Page 26 of Thorn

“I’m in a big hurry. I’m travelling in France for a short time, and I need a phone I can use while I’m here. A prepaid phone. And a tablet, please.”

The girl hesitated for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the store front window.

“Okay.” The girl rounded the counter. She was probably a teenager. She was short and thin with mousy brown hair and an overbite. She wore a pair of ill-fitting jeans and a T-shirt with some game logo. “The tablet needs to be connected to Wi-Fi to work, unless you just need it for word processing or plugging in a memory stick.”

“Oh.” Juliette hadn’t thought of that. “I do need to access the Internet.”

The girl had moved to the door and was searching the streets, and Juliette didn’t know what to make of it.

“Look,” she said. “You can get to a Wi-Fi signal privately with a hot spot.”

Juliette got the feeling that this girl had some background with working around the system.

“You can buy a thirty-day prepaid on the hotspot that’s secure,” she said more slowly, enunciating more clearly. Obviously taking Juliette’s confused expression to be a language barrier.

“Secure?” Juliette asked.

“Private. Not traceable.”

“Okay. Can I get the phone, the tablet, and the hot spot please?” She pulled out her wallet and fished out a credit card while the girl walked around the store gathering things.

When the girl walked back to the counter to lay the boxes down, she eyed the credit card.

“You know,” she said. “There’s an ATM two doors down in thetabac.”She pointed to the right. “Cash is always good. That and prepaid credit cards.” She tapped the display next to her register with plastic cards that readJoyeux AnniversaireandFélicitations! “When you pay in cash, it’s hard to tell which customer bought which thing.”

Juliette was torn about what this girl was telling her. Perhaps, she realized Juliette was on the run, and she wanted time to call the police. She could be getting Juliette out of the store, so she could lock the door. She could also realize that Juliette was scared and in trouble and be helping her. Surely, Juliette wasn’t the first one to come into the store looking for anonymity. They had a whole wall of prepaid phones available.

Juliette decided that getting to the bank machine was the best route. She hadn’t even considered that before. She held up a finger and spun to walk out of the store.

Turning right, walking two store fronts, Juliette pushed through the door of thetabacinto a dark, cramped space.At the counter, a man was scrolling through his phone and barely looked up when the bells tinkled on the door, announcing her entry. Juliette moved to the ATM. She’d let the bank know before she left the US that she’d be travelling overseas. Hopefully this would work.

She slipped her card into the slot and waited for the prompts. Here, unlike in the US, there wasn’t a list of amounts to choose from increasing in twenty-dollar increments. There was simply a place to type the amount in. Perhaps there wasn’t a limit here like there was in the States.

This credit card was connected to her father’s account. Juliette didn’t have an income; she was completely financially dependent on her dad. An invalid unable to drive, unable to concentrate, unable to do her work as a veterinarian’s assistant.

How much money should she take? A lot. Enough to get her out of France. She processed quickly. The machine only held so much money. How much should she try for? She decided on two thousand euro. Just over two thousand American dollars. Her dad would understand. He’d be glad that she did this to stay safe.

Juliette put the amount in, entered her PIN number, and held her breath.

After a moment, there was a whir and the machine moved the money into the drop.

With a shaking hand, Juliette pulled the pile out. She gave the man a quick glance to make sure he was still engrossed. The man at the cash register was busily tapping a text message, he hadn’t noticed what she was up to.

Juliette shoved the wad into her waist band under her turtleneck sweater.

As she hustled out of the door, Juliette decided to use cash for the rest of her purchases, so no one would know the supplies she’d collected. But the prepaid cards were a good idea, too. After all they said Visa and Master Card on them. There weren’t many motels that allowed people to stay just by handing them cash.

With a hand on the wall to help her stay steady, Juliette made her way back to purchase the electronics, and the access they’d give her to options. Even if the girl had locked the door to the shop, Juliette had cash.

Money meant choices.

Money was power.

Chapter Fourteen

Thorn

Brussels, Belgium

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