Page 144 of Keep This Promise
Finally, someone is going to give me those. “What answers do you have, Mr. Cole?”
“When we get to the car, I’ll provide you with what I can. May I help you with your bags first?” he asks.
I appreciate the offer more than he knows. I had to manage them when we arrived in Atlanta and went through customs. Then I found out we weren’t going to Las Vegas, and instead, we were taking a train to Charlotte, where we were actually supposed to catch our flight to Vegas. When we got to the gate, they informed us our flight was cancelled and that we had to go to the service counter for additional information. I hadn’t expected Carol, who was Theo’s work friend in Atlanta, to be waiting there to give us new directions and show us to a car. We were driven to yet another airport where a private jet was waiting to fly us to Las Vegas. It has been a nightmare, and Eden and I have each had at least two meltdowns. We are worn out, and the idea of doing more of this is just too much.
While I would much prefer the answers first, this is a kindness I need. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”
Jackson lifts the bags as I walk with Eden through the airport to the black SUV with tinted windows. My steps slow because I don’t know this man, and I have no idea where we’re going. What if he’s the bad guy?
He opens the boot and loads our bags while I stand here, unsure if I should turn and run.
“What assurances do you need?” Jackson asks.
“What?”
“You look worried, and I understand that. You’re in a new country, unsure of what’s going on, your husband died, and you don’t know me. If you weren’t hesitant, I would be concerned. I don’t want to force you into the vehicle, Sophie. I want you to trust that I will protect you and your daughter as I was hired to do.”
I worry my lower lip and then find the words I was searching for. “You have to tell me where we’re going and what exactly my husband was involved in.”
“We’re going to drive to Idaho, where we will meet up with a new member of my team. He will provide you and Eden with new identities, and then he will escort you to where Theo wanted you to stay.”
“Why can’t you go?”
Jackson smiles sadly. “I can’t. The place he settled on is somewhere that I need to avoid for a bit.”
“Did you do something illegal there?” I ask.
“No, but I have friends there who would question the timing of my showing up at the same time as you, and that would leave you and Eden vulnerable. I won’t do that. It would require an elaborate lie, which isn’t possible. Lies always have a way of exposing themselves. It’s better to stay as close to the truth as we can and avoid complications wherever possible.”
I laugh. “I don’t even know what the truth is.”
“Maybe that’s the best thing. Your ignorance can be your salvation. If you’re questioned and know nothing, isn’t that for the better?”
I look away, the frustration building and threatening to release as tears. “How would you feel if this were your life, Mr. Cole? Your best friend dies, and you can’t even hold his hand. Then you are told to leave your life behind—with no context or money. You get on a plane, going somewhere