Page 16 of No Escape
“Jesus Elle, what were you wrapped up in?”
ELLE
What did this mean for me?
I didn’t know.
My mind was whirling with the possibilities.
Would this mean I was off the hook? Would they find evidence that I was innocent all along?
“Jesus Elle, what were you wrapped up in?”
I could hear Dayton speaking to me, but I was so caught up in my own thoughts and processing my emotions that I could barely register him speaking.
It may mean nothing at all for me. The drugs had still been in my possession. I had no proof that they’d been planted, or that they were someone else’s. And I’d run. That made me look as guilty as fuck.
“Elle,” He grasped my shoulders and gave me a gentle shake. “What is going on?”
Breaking out of my trance, I motioned to the television. “You know as much as I do.” My eyes narrowed at him. I’d trusted so many people in the past just to have them all turn their backs on me. If I confided in him would he turn from me as well? Maybe this was all a set-up? I didn’t doubt he was a bounty hunter, but bounty hunters could be bought off. I didn’t know who to trust anymore.
“You know something more than what’s being said on the television. You’d said last night.”
“I had a head injury.”
“Yeah, you did. And maybe that head injury was the thing that lowered your guard enough to open up to me.” He turned to face me fully. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me, Elle.”
I huffed. “You’ve said numerous times that your job is to take me back to California and deliver me to the cops to be put away for years. Nothing else is your concern. Now you’re concerned? Now you want to help?” I gave my shackled arm a shake. “You locked me to a damned bedpost.”
“Do you blame me? Are you telling me that you wouldn’t have taken off the moment I turned my back? You nearly broke your damned neck trying to escape through a shitter window.”
“I have nowhere to go,” I muttered staring down at the floor. I didn’t. I couldn’t go back to my sister. Even with the money she’d never risk taking me again. I didn’t have connections to people who could get me out of the country. Where would I go? Who would I turn to? I looked back to Dayton. Whether I liked it or not, he was the only person stepping up at the moment.
“You don’t trust me and I don’t trust you. What choice are you giving me? I sure as hell am not taking the chance that you’re playing me again.”
“I did some soul-searching on our drive here. I have nowhere to run off to Dayton. I really don’t. I don’t have any family. No friends. I have people after me. I don’t even know what this new twist in my life’s saga means for me. We’re three days from California. You’ve been clear that once there, I’m being dropped off and no longer your concern.”
“Okay.” His jaw clenched as he slid from the bed. Reaching into his pocket, he produced the key to the cuffs. “I’ll uncuff you. You need to eat and I bought you ointment for your wrist. But we need to get on the same page. You need to tell me everything.”
“And then what?” I asked as I watched him round the bed and unlock my cuff. Snatching my wrist back, I gave my arm a shake attempting to chase away the pins and needles feeling that had begun.
“Then we figure something out. I need you to be open and honest with me. I need to know everything if I have any chance of getting you out of this mess.”
With hesitation, I smiled. A genuine smile of gratitude. It had felt like an eternity since I’d felt some of the pressure coming off of my shoulders. Could he really be on my side?
“Okay, I’ll tell you everything. But just keep in mind, knowing everything I know means your life will also be in danger. These people don’t mess around. Right now, you’re just a guy doing a job and bringing me in, but once you find out what I know…”
He huffed. “Wouldn’t be the first time I put myself in the line of fire and surely won’t be the last. Help me, help you, Elle.”
The look in his eyes melted the hesitancy in my heart.
“Okay. But first.” I chewed at my lower lip as I looked up at him through my lashes. “Did you get my peaches?”
8
DAYTON
Ireleased a low whistle as I leaned back against the headboard of the bed. Elle was sitting next to me indulging in a bag of baked potato chips. She’d given up trying to convince me that we needed healthy food for the trip after indulging in the McDonalds.
