The Prize (24 page)

“Good. My face hurts, but it’ll heal. Any news?”

“Yeah. We brought his mom in early this morning. She was appalled by his behavior
and seemed legitimately shocked he went after you. I gave her a stern warning to stay
clear of you, and we have a restraining order against anyone in the extended family
from contacting you in any way. I know that’s little consolation and doesn’t keep
people from doing whatever they please, but it’s better than nothing.

“The point is, I watched her reaction closely and believe she means you no harm. She
was mourning the loss of her second son more than anything. She didn’t mention you
or your involvement. And she still has no idea where her ex-husband is. Hasn’t seen
him in years. Hopefully he’s totally out of the picture and has no knowledge of any
of this.”

“And the cousin? Vincent?”

He took a breath. “That’s another story. Swarth’s mom doesn’t know where he is. She
insisted they were estranged and she hasn’t spoken to him in years, either.”

“Do you believe her?”

“I do.”

“Then he could easily be after me.”

“Yes. I think we need to assume that’s a possibility. Especially if he was helping
Swarth all this time and was led to believe you really were guilty of maliciously
killing Matt. With Swarth dead, Vincent could be volatile.”

“Shit.”

“Yes. And it will be difficult to track him down. He has no address and has never
been involved in anything larger than petty theft as a kid. No adult record.”

“How long?”

He knew exactly what I meant. “Hard to say. It’s up to you. If you want to come here,
we can get started immediately on relocating you. We have enough motive to warrant
the action. I can start working on the paperwork now. I would recommend a temporary
situation at first that requires you to leave the area under a new name and make no
contact with anyone for any reason. Only a few people in my office would have access
to your information in case of an emergency or a change.”

I lowered my shoulders as I sat on the edge of the bed. Even though I had expected
nothing less, I was shocked. “I’ll head that way. I need to call my parents.”

“Yes. And…your friends.”

“Not going to tell them.”

“You think that’s a good idea? I mean, it’s up to you. I give Parker Darwin about
five minutes before he shows up in my face demanding answers. But I can handle him
if you need me to.”

I hadn’t considered that. “Damn.”

“No worries. We can discuss it when you get here.”

“I’ll see you this afternoon, then.”

“One of the officers outside can take you to your car. You sure you’re okay driving
all this way?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. Be careful.” He ended the call on that last soft word, uttered like a lover,
not a cop.

I ignored his tone and stood. I wanted to be gone before Parker got back. I didn’t
have belongings, so my exit would be quick.

Cheyenne was back in the kitchen drinking another cup of coffee when I returned with
my purse in hand and shoes on my feet. She jumped up. “Where are you going?” Coffee
sloshed out of her mug, and she winced as she set it down to wipe her hand on a napkin.

“I need to go to the station.” I didn’t mention I meant the Charlotte police station.
“One of the men outside will take me.”

“They have more questions?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll go with you.” She scrambled toward the counter to grab her purse.

I shook my head. “No. I need to do this alone. You need to stay here and relax. You
went through more than I did.”

“That’s crazy. Of course I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. Hours longer and in fear of the unknown.” It was a lie. I worried at
least as much as she did the entire drive, knowing Swarth wasn’t kidding and fearing
he would kill my friend before I got there.

She lowered herself back into the chair. “I don’t like this. You should call Parker.
He and Riley will kill me.”

“Don’t tell them.” I grinned.

“Right. So when they get home, I’ll just say you’re playing hide-and-go-seek and I
haven’t been able to find you for hours?”

I chuckled. “It might work.” I stepped up to her and gave her an enormous hug. “Thank
you. For everything. I don’t deserve your friendship. But I have cherished every moment
of it.”

“Meagan…” Her voice was filled with warning.

“I’m fine.” I pasted on a smile. I would need to call Amy too. At least to tell her
how much I loved her. We’d been friends for fifteen years. The pain of ripping that
apart would hurt for a long time. She was my lifeline. Even though she’d never known
it.

I left the house before Cheyenne could think of another reason to stall me.

When I got to the curb, the two officers stepped forward. “Ma’am?”

“Can one of you take me to my car?”

The man on the right nodded. “We were informed. Not a problem.” He was tall and skinny
with blond hair that lay perfectly around his face. He could have been a distance
runner. Hell, maybe he was. He opened the passenger door for me and then shut it when
I was safely inside. After a few words with the other officer, he got in and started
the engine. “Your parents’ house, right?”

