Page 5 of Run to Ground
For her family?Yes.Yes, she could.
Mr. Espina’s words rang in her brain, cementing her resolve. She’d wasted enough time, left her siblings in that hellhole for too long. It was time to do what she had to, no matter how badly it scared her.
She resealed the clasp and zipped the bag with hands that trembled even more than before. Jules was surprised her entire body wasn’t vibrating with nerves. Gathering the precious bag and her purse, Jules stood and hurried for the door as fast as she could without looking like she was rushing to leave the bar with a bagful of money.
Once she was in her elderly Camry with the air conditioner running, the windows up, and the doors locked, she called the number Mr. Espina had texted her.Dennis Lee.Jules knew that if she didn’t contact him immediately, she might talk herself out of it.
As the line rang, Jules tapped a still-shaking finger against the steering wheel.
“This is Dennis.”
The smooth tone took her off guard. Maybe she’d been watching too many movies, but she’d expected a “disappearance expert” to answer the phone with a barked “What?!” or even just a surly grunt. Dennis sounded like a college professor answering calls in his office.
“Hello?”
Jules jumped. “Oh. Sorry. Yes. I…um. I got your number from Mr. Espina. He thought you might be able to help me…plan a trip.” She winced. Her attempt at code made her sound like an idiot.
“Plan a trip?” Apparently, Dennis agreed with her; his words carried more than a hint of amusement. “I’m a travel agent now?”
“Well, I…” She trailed off, flustered. Did he really want her to tell him flat out what she needed? Shouldn’t they be on a secure line or something? Although Jules wasn’t positive what a secure line entailed, she was fairly sure it didn’t involve cell phones in a parking lot at five thirty in the evening. “Could we meet somewhere to talk about this?”
He was silent for a long, long time. As she waited for him to respond, she felt a trickle of sweat follow the line of her spine until it met the waistband of her skirt.
“Let’s take a walk,” he finally said, and her head fell back against the seat in relief. “Are you familiar with Collins Park?”
“Yes.” Glancing at the digital clock, she did some mental math. Taking the rush-hour traffic into account, she’d be able to make it there in about an hour.
“I’ll meet you by the dinosaurs at six.”
“Oh, but…” Her protests fell into empty air. He’d already ended the call. Jules let out a puff of breath and tossed her phone into the passenger’s seat. Reversing out of the parking spot, she set her jaw.
She was going to do this. All her efforts to follow the rules had gotten her nowhere. She’d never get legal custody, and her brothers and sisterneededto get out of that house. If she had to become a kidnapper to make that happen, so be it.
This is it.Jules, former lifelong rule follower, was jumping across the line into felon-hood.
As she flew out of the parking lot, Jules was a bit disappointed that her tires didn’t squeal.
Chapter 3
Present Day
The cop was back.
Jules fumbled with the sugar packets she was refilling as she tried to watch without him noticing. She had to admit that he was gorgeous. In her old life—her other life—she might have flirted with him. Now, she looked at the uniform and all she could see was the prison time it represented. She wanted to hide—almost enough to duck into the walk-in cooler in back and not come out until he was gone. Jules’s fear of the cooler, however—with its heavy, safe-like door and exterior light switch and horribly claustrophobic feel—was just slightly greater than her fear of facing the hot police officer.
“Seriously?” Megan muttered, making Jules jump and scatter sugar packets across the counter. “He’s here again? Why can’t he just keep his cranky ass at home and stop ruining everyone else’s day?”
Her laugh came out as more of a gasp, drawing a sharp look from Megan.
“You all right? Don’t you let him bother you, okay? He’s surly to everyone, so it’s nothing you did. He didn’t used to be this bad, at least not until… Well, let’s not talk about that. Want to do rock-paper-scissors to see who has to take table four?”
Jules’s laugh came easier that time. She was relieved that Megan thought Jules’s nerves were because of Theo’s crabbiness, rather than the fact that he was a cop. The last thing she needed was for Megan to be suspicious of her too. “Sure.”
Under the cover of the counter, they held their fists out and chanted quietly, “One, two, three!”
Jules sighed at her smothered rock. “Shoot. Well, thanks for the offer.”
“If I were a nice person, I’d take the pissy cop’s table anyway.” When Jules looked at her hopefully, Megan smirked. “I said ‘if.’ I’m truly not a nice person.”
