Page 28 of Burn Bag

“Emily—”

“You don’t understand!” she shouted. “I can’t live like this. I’m not you. I don’t want to be impulsive and do crazy things. I don’t want to marry a man I just met. All I want is to meet the one for me.”

Tears filled her eyes as she started to hyperventilate. At the sametime, I heard the dreaded sirens outside. It wouldn’t be long before they found me. I had to get out of here.

“Quick, give me the information.”

“What?”

“The information. Where am I going?”

“Going?”

I sighed in frustration. “Who am I marrying? Where am I going?”

“But…why?”

“Because I have a very powerful man on my ass, and if I don’t get out of here, he’s going to have me arrested!”

“But—”

“No buts. Give me your wedding dress and everything I need to know. I’ll take your place at the wedding.”

Her face filled with hope for just a second before it was dashed. “You can’t just take my place. It doesn’t work like that!”

“Nothing works like this!” I shouted. “You were about to marry a man you just met!”

“Right. Right,” she said with a little more conviction. “You’re absolutely right.”

She ran off to her room while I gathered all the kittens with treats. I didn’t have long to get all of them out of here, but I knew I couldn’t leave them behind. It would be a death sentence.

As quickly as possible, I ran to my room and gathered up a bag of clothes. Emily could mail me the rest. I just had to get out of here. Then I ran to my secret stash and gathered all my cash, tucking it into various safe spots in my bag, my shoe, my purse, even my bra. By the time I was ready, Emily had all her wedding things in a pile.

“Okay, now we just need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Wait!” she gasped, snatching my arm. “You can’t leave in your car. They’ll see you!”

“Right.” I had to think of something fast, or this would never work. But just before I suggested calling a cab, she ran over to her purse and grabbed her keys. “Take my car.”

“Are you sure?”

“You’re saving me from a wedding. I think I can safely say you’ve earned this.”

“Thank you,” I beamed, hugging her tight. “I need your help.”

“Let’s get this stuff to the car first. Then we can come back for the animals.”

I nodded in agreement and hurried to the parking lot with her. Luckily, the police weren’t anywhere in sight, so we quickly loaded up, then returned for the animals. By the time I was done, I actually had tears in my eyes. I didn’t want to leave her.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Better than okay,” she beamed. “I never could have gone through with it.”

“Well, here’s hoping he likes crazy women,” I laughed, hugging her one last time before I got in her car and drove off.

I was going on an adventure. I just hoped it didn’t end up with me in jail.

9

---