Chapter 5 - The Great Escape
Two days later,
the doctor finally cleared me for discharge,
though he warned me that my foot would require weeks of intense physical therapy.
The police had successfully secured a temporary restraining order,
meaning neither my husband nor his mother could come within five hundred feet of me,
but I knew a piece of paper would not stop them.
We needed to disappear,
to vanish completely before their highly paid private investigators could track our movements.
Anna had been busy,
calling in favors,
making secret arrangements,
and preparing a safe house far outside the city limits.
She rented a simple,
unassuming car under a friend's name,
parking it in the underground delivery tunnel of the hospital to avoid being seen.
"We have to move fast,"
Anna whispered,
helping me maneuver into the heavy,
clunky walking boot the doctor had provided.
Every step sent a sharp,
biting pain shooting up my leg,
but the adrenaline pumping through my veins masked the worst of it.
We slipped out the back service elevator,
surrounded by the comforting presence of two off-duty police officers Anna had hired for the morning.
The underground garage was cold,
smelling of exhaust fumes and damp concrete,
but to me,
it smelled like freedom.
As we approached the rental car,
my phone,
which had been given a new,
unlisted SIM card,
suddenly vibrated in my pocket.
I pulled it out,
staring at an unknown number on the screen.
Against my better judgment,
and fueled by a sudden spike of anxiety,
I answered the call,
holding the phone to my ear without saying a word.
"You cannot hide from us forever,"
his mother's icy,
venomous voice slithered through the speaker.
"You are carrying my family's blood,
and we will hunt you to the ends of the earth to get our child back."
My breath hitched,
the fear threatening to paralyze me all over again.
But then,
I looked at Anna,
who was holding the car door open,
her eyes fierce,
unyielding,
and completely fearless.
I was not the weak,
terrified girl they had tortured in that house anymore.
"If you come near me,"
I said,
my voice dropping to a low,
deadly whisper,
"I will make sure the entire world sees what you did,
and I will watch you rot in a concrete cell."
I ended the call,
blocking the number immediately,
and tossed the phone onto the back seat of the car.
I climbed in,
wincing as I settled my injured foot,
and closed the door,
shutting out the darkness of my past forever.
Anna started the engine,
the quiet hum of the motor sounding like the beginning of a brand new life.
"Ready?"
she asked,
glancing at me through the rearview mirror,
a triumphant smile playing on her lips.
"Drive,"
I said,
May you like
never looking back as we drove out of the shadows,
and into the bright,
