Page 4 of SEAL's Sky
“Is Kurt coming too?”
The innocent question made Jen’s stomach turn over and saliva pool in her mouth. Only over her dead body. No Kurt would not meet her mother if she had any control over it. Ever.
“Nope, just me. Now I need to go and get ready for the trip. I’m sure you’re busy at the bar. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“I’m so excited to see you, baby girl. Safe travels. I love you to the moon and back,” Pam answered.
“I love you too, Mom. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. At least not yet. See you tomorrow,” Jen said as she hung up while fighting back tears. Telling her mother what an ass she’d been would be hard but seeing the hurt in her eyes would tear her apart.
Jen hadn’t told her mom how Kurt Walker treated her over the last eight months. No one else believed her when she tried to get help. It would have destroyed her if her mom hadn’t either.
The bastard was too good at covering his true nature. Always with a dazzling smile on his face, no one bothered to look close enough to see it never reached his eyes. Why would they? Between his devastatingly handsome good looks and scintillating personality, he was virtually impossible to resist.
Shaking off the fear curdling the coffee she’d had earlier, Jen had to get her ass in gear. She had a lot to accomplish before she could hop the train out of town tomorrow. She’d had a running list she’d kept hidden in her wallet behind her ID card. It was one of the few places she’d known it would be safe.
After weeks of planning, she was ready. All she had to wait for was her opening. She’d gotten it when he’d gotten notification of a large deliver and Kurt had to let them in. That’s when she took her chance.
Grabbing her ‘go bag’ and the plastic zipped bag of money and her journals from the back of the toilet, she snuck out. Convinced he’d catch her at any moment, her heart almost beat out of her chest as she made her way down the stairway. The elevator would have been too risky. When she stepped outside for the first time in three weeks, the overwhelming sense of relief almost brought her to her knees. She’d done it. Or at least step one. Now she had to put distance between them.
Step two was getting on the subway and changing routes two or three times. With each train change, she’d put on a different sweater or top making sure she kept her long blonde hair covered. To be on the safe side, she ended up switching five times before stopping in Queens and checking into the first motel she found.
Three days later she moved to the Voyager Motel. It was cleaner than the first one, but she wouldn’t be sorry to check out in the morning. Every moment since escaping from Kurt’s apartment, Jen relaxed a little more. So far she’d kept under the radar, but it wouldn’t be long before someone recognized her. The asshole reported her missing and even went to the news stations. Not that she should be surprised. Control was the name of his game.
While she’d been reviewing her escape plan, she heard her name on television. She was in denial as she continued to listen to the lying son-of-a-bitch plead for her return. Her throat closed up and she couldn’t breathe as the ramification of what he’d done sank in. She’d barely made it to the bathroom before she puked her entire dinner.
She prayed that the report was only local, at least until she could get home and explain everything to her mother. But now, she’d have to be even more careful.
Tomorrow she’d put more distance between them if everything went according to plan. But first, she needed the supplies to change her appearance. Tucking her hair under a baseball hat and grabbing her coat, made her way outside and into the rain. As she hurried past the crowds on her way to the store, goosebumps popped up all along her skin and her teeth chattered. The cold raindrops slid down her face and neck like icy fingers reminding her of Kurt.
By the time Jen reached the drug store a few blocks away, she was soaked, ice-cold, and second-guessing her decision to go home. Kurt was a lawyer for a big Manhattan firm and had lots of influential friends. He’d made sure to introduce her to most of them, and they either didn’t realize or didn’t care he was a monster. What if he used them to track her down? Would he hurt her mother too?
Still shivering as she stood in line at the checkout with the boxes of hair color and a pair of scissors and some rubber gloves, she just wanted to get back to her room. When she was done with her little beauty project, she doubted anyone would recognize her.
He’d already tracked her down once. That’s what she got for bringing the phone he’d given her. She’d changed motels and bought a bunch of burner phones to switch every few days. So far it had worked, and after tomorrow she wouldn’t have to worry about it, she’d be home and hopefully permanently out of his reach.
Getting out of New York was the only option she could come up with that gave her any chance to be free. Tomorrow was D-day as in disappear day. Jen Turner would no longer exist, and Sky Russell would take her place at least for a while.
* * *
After taking a couple of wrong turns, Jen found the used clothing store the clerk at the drug store told her about. The goal was to change her look and after searching through the clothing racks it wouldn’t be hard. She was more of a classical “book worm” style, but Jen needed to disappear, at least for the short-term.
Finding out she could trade at least some of her clothing made it even better. He’d know she was there if he saw her clothes on the racks, but the odds were in her favor. Picking out a couple of pairs of shredded and faded jeans, t-shirts in assorted colors and snarky sayings, she was almost done. There were two things she still needed, and finally, in the back of the store, she found them. An old navy blue peacoat and high-top sneakers. Jen wasn’t thrilled about wearing someone else’s shoes, but they were in excellent condition and keeping her fancy boots would be a dead giveaway.
The clerk happily took her designer clothing, courtesy of the asshat—especially the leather boots—and she only owed ten dollars for everything. Knowing how much the boots cost, she probably should have gotten all of her selections for free, but she didn’t really care.
It was transformation time. In the dressing room, Jen took off the clothing from her life with Kurt. It was a metamorphosis like a caterpillar to a butterfly and considering her new hair color it fit. She carefully folded her clothes to turn over to the cashier, and she pulled on the snarkiest t-shirt from the ones she’d picked out and couldn’t help smiling. The torn jeans fit like a glove. They were two sizes smaller than the last pair she’d bought before Kurt. She’d lost so much weight most of her curves were gone.
Dragging off the boots and slipping on the Chucks she was almost ready. Pulling off the baseball hat, she shook out her hair. After her beauty night, her hair was a lot shorter, only about shoulder length instead of almost to her ass. But the biggest change was the color which was now a combination of blue and pink. If that didn’t throw Kurt off, nothing would.
As she approached the front counter to hand over the rest of her clothing to the clerk, she did a double-take.
“If I hadn’t seen you buy that stuff, I’d never know it was you. You going to some kind of party or something?”
Jen smiled to herself. It was the reaction she’d hoped for. “Yeah, something like that. Thanks for your help.”
“Come back anytime.”
“I will,” Jen said as she stepped through the door. It was one more white lie to add to her list. Next stop Penn Station and her great escape.
