Page 12 of Hidden Monsters

“I know, and I appreciate it,” Luke said. And he did.

After Caden went back to work, Luke turned his attention back to the mugshots until a rush of panic tinged with a healthy dose of fear seared through him like a hot poker.

Orly.

Chapter 6

Orly made her final decision to leave Russell the night he’d kept her from helping Evelyn, but it wasn’t until he worked another overnight shift that she finally made her move.

Thanks to the money she’d saved from her videos, she was able to buy a used car from one of the baristas at her favorite coffee shop. She could also afford to not have to look for work as long as she posted new videos several times a week and kept her expenses to a bare minimum.

After leaving her engagement ring, along with a note letting Russell know in a respectful, but definitive way that they were over, she packed her two suitcases and walked the three blocks to where she’d parked her new, thoroughly used Honda Civic. The silver four door sedan was perfect for zooming across the country incognito.

She tossed the suitcases onto the backseat and let out a ragged breath. This all felt so familiar and it only made the pit in her stomach grow bigger. She’d done this before and Russell had found her. This time had to be different and it would be. She had a plan. She’d gone over it in her mind a million times, but as she got in behind the steering wheel, her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest, and she couldn’t remember anything.

She closed the door and just sat there, both hands on the steering wheel, taking measured deep breaths. She could do this. There was a whole world out there where Russell couldn’t get to her. She just had to get moving and keep moving.

Russell had already proven he would be like a dog with a bone. He’d never let her go. Never forgive her for leaving again. He’d chase her to the ends of the earth. As much as it terrified her to know this, in a way, it gave her a sense of purpose, knowing exactly what she was signing up for. She was done being hit and made to feel like the scum of the earth.

She’d known this moment was coming, but after her talk with Luke the night he helped her save Evelyn, she knew she was done. Luke might not be able to save her, but she didn’t need him to. She could save herself and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

Orly pulled on her seatbelt and keyed the ignition. She’d chosen to park on this street for many reasons. The main one was that this intersection and the traffic light at the other end had no traffic cameras. So, even if Russell tried to track her, which Orly assumed he would, it would hopefully slow him down, especially since he didn’t know what car she was in.

She reached into the glove box and pulled out an old thrifted baseball cap. She’d already pulled her long curly blonde locks into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, but she put the hat on, making sure to tuck any loose strands of her hair inside and pulling the bill down as low as she could without impeding her ability to see. Hopefully the disguise would be enough. Orly knew it could be only a matter of days before Russell found her and she hated that. Hated him. But she refused to give in. Every day she spent away from Russell was going to be a gift she gave herself.

Ready for her trip of a lifetime, despite her racing heart, she smiled with an overwhelming sense of liberation. It was like for the first time since moving in with Russell, she could finally breathe. She planned on driving through the night and had taken a long nap that morning in preparation. Russell thought she was in bed with the flu or something, and had left her alone. That only worked in her favor. It gave her time to think and plan, and mentally prepare for the days ahead.

She pulled away from the curb and drove straight out of California, through Arizona, and New Mexico, stopping only for gas, coffee, snacks, and the restroom.

It was nearly eleven o'clock in the morning the next day when she was about to enter Texas. The drive had been long, but peaceful, until she came upon a checkpoint. As she inched toward the cone marked with a red stop sign, Orly’s heart rate ratcheted.

Russell would’ve come home by now and seen her ring and the note she’d left. He’d be furious. And if he put out a BOLO on her, the officer might actually pull her over and send her back to Russell. It was the last thing Orly wanted. Why hadn’t she turned and driven north instead? Maybe Texas had been at the forefront of her mind because of Luke. Or maybe because she wanted to be near him even if she couldn’t actually be with him. They’d been talking on and off for days now, and there was something about that man Orly couldn’t explain. Luke exuded this strong, yet gentle presence that made her feel safe, and she hadn’t felt safe in a very long time. She craved that simple feeling now more than ever, but this wasn’t the time to fall apart.

She inched another car length forward, drawing in a calming breath. There were only four cars in front of her now. She had minutes to pull herself together and act like she was just out for a drive. When her turn came, she rolled up to the line, lowered her window, and stopped when the officer held up her hand

“Where are you headed today, Miss?” The officer was a middle aged woman with a head full of thick dark hair wrapped in a tight bun at the top of her head.She peered into the backseat, her dark eyes undoubtedly looking for any contraband in the vehicle. Her badge read S. Donnelly.

“Just going to visit my granny in El Paso.” It was the first convincing thing that came to mind. Orly just hoped the other woman didn’t catch on to the hitch in her voice.

“That’s nice of you. Where are you coming from?” Officer Donnelly asked, straightening to stand next to the driver’s side door.

“Los Angeles. I’m planning to stay for the week.” Orly added, in explanation of the two suitcases in the backseat. Lies worked best when padded with as much information as possible, and while she didn’t have a grandmother in Texas, she did plan on staying in the state overnight. She needed to sleep and figure out where to go next.

Officer Donnelly nodded and took a step back. “All right. Have a good trip.” She offered Orly a smile, and signaled for her to go on through the checkpoint.

Orly returned the smile, rolled up her window, and slowly made her way past the other officers and through the arranged cones. When she was sure she was far enough away from them so as not to be visible, she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, and stepped on the gas. That was close. Too close.

Do you like burgers?

Her hands were still shaking when Luke’s voice blared into her head with the force of a freight train, nearly making her jump right out of her seat. She chuckled at her own jumpiness. It wasn’t like Russell was going to materialize out of thin air. The vegan ones. She answered Luke. I’m vegetarian.

Good to know.

She wasn’t sure if he’d sensed her fear and panic just now, or if he’d just popped into her mind with a random question like he sometimes did. But hearing from him always seemed to settle her, so she drove as they continued to talk about their favorite foods. When the conversation turned to baseball, Orly mostly listened as Luke gave her a rundown of all his favorite players. Somehow that led into a funny story about his Aunt Bea, and Orly’s heart warmed at the way this man talked about the elderly woman. Orly was quickly growing fond of a man she’d never met. The craziest part was that even after being with someone like Russell, it didn’t scare her. Luke didn’t scare her at all. Just the opposite. But she couldn’t go there with him. Not when Russell could find her at any moment. She had to keep moving.

As the miles passed, and the sun was starting to sink into the horizon behind her, Orly was growing tired. The caffeine in her system was fading fast, and she could barely keep her eyes open after being awake for almost twenty four hours. But there were no rest stops for miles. Luke had kept up a steady stream of conversation with her, and it was getting harder to keep the man at arm’s length. She found herself wanting to share more with him, sometimes even things she never told Russell.

It was nearly ten o’clock at night when she pulled into a motel parking lot just off the freeway, somewhere between Dallas and Shreveport. Staring up at the flashing neon vacancy sign gave her a horrible feeling of deja vu, but she pushed it aside. Orly went in and quickly paid for a room in cash. Then with her keycard in one hand and one of the suitcases in the other, Orly walked down the corridor to her room and let herself in, kicking the door shut and locking it with the latch. The other suitcase could stay in the car overnight. It was mostly just extra clothes and a few keepsakes from her childhood that would be fine in the car.

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