“Are you ready?” Diego asked for at least the twentieth times.
She nodded.
“Okay … step on the gas gently after you get into the first gear, and …”
“I know … I got it … it’s just not doing what it’s supposed to do, it kept going backward and jumped … and …”
The car jumped again, the engine died. She couldn’t get it right on the climb. She hit the steering wheel and kicked on the accelerator.
Diego let out a long exhale, some people are useless behind the wheel and she was one of those people. They had tried it all morning, she couldn’t balance her feet between the pedals, her sense of direction was off, they almost hit other cars a few times and he was afraid they would get stopped on the road and got a ticket.
They moved to a remote area, an abandoned parking lot where they can drive freely but it wasn’t helping much, she needed the experience to be on the road. She needed to get used to finding her own way in strange countries, and she was not displaying any of that capability at all.
“Why can’t I just ride on an Uber and give them a false address? Wouldn’t that be easier? They’ll just drop me somewhere and I’ll go by foot the rest of the way … Or I can always take the bus, no one would know what bus I take to where …” she threw a dismissive hand.
Diego pinched his upper nose between his eyes. “You won’t last two days if you do that … and with the way you’re driving … it’s either the police will arrest you or you’ll be killed in a car crash before that ever happens.”
She frowned, “I can take driving lessons before getting my license, right? I probably need more time than others … people make it look so easy, I just don’t understand why I can’t do it, especially to park backwards … that’s just …” she rolled her eyes.
“You jumped every time a car passed next to you, you could’ve run over that pedestrian before and go to jail for involuntary manslaughter,” he was at the end of his wit trying to teach her how to drive.
“I know … I know … it’s not my best skill … I know … but I can learn how to do this, right? I just need more time.”
“Well … time is not something you have, as soon as you arrive at your destination, you have to commute … you need to have a license before you can buy a car, and you need to be able to drive before you get a license … that might take awhile.”
“Public transport will be fine for a while, subway, tram, what have you … maybe a bicycle, I can buy myself a bike.”
He creased his brows, “Right … have you ever rode on a public transport before?”
She shook her head.
“You have to learn how to do that too.”
She held his arm with both hands, “You can teach me, right?”
“Not here … we’re in hiding, remember? We can’t go to public places as we pleased, you can’t do that either when you’re on your own,” he let out a long frustrated breath. “Let’s take a break … let’s get something to eat, okay?”
“You need to change your appearance … change your hair color, cut it, wear sunglasses all the time, a cap, whatever … you need to be in disguise … you have to manage your money carefully, it’s the easiest way for them to trace you,” he said while eating his Burrito.
“I got that covered … my dad made me a secret account since I asked him to cancel my wedding … how do you think I paid you in the first place? Armand had access to all my other accounts, he didn’t use it or anything … he just wanted to know what I spent them for.”
At least she has money to survive however long she can stay out on her own. But it wasn’t enough, she can’t buy her way out of this one. Her money is as good as nothing if she can’t practice basic survival skills and is clever enough to find a hideaway.
“You need to exercise daily and learn how to run away from pursuers … just in case they find you and you have to run away as fast as you can,” he shook his head. There’s just so many things she was lacking and he was more concerned than she was.
She touched his hand, “Hey … relax … I got this … you’re underestimating my survival skill, like you said … animal instinct, I think it’s embedded in our DNA to find a way to survive when we need it most.”
He nodded, not the least bit convinced. He didn’t want to sound condescending, he chose not to say anything. Her instincts probably have never been exercised and polished since the day she was born. Like any caged animals in the zoo, they would have to re-learn everything once they were back to their natural habitat. Most may not even survive and had to be placed in a sanctuary instead.
“Or …” she looked at him intently.
He waited for her next sentence.
“You can come with me? I’ll pay you extra …” she grinned.
He stared at her without a word. It was a tantalizing offer. He shook his head. “I can’t … my job ends with you getting your freedom.”
He was getting too involved in this job, he didn’t want to get into deeper than he already has. He had let this girl disrupt his peacefulness long enough. He didn’t want her to be the end of him. She was too dangerous to meddle with in the first place. But it may be too late to think that, he was already thinking way too much about her safety than he should.
“I’m sorry … it’s not the money …” he tried to explain.
“That’s okay … I know … it’s me, right? I’m a hopeless case and you don’t want to die because of me?” she giggled.
He shook his head, “No … it’s not that … I just …”
She was right, but he didn’t want her to think that way. He had come so far to get a new life, running away with Armand Lombardo’s missing wife is not his ideal retirement plan.
“There’s another way to do this … I’ve said it before,” he looked at her sharply.
She curved her lips and patted his hand. Killing Armand was never an option for her, not even when she was sure he was going to kill her next if he ever found out what she had done.