Reluctant Hero (The Dunamis Covenant Book 1) (11 page)

"I told you, I've saved a lot over the years, and you don't have to accept it, I'm leaving it here whether you want it or not. When your marketing business makes it big, you can repay me by putting the five grand into a college fund for Sarah. Hopefully it'll be a UT college fund," He added with a wink as he watched his friend rocking her baby.

She embraced him for a long time, knowing she might not see him again. She had one arm around Thomas and one arm holding Sarah. She looked at the envelope Thomas had given her, and she was thankful for the help, but wished she didn't have to accept it. She would be putting it all into a college fund for her daughter as soon as they were settled.

"Thank you, Thomas. Please be careful, it's very dangerous for you out there. Where will you go?"

"I'm not sure yet. If anyone asks, tell them I said Michigan."

"I'm sorry I lied to you all that time, it's the biggest regret of my life."

"It's already forgiven. Now come give me another hug, I have a long road ahead." She hugged him again and kissed his cheek. She smiled when she rubbed her face across his beard and said, "I think I like the beard."

He waved to Sarah while she sat snug in Kendra's arms, then he picked up his backpack, left the house, and jogged down the street.

Abby was at her wit's end. She sat on the bed of her hotel room and just stared at a painting on the wall. Here she was in one of Dallas' most posh hotels and she could find no enjoyment in it. Fine linen, beautiful furniture; none of it mattered without TJ. She had stopped having the withdrawal pains that losing TJ had caused, so at least she could focus her attention on looking for him. Unfortunately, she was no closer to finding him. She had learned that Asa had been lying to both of them about a lot of things, and when she tried to see if he had any information on TJ's whereabouts, he shut her out. He also warned her not to come back if she didn't find him. She was on her own now, and she felt so alone. She decided to book a few nights in a place of comfort, hoping to find some. She had moved fast to empty her bank accounts. She knew that Asa would cut her off from her finances for her failure to find TJ, even though it was his own failure that lost him.
What were Asa and Malachi thinking?
She shook her head in disgust at the thought.

At this point, even if she did find TJ, she wasn't going to try to make him come back. She would take him to her family, or go on the run with him. She felt herself getting hot thinking about a life on the run with TJ, and decided to let that thought linger. She didn't think she would ever see him again, and wondered if her feelings would die like the Archers had said. She needed some reassurance, so she decided to call home. She made the call and her spirits were lifted when she heard the familiar voice of her brother Connor.

"Abby, how's my favorite person in the whole world?" She could hear his excitement through the phone.

"Not real great, Con. We lost TJ." A tear rolled down her cheek when she admitted out loud that TJ was gone.

"No way, Little Tiger, was he not attracted to you? How could he leave?"

"No, he was attracted to me, but Asa and Malachi drove him away." She went on to explain the whole situation to him and concluded by saying, "I've never felt so alone, Connor." More tears joined the first one and she felt like she was on the verge of breaking down.

"You will never be alone, Little Tiger. Where are you now, I'm flying out to you today."

"You don't have to, but I needed to hear you say it. Thanks, Con. I will call if I need you to come out."

"You better, Abigail, or we will have words. You sure you don't need me?"

"Not yet, but do me a favor and stay ready, will ya? I love you so much!"

"I love you, too. And I'm always ready. Goodbye, Little Tiger." When the call ended she felt a little bit better. Talking to her big brother always helped her in that way.

She spent the next few days following Lucas around, hoping to get lucky. Although, getting lucky seemed to be his specialty, not hers. She felt the initial stages of depression approaching when her phone rang. She didn't recognize the number, but she picked it up anyway. It was a pre-recorded message, and she almost hung up, but when the voice started speaking, it was TJ. The sound of his voice in her ears almost made her giddy. She concentrated on every word, searching for any clue, any hidden message. She began recording the message to play again later. This was just the fix she needed.

"I don't know where to begin." There was a long pause before he started again. "Abby, I'm sorry I had to disappear without you. These last eleven days have been torture for me, not seeing you, being with you. I know how much I need you. I think about you all the time. I just don't know if I can trust you. Everything Asa told me was a lie. I'm not even sure he's one of the good guys, and if I ever see Malachi again, one of us might end up dead. I just don't know what to do. If you're with them, I know I can't be with you. Everything about my whole life has been a lie. My last name isn't even Archer. Did you know that? Do you know what my real name is? Uncle Pete and Aunt Laura aren't even my real relatives. I found out Asa had planted people in my high school to watch me. I'm not even sure I can trust Lucas anymore. I've decided to cut ties with everyone I know and start an anonymous life far from here. All this place reminds me of is lies. You are the one person I hope to see again. I want you to know, you are my hopes and dreams. If you can find me, without them following, it will be the happiest day of my life. I love you, Abby."

"I love you, too, TJ," she whispered as the message ended. She played the message six times. He sounded so hurt, so alone. She wanted to run to him, comfort him, be with him.
He's not sure he can even trust me, and I can't blame him,
she reflected bitterly. She was despondent while she played the message a seventh time. Then, a faint hope began to rise in her. She could have sworn she heard the Fort Worth Stockyards in the background. As of fifteen minutes ago, TJ was at the Stockyards. She hurried from her room, took the elevator to ground level, and ran through the lobby. She didn't even care that people were staring, no doubt finding this behavior unacceptable at an upscale hotel. She reached the parking lot, and jumped in her rental car.

When she reached the Stockyards, she would be less than forty-five minutes behind TJ's last known location. If he tarried after leaving the message, that could be a much smaller window. She might even be able to pick him up by scent. It wasn't much, but it was all she had, and she would take it. For the first time in the last eleven days, she dared to hope.

*****

Thomas threw the burner phone he had just used to call Abby in the garbage and opened a new one. He had just a couple things left to do before he would leave the Metroplex, maybe for good.

He was about to revisit the only illegal thing he had ever done. He was going to bring his fake ID out of hiding. He had always hoped he would never have to use it. The artificial, cautious nature given to him had caused him to be a planner, so he had always had plans and backup plans. When he first began working in the post office, there had been a scandal involving the electronic chips put in the passports. Several had gone missing and he learned that once a forger gets his hands on something like that, he can create clean, legitimate identities for anyone paying. The cautious nature he had been given caused him to be one of the buyers, just in case he ever needed to disappear. He had engaged in a great debate within himself as to whether or not he should do it. He had even discussed it with his Uncle Pete, and was surprised when his uncle encouraged him to do it. In fact, his uncle's encouragement had been the deciding factor. Now he understood why his uncle wanted him to have it. It was an identity Asa and his men didn't know about. Once he had the passport in the name of Gregory Elijah Jordan, he was able to get a driver's license in the same name. He then bought a nine millimeter with a couple boxes of ammunition. After that, he put Greg Jordan in a safety deposit box with eight thousand dollars. He had purposely chosen a branch a good distance from home to keep his safety deposit box in. Thomas was now about to become Greg Jordan.

First, he needed to empty his savings. He knew this would put him back on the grid, but if he was out of the bank fast enough, he would be able to disappear for good.
I should be safe closing the account out here. I should have a pretty good lead on anyone looking for me if I do pop up on the grid.

He walked into the bank and waited on line. He heard the teller at window four call "Next customer," and he walked up to the window.

He looked at the middle-aged blonde woman behind the window and said, "Hi, my job just transferred me up north and there are no branches of your bank in my new town, so I'm going to have to close out my account."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that. I hope they at least gave you a promotion." She looked through the protective glass and asked, "Can I have your name and account number, please?"

"Thomas Archer," he replied. He went on to give her the rest of the necessary information, and waited as her fingers flew across the keyboard. "Can I get that in cash?" he asked.

"That's a lot of money; I'm going to need my manager to sign off on it." She picked up the phone by her station and pressed a button. A moment later a short pudgy man in a sweat stained white shirt with a blue tie approached. He asked Thomas a few standard questions. A few minutes later, he had the cash in his bag and then he went to his safety deposit box, emptied its contents and left the license, passport, bank card and credit card of Thomas Jefferson Archer in the box. Together with the two thousand he still in his backpack, he was now carrying over forty-seven thousand dollars. He was more than a little nervous carrying around that kind of money. He left the bank, and hopped in a cab that he had waiting for him.

"Can you take me to the Chase Bank in Mesquite, off Interstate 825?" he asked after the driver put the car in gear.

"No problem," the driver replied. Thomas rode the rest of the way in silence, hoping that Asa would not catch up to him.

When the car stopped in front of the bank, Thomas looked at the driver and said, "Thanks, keep the change," while handing him twenty dollars. The cab drove off and Thomas took a deep breath before entering the bank.

He opened a new savings account under his new name, Greg Jordan, and started it off with nine thousand dollars. He wanted to put it all in, but he had to do smaller deposits so that the bank would not have to report a large deposit. He didn't want his Greg Jordan identity to be noticed just yet, so he figured he would deposit it in increments until most of his money was tucked away. When he had finished opening his account, he picked up his new debit card and walked over to the rental car office. Twenty minutes later, he was in a Jeep wrangler beginning his cross country journey.

He ached for Abby, and almost called her to invite her along
.
Realizing the danger, he resisted the temptation.
It might be worth getting caught just to see her again.
He shook his head clear of those thoughts and drove.

*****

Abby arrived at the Stockyards, and it was difficult to pick up TJ's scent with all of the cattle in the area.
I bet that was why he chose this location. Smart!
she thought. She wondered why he would come to the Stockyards and then she saw a bank so she took a chance. She walked towards the bank and began to pick up his scent. When she walked inside, she knew he had been there. She walked over to the fourth teller window where his scent was strongest and pulled up his picture on her phone. She decided to speak with a fake southern accent she had been working on. "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm trying to track down my fiancé and he has left his phone at home. We have a very important wedding planning meeting to attend and I just have to find him." She held up the picture on her phone and asked in her sweetest voice, "Have you seen him?" She smiled, content that her accent was competent.

The teller looked over the picture for a moment before concluding, "Yeah, I think he was here about twenty-five minutes ago. He has a beard now, right?"

"Yes," she feigned annoyance. "It's a new experiment that he won't be keeping for the wedding, I can assure you. Did he say where he was off to next?"

"No, but he had a cab waiting for him outside, so my guess would be either the airport or a rental car agency."

"That makes sense. My car is in the shop and he loaned his to me. Thank you so much, you've been very helpful."

"No problem, I hope you make your meeting on time." The woman was so sweet and helpful that Abby hated to do it. She couldn't take a chance that Asa would get the same information she did. She forced a powerful image of another man into the woman's mind. The woman seemed stunned and Abby held up the picture of Thomas again. "No, I don't believe I've ever seen that man. I'm sorry, ma'am. I hope you find him."

"Thank you so much, you've been so sweet." Abby then went to the manager and the other teller and forced the same image into their minds. She then held up Thomas' picture and the men didn't recognize him. She left, satisfied that Asa would not get any information here. She walked out of the bank and ducked around the corner when she saw Asa, Jake and Sam walking towards the bank.

While they were entering she could hear Asa saying, " Someone was here; I felt the use of power." Abby was glad she had taken the precaution of going in disguise. She left to find the nearest rental car place. She was now a mere twenty-five minutes behind TJ, but she could feel him slipping away from her again, and it caused her heart to ache.

*****

Asa was starting to fear he would never find Thomas. It was now apparent that the cautious nature he had given the young Paladin gave him an advantage in staying hidden. It had been almost two weeks and the council was breathing down his neck. His father was putting pressure on him, and the Fitzpatricks were outraged at his dismissal of their precious little daughter. They just couldn't understand that she was no longer useful for this particular mission. They already hated his family, so he didn't much care for their opinion, except that a number of strategic marriages they had been involved in made them powerful in the Undaraii clan. If they became too unhappy, they now had the power to take control of the clan.

Asa wondered where it all went wrong. There was no doubt that Malachi had been the last straw for an already dissatisfied Thomas, but he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had told Thomas the truth from the beginning. He realized that he had lied about things he didn't even need to lie about, just because he needed to control the flow of information and thus control the situation. He had always been that way, and frankly would remain that way. He mused that he would have fit right in with one of the dark clans. He was willing to do things for the good of the clan that good people would never do. He often struggled with the idea of what that made him, but he always rationalized that even the good clans needed people willing to get their hands dirty.