His whole body hurt when he woke up the next morning. He looked to the bed next to his, she wasn’t there.
“Ariana?” he called.
He heard the flush in the toilet turned.
They drove another 2 hours last night and stopped at a motel by the highway. They rented a twin bed bedroom to crash because he couldn’t go on anymore. All the driving, running, shooting and the digging was all in a day’s work.
She walked out of the bedroom and peeked from behind the wall. “I need clothes.”
He threw his head back on the pillow. He wasn’t prepared for an extended trip with her. The one she was wearing was the only set of clothes he had.
“And fresh underwear,” she grimaced.
“Okay … I’ll buy some … anything else?”
“Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo … tampons … it’s almost that time.”
He glanced at her, he had never bought a tampon before in his life. “Any particular brand? Or size?” He didn’t understand what he was supposed to be looking for.
She giggled. “Or just a pad will be fine … whatever you feel comfortable buying.”
It warmed his heart to hear her giggle for the first time. “Anything else?”
“No, we can always buy some more when we need anything, right?”
He threw a dismissive hand, still laid flat on the bed, “I guess.”
“But I really need to change right now … I can’t wear the same clothes, it had blood on it, it wouldn’t come off … and it’s really dirty.”
He realized he was dealing with an heiress, she was used to luxuries of the best kind. Here she was wearing the same pair of clothes for three days.
“Just use my shirt,” he grabbed his bag and threw her a clean shirt.
“Thanks.”
She went back to the bathroom and changed. When she came out, she was wearing his T-shirt and just her panties. He stopped to look for a few seconds and pretended it was fine. She looked incredibly sexy.
“We have to pay everything in cash,” she said.
“Of course.”
“I strapped some cash under my wedding dress … I can get it for you if you want?”
He took the wedding dress from the car and let her rip it into pieces. She seemed to enjoy it, ripping the gown into pieces and took out four stacks of cash from inside the seams.
She threw him two of the stacks. “Half and half, just in case, we should burn the dress, I have no use for it anymore.”
He pointed his index finger at her, “Gasoline … I’ll buy some too.”
She smiled, “And booze … please … I need a drink.”
He laughed.
He put on his clothes to get ready, then he took out his guns. He stuck one on the back of his jeans and checked the bullets on the other one.
“Do you know how to use this?”
She walked over to him and took the gun. She cocked it and pointed to his head. She did it swiftly, like a professional. Her face was intense.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked into the barrel of his own gun. “Why didn’t you shoot me that morning when you had the chance?”
She curved one side of her lips, “Something in my gut told me not to … I thought you were compromised when the drop was cancelled, but I wasn’t so sure.” She lowered the gun.
“Well … you’ll be fine then, just lock the door, I’ll be back in awhile.”
He found a convenient store a couple of miles from the motel. He was vigilant, it was in his DNA, always alert with what’s happening around him like he had another set of eyes behind his head.
She was right, he was always on the run, never stayed in the same place for long. He grabbed a cart and started picking up the stuff they might need to lay low for a few days.
He bought a new disposable phone. He had to make contact again. It will risk him getting found out but she needs a new identity. They can’t use the one he found from the trafficker. Once she get a new identity, they can fly to another part of the country and flee from there. They can go their separate ways.
She was the one who hired him, he felt like his job was not done yet. He had to make sure she will get the getaway she wanted safely. This was supposed to be his last gig. God forbid if he fails this one and has to live the rest of his life knowing he had failed.
He picked women’s underwear from the women’s aisle. He took one out of the box and imagined her size. He must’ve looked like a creep, he thought. M should be fine. He put half a dozen of those in the cart.
He looked at his watch. Thirty minutes was the mark, he didn’t want to stay in that store longer than thirty minutes. He grabbed two bottles of vodka on the way to the cashier.
The TV was on above the counter.
“Carlos Messina had been taken into custody today in relation to the ongoing investigation of the Gastonburry Massacre. The 68 year old tycoon was under investigation of his involvement of the incident.”
“Carlos Messina is the prime suspect in the case because of the ongoing feud with the Lombardo and Montenero family for years. The business rivalry had been known publicly and have escalated in the past two years. He maintained his innocence and working to file a counter lawsuit against the state for false accusation and defamation of the Messina family name.”
“The police claimed to have found evidence that implicates the billionaire’s involvement in the case. However, bail is set at 2 million dollars for Messina and he is said to be released later today.”
Planted evidence. That was the first thing that came to his mind. His gut feeling tells him Armand was behind all of it. Armand had planted evidence to implicate Carlos Messina as the one who gave the kill order. Or the police were compromised. It’s not a far stretch given the power Armand has after the death of his entire family, he might as well own the police department. From his experience dealing with bad men, the first suspect should be Armand, but Ari was still in denial.
He paid cash and gathered his stuff. Armand Lombardo is moving fast to cover his tracks. He should too.