Page 6 of No Escape
My sister’s dog, Coco, was insistent as it scratched at the other side of my closed door.
Opening the bag wide, he whistled. “Nice chunk of cash you got there. Where’d it come from?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Yip, yip, yip.
“It can be yours. Half. Just let me go. You never saw me.”
“Right. But I did.” He zipped the bag back up. Reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, I caught a glimpse of a pistol tucked into a holster as he pulled out what looked like a brown leather wallet. Flipping it open he stepped toward me, showing me the badge.
“Dayton Adams. I’m with the Hunters' Guild. We have the contract to track you down and take you back to California for your trial. Which I’m about to do.”
“You can’t.”
He chuckled. “I’m going to.”
“Is everything all right? Elle?” My sister called from the other side of the door.
Looking over my shoulder at the door, I looked back at Dayton. “Please. Please take some money and go. No one needs to know you found me.”
“Elle?” My sister knocked before turning the knob and opening up the door, allowing light from the hallway to spill into my room. She looked at me, then past me to the bounty hunter, gasped, and took a step back.
Coco immediately rushed into the room, his barking intensifying as he ran to Dayton and began growling as he lunged at the man’s black boot.
“Don’t worry. It’s fine.” Dayton put his hands up, his badge facing her. “I’m here for Elle. To take her in. You’re not in any trouble if you don’t interfere.”
“I told you they’d find you here, Elle.” She shook her head as her gaze caught mine. “I told you.”
She had. And she’d been right. I hated that she was always right. She’d been right when I slacked off in school and didn’t apply myself, graduating with grades barely high enough to graduate let alone go to college. She’d been right about me running off to California with the hopes of stardom on my mind. She’d been right about me coming to her. I should have left the first time the cops had shown up, but she was all I had. Despite our bumpy relationship, over the past week we’d just begun to make progress—to becoming sisters in the way that mattered for possibly the first time in our lives.
And now…
Now I was about to be taken away and locked in a cell for the next five to ten years – maybe longer when you tacked on the failure to appear for my trial charge. I wanted to fall to my knees, break down, and cry at his feet. I wanted to just fall apart and allow the stress to overcome me.
But I couldn’t.
I had to be strong. Maybe I could still beat this?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to her.
“I’ll give you a few minutes to get some clothes on and then we’ll hit the road.”
He slung my bag of money over his shoulder and waited impassively.
ELLE
“Watch your head,” Dayton instructed as he urged me into the passenger seat of the black SUV.
It took a little maneuvering considering my hands were still cuffed behind my back, but I managed to slide in and sit upright in the seat as he slammed the door behind me.
I watched as he rounded the front of the vehicle. He was tall. Easily six feet. And broad-shouldered. His dark hair was short, just long enough that his fingers could run through the locks as he blew out a huff of air before opening the door to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
His stride was confident, bordering on arrogance. He was a former cop. I knew it. Knew the type. My father had been a cop, so I’d grown up around law enforcement officers. They all seemed to have the same type of swagger in their step which was always a dead giveaway.
“How long were you a cop?” I asked as he took a seat next to me.
He frowned, surprise registering in his dark eyes. “I’m not a cop.”
