Page 24 of Run with Me

“You’ll cover for me, won’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer tothat.

“Of course I will. I love you. No one was hurt, which isgood.”

“It’s not good, John. I wanted to hurt him. I wished he were in that house, burning alive.”

“Anna, don’t say that. You can’t wish anyonedead.”

“But I do wish him dead. I wish all of them dead. They took my boy fromme.”

“And if they did, God will punishthem.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, and God punished me. So you see, we can’t always rely onGod.”

“Anna, that’s blasphemy.” For the first time since taking me into his arms, John pulled back. “I should have known this would happen. Maybe we shouldn’t have kept the paternity a secret?”

My heart stopped for the second time in the pastday.

“What are you saying, John? That this is my fault. That God punished me for not telling the man who raped me that we had offspring?”

“No, Anna, that’s not what I’m saying. But maybe he wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with us. We both know that a kid to Ben would have been a chore.”

“You have regrets.” I gasped and felt my heart break into pieces all over again.

“I don’t, baby. Please believe me. This is all just so wrong.”

I turned back to the window. Satisfaction returned to my chest as soon as I saw the glow. “My punishment will come soon enough because Ben saw me do it. I think he saw me running away,” I lied. John would have no choice but to let me go now. I couldn’t tell John that I was the one who stole the money and left a small fruit as evidence. He would find out anyway, but the less he knew, the better he could deny the truth.

“Shit!” John never swore, which meant that this was worse than bad. This was something I would pay for with my life, and I hadn’t even told John the full story, except my life seemed to be more precious now by a heartbeat. Had I made the right decision? Was this revenge really for thebest?

“Why did you do that, Anna?”

“They took mybaby!”

“You don’t knowthat.”

“Yes, I do! I know they did it. I know that Ben arranged for the bulls to break through the barrier, and he made sure that they foundus.”

John sighed, then took me back into his arms. He held me against his body. I felt a tear fall down my cheek when I realized that this could be one of our last moments together. It had to be – for a while, at least.

“I believe you, Anna. I believe you,” hesaid.

“I have to leave. It’s the onlyway.”

I brought my hand to my stomach, smoothing over it as if Mikey were still in there and comforting the new life growing inside me at the same time. John didn’t let go, as if my suggestion had just hit him and he had to hold on for a little while longer.

“I’m sorry, John. I… actually, I’m not sorry. The only thing I’m sorry about is that Ben wasn’t at his house when it burned down. That way he’d be dead, and I could stay here. He’ll be looking for me the rest of my lifenow.”

John froze. He knew that I was right. He knew that I had to go, although he didn’t know that I’d be taking a new life along with me. But if he asked me, I would stay with him. I’d stay with John and fight.

“Anna, you have torun.”

My chest deflated. “Come with me, then.” I begged.

We loved each other enough to get through this. We could do this together, couldn’twe?

“I need to stay here to steer them away from you. I need to stall Ben, and I need to fight for Pace. I can’t leave the parish and the people. If I leave with you, they’ll know exactly whom it was. At least this way, I can blame your departure on your grief. Anna, I need to bury ourson.”

Mikey.

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