“Yes.” I gave him the address, and we took off. With any luck, I would be in my car
and headed to Charlotte before Parker was aware of my absence.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Five hours later, I pulled into the parking lot of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police
Department and turned off the engine. My drive today had been much more leisurely
than yesterday. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes for a few moments before
going inside.

I hadn’t bothered to go back to my apartment in Atlanta. It would have eaten too much
time and for what? There was nothing of any value there. I’d kept it that way always.
New clothes were easy to come by. The memories in the form of pictures and small tokens
of my past would get picked up by my parents later. I couldn’t take them with me anyway.

Amy was the first person I called, and I spoke to her for almost an hour. She wanted
to know every detail. How could I blame her? Surprisingly, she wasn’t mad about me
keeping such an enormous secret all those years. Tears ran down my face as she insisted
I had been only ten years old. Too young to deal with something of that magnitude.

I told her how important she had always been to me and how sorry I was. When I hung
up with her, I waited a while before making my next call to my therapist.

Dr. Frost answered on the first ring, shocking me again with her availability.

I rambled on, repeating the same story I’d told Amy. She was concerned. I almost decided
to tell her about my plans to disappear, but decided I didn’t want to risk her advising
me not to go through with it.

Thank God the drive was so long because the next call was to my parents who were worried
beyond belief. They weren’t going back to the house until the crime lab was done and
the cleanup crew had erased the evidence.

I wasn’t sure how they could ever go back. No way would I be able to sleep there another
night. But it was their decision, and I made no mention.

Someone rapped on my car window, making me jump in my seat. “You okay, ma’am?” the
officer asked through the glass.

I nodded and grabbed my purse. I needed to go inside.

He stepped back. “Just gathering my wits,” I told him. “Thanks.” And then I headed
to the front door.

Branch was nearby when I entered, and he ushered me toward him. When he motioned to
the seat across from his desk, I lowered into the hard plastic chair. Exhausted didn’t
begin to describe how I felt. Wrung out. So close to tears. How long could I hold
it together? I would get a hotel room soon, pay in cash, and sleep like the dead.

“You shouldn’t have driven here alone. You look…”

“Horrible.” I chuckled, though it sounded awkward. “I know. I need sleep.”

“Well, you don’t have to do anything tonight. I’m still working on the details. You’re
welcome to stay in the safe house again.” He nodded at a pile of things propped up
against his desk. My computer bag was one of them. “I had someone retrieve your belongings,
just in case.”

I shook my head. The place would give me the creeps. “I’ll get a hotel room.”

“Do you have enough money for several nights of that if it comes down to it?”

“Yes.” I met his gaze. “I’ve got enough to last a lifetime. You should realize that.
What I need is a name. That’s it. If you could arrange that part, I’ll take care of
the rest.”

“I’ll admit, it makes it easier to run through all the channels without also needing
to come up with first and last month’s rent and find you a job at the destination.
But are you sure you’re okay financially?”

“Yes. I just need to transfer some money around. Other than that, I’ll be fine.”

“Your parents are going to kill me.”

“Yeah.”

“Your boyfriend is going to have me stoned.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” I sat straighter while I told that lie.

“Uh-huh. Did you tell him that?”

“Touché.”

Branch chuckled. He closed the folder on his desk and leaned on his elbows. “If we
lived in a different time and dimension…”

“I know.” I stopped him. I understood his meaning. I didn’t need to hurt his feelings
by indicating the feeling wasn’t mutual. A month ago, before Parker, I might have
taken him up on his obvious attraction. But Parker had ruined me for all other men.
None would ever compare. And that was okay. Because a man would never fit into my
life. Not now. Not ever.

If it seemed stressful that I’d carried a giant secret around for fifteen years without
revealing it to my closest friends, it was nothing compared to what I would carry
in my heart for the rest of my life. Forget the parts about being chased and taken
hostage by a madman and me shooting two people at the age of ten.

None of that seemed interesting compared to the heaviness in my chest at never seeing
Parker again. It would take years to ease that pain. He would haunt my dreams for
the rest of my life. Day and night. At least he would cover up the nightmares. I was
certain my experiences as his submissive would outweigh any shit that had clogged
my subconscious for years.

