Page 63 of Scar

“No,” Tally argued. “I’m thinkingveryclearly.”

She felt the slight breeze of air as Simone lowered her hands. “Oh, really? And how do you expect to get past not only my husbandandyour ex-boyfriend, but also thebodyguardsyour father put on you?”

Shit. Maybe she wasn’t thinking that clearly after all.

“Also, according to my GPS, Mount Grove is over a ten-hour drive away. What are you planning on doing, hot-wire a car and drive yourself there using echolocation?”

Fuck. Okay, so maybe Simone had some fair points.

Tally’s shoulders sagged in defeat. Taking a rideshare there would be expensive as fuck. Maybe she could take a train? Fly? No, her dad would be able to track all of that. If she wanted to get to Mount Grove without her dad knowing about it, she’d have to use cash. She’d also have to leave her phone behind.

“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. Tom is going to need to get out of here with the kids, but that will give you a chance to pack or at least put on something other than your pajamas.” Tally felt her cheeks heat. “Mark can distract the guards while you and I sneak down to my car. I’ll take us to the airport?—”

“Not the airport,” Tally corrected. “My dad can track that.”

“Then, what? You want to drive there?”

“We can split it up,” Tally encouraged. “Do five or six hours today and then the rest tomorrow morning. We’ll be there by lunch time.”

“You say that as ifwewill be driving,” Simone grumbled. “Well, if you’re worried about your dad tracking us, then we’ll also have to get some cash.”

“I have some in my safe. It’s not much, but it’ll get us there and back. We’ll need to avoid tolls too.”

“Which might take us longer.” Simone sighed. “I’ll go tell Tom. Start packing. He’ll get the kids and take a taxi back to our house. I’ll have him pack a bag for me and whatever cash we have too.”

“What if Mark doesn’t agree to distract the guards?” Tally asked, worried. He wouldnotbe happy when he learned Tally and Simone were planning on running away to a different state to meet up with a motorcycle club. And Tally did not have time to argue with him about it.

“Well, I’ll just remind him of a certain picture I have of him that he’d rather not have published on social media.”

Tally’s eyebrows raised. “What picture is this?”

“Let’s just say it involves a company Christmas party and a very, um, drunk elf doing a very poor lap dance on your ex.”

“What? When was this?”

“Years ago, before you moved here,” Simone assured her. Then more hurriedly said, “Get packing. I’ll go talk to the guys.”

Tally heard her bedroom door open and called out, “Hey, Si?”

Her best friend’s footsteps stopped. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” Tally felt her eyes well up in gratitude for what Simone was about to do for her. “I mean it.”

“I keep telling you, Tally, I’m here for you. Always. That’s what best friends are for. It’s about time you believed me.”

Tally smiled at her. “I do. Really.”

Simone walked out, leaving Tally alone in her bedroom. Tally brought Scar’s cut up to her face once more, taking in the earthy scent. Finally, she was going to get answers. Then, hopefully, she’d be able to do something to help her mystery man.

CHAPTER16

The first few hours they were on the road were tense. Tally’s excitement about finally getting out of her apartment and heading to Pennsylvania quickly died as she took in the gravity of what they were about to do. Anyone could present themselves as ‘nice’ on the internet. Was she leading Simone into a hornet’s nest?

But she couldn’t believe her mystery man—shit, Scar—thatScarwould associate himself with people who would do her harm. Fuck, maybe she was being naïve. Maybe there was a way she could convince Simone to get her to Mount Grove and then leave. Either stay at a hotel in town or head back to Atlanta.

They stopped for the night just over the border of Virginia near Blacksburg. Not wanting to use a chunk of their cash on a fancy hotel, they pulled into a motel parking lot to stay the night. Tally kept a firm hold of her cane as Simone got their bags out of her car and led them to their outside door.

The silence between them held a lot of tension, but Tally wasn’t sure how to fix it. Simone was helping her because she was herfriend. That was it. Friends helped each other. Had Tally been pushing for independence for so long that she hadn’t even realized just how much at arm’s length she’d kept herself from her own best friend?

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