulls off his boots, climbs under one of the covers, rolls over away from me, and goes to sleep.

What the hell is going on? Is he mad?

I lie there watching him breathe and realize he’s trying to sleep, but he’s worked up, too. That’s when I make the mistake of placing my hand on his arm.

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