I stood. There was little else to handle tonight. “Could you do me one favor?”

“Anything.”

“It will be easier if I leave town first thing in the morning.”

He nodded. “I can see that. You want to use cash for a while, and I’ll call you when
we have everything straightened out?”

“Yes.” Relief washed over me. “Is six too early to meet you here?”

“No. It’s perfect. I’ll get you a burner phone, and you can leave yours with me in
the morning.” His words were normal, but he frowned all the same.

I turned to leave.

“Meagan?”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“You sure this is what you want?”

“Definitely.” I had no other options.

****

I slept like shit, having turned off my phone after one last conversation with my
boss. He was understandably upset by my announcement. And confused by my abrupt departure.
He easily guessed I had been involved in the kidnapping situation in Gwinett. It also
wasn’t shocking he wanted to help and refused to let me resign.

The conversation ended with him insisting on holding my spot as long as possible in
case I changed my mind. Or my situation changed. Richard was astute. He realized I
was running for my life.

My path was cleared. I never once answered Parker or looked at his dozens of texts.
It would hurt too much. It was a shitty move on my part to not even say goodbye, but
he would weaken my resolve. I was a sucker for anything related to Parker. How had
I fallen under his spell so quickly?

When I pulled up to the police station at five forty-five, the sun wasn’t up. I locked
my car and headed inside.

Only a few officers were around that early. Branch stood from his desk with a wan
smile. “Don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind?”

“No. Don’t suppose you caught Vincent Swarth?”

His shoulders fell. “No. Sorry.”

“I need a clean break. I can’t spend my life looking over my shoulder. This is the
only answer.”

“Why do I think you’re running from your problems rather than toward safety?”

I shrugged. “Could be some of it. But this is still for the best.”

“You want to elaborate?”

“Nope.”

“I’d bet my last dime Darwin has a part in this.”

“Perhaps, but not for the reasons you suspect.”

“Is there anything I need to know about him? If he’s done something—”

“God no.” I cut him off. “He’s one of the best men I’ve ever met.”

Branch narrowed his gaze, tapping the end of his pen against the desk. Finally, he
must have decided I was telling the truth. “By nine o’clock that man is going to be
in my face,” he muttered.

“Yes.” No sense sugarcoating it. “I’m sorry about that.”

“You told him nothing?”

“Right.”

He sighed. “Guess I owe you that much. And your parents. I’ll handle them too. Your
mom is going to cry on me.”

“Yes.” That was also true. I wiped a tear from my own eye thinking of her shock and
hurt.

“This doesn’t have to be forever.”

“I know. Not for them. I’ll be able to contact them again some day. But not the others.”

“Not Darwin.”

“Right.”

He opened the file on his desk reluctantly. “You can choose your own name if you want.
I’ll set it all up. It’s not too difficult since it’s the only thing we need to handle
from our end.”

I chewed my bottom lip. Huh. A name…

Finally, I decided on one, wrote it on a post-it, and stuck it to the inside of his
file. “Keep that safe.”

“Locked and secured.” He closed the file and wrote something totally obscure on the
tab. No one would ever open it to go through the contents. I would truly cease to
exist when I walked out the door.

He handed me a cell phone next. A small flip phone no one I knew had used for almost
a decade.

I smiled. “Thanks.” I gave him mine.

“You have my number memorized, right?”

“Yes.”

“I have this one memorized also. And Officer Smithson. You met him yesterday. He brought
you to your car. He’ll be the other officer with access to your information, just
in case.”

“He’s in Atlanta?”

“Yes. I’ve worked with him many times. We went to school together. I trust him. And
it’s good for someone in Atlanta to hold the other key, so to speak.”

I nodded and stood.

Branch reached out a hand. “I wish we could have met under different circumstances.
I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through and the pain you’ll endure alone for
the near future. Please be safe. I’ll be in touch.”

“Thank you.” I took his hand, irrationally blinking back tears. They weren’t for him.
They were for the finality of my life. I set my keys on his desk. “Will you handle
my car?”

“Of course. I’ll make sure your parents get it.”

And then I left.

As I walked out the door and turned to walk away, I took a deep breath. I would cry.
Buckets. Later. Today, I needed to get my head on straight and move fast.