Page 22 of Silent Echo
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I left my cell phone in the car and bought a burner.
Now Sebastion and I are waiting outside Walmart for the Uber I called using the new phone.
I was only able to take two suitcases from the car.
Unless I’m lucky and they don’t figure out my identity, we’ll have to part with the rest of our things.
A man comes outside and throws his food wrapper on the ground. Ugh.
“Excuse me. That’s littering!” I say, pointing to the trash.
He gives me an apathetic look and keeps walking. If I weren’t in such a hurry, I’d call the cops and report him! Why can’t people follow the rules? Still fuming, I call Nora while we wait.
“Hey, you almost here?” she answers.
“She found the house. We got away right before she spotted us. A minute later, and she would have seen us.”
“Oh my gosh! Where are you now?”
“Waiting for an Uber to get to the Airbnb. Listen to me, if by some crazy chance she finds you, you can’t tell her where I am. She might even have the police with her. She’s a consummate liar.”
“What? Why would the police believe her?”
“I’m just saying. I don’t know. Call me paranoid but better to be safe. Just don’t tell anyone where I am. And we’re going to have to postpone getting together. I’m not sure where we’re going, but it has to be out of state.”
“Oh, Penelope. You’ve got to stop running. This woman is ruining your life. Just calm down. I’ll come over later, and we’ll figure something out together. Don’t do anything rash.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise. Uber’s here. Gotta go.”
“Who saw us?” Sebastion asks as we’re getting into the car.
“Nobody. Don’t worry.” I can’t get into it in front of the Uber driver.
Why couldn’t Charlotte just leave well enough alone?
Why couldn’t she just enjoy the fact that she has the freedom to work as much as she wants now?
No more struggling to get to school on time or making her child go to school sick so she doesn’t miss one of her important meetings.
It’s not fair. Now I have to uproot my child from all he knows and loves because Charlotte is so selfish.
A feeling of rage overcomes me, and I dig my nails into the palms of my hands. I want to scream with all my might.
“Do you have a booster seat?” I ask the driver.
“What? No.”
I make a face. Can no one do anything right? “When I ordered the car, I put in the comments that I was riding with a young child. This is really unacceptable.”
The driver shrugs. “Are you getting in or not?”
I shake my head. “Yes, but please be careful.”
The seat belt is way too big for him, but I buckle the lap belt. I’d report the driver if I weren’t trying to keep such a low profile. I count to one hundred in my head, hoping it will be enough to calm me down.
We arrive at the house without incident. The code to the lockbox works, and we get the key and go inside. It’s a small bungalow, bright and airy, but close to the houses on each side. I feel exposed. The first thing I do is shut the living room curtains.
“Where are we? Is this our new house?” Sebastion asks.
“No, sweetie. We’re just here for a couple days until we figure out where to go next. We need to get far away from here so police don’t think we’re part of those bad ladies stealing and arrest us.”
He starts to cry. “I don’t want to go to jail.”
I pick him up and kiss the top of his head. “I’ll keep you safe. I promise. We may need to change your name.”
“No!”
“Okay, okay.” He’s clearly not ready for that. If it comes to it, I’ll have to figure out a way to make it a fun game for him. “Never mind. It’s all fine. How ’bout I order us a pizza and then we can go online and try to find a fun place to move.”
“Okay.”
I place an order through DoorDash. “Let’s go sit on the sofa and look together,” I tell him.
He follows me over, and I put the computer on my lap.
I pull up a map of the United States. “We’re here,” I tell him as I point to Florida.
“I think we should go to the other corner of the map. Washington or Montana.”
He begins to fidget. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, what’s your favorite weather?”
“Sunshine and warm. Like here.”
“What are your favorite things about Florida?”
“I like the beach. And the palm trees. And Disney.”
“I’ve got it! Do you know what state has all of those things and is even prettier than Florida?”
He shakes his head.
“California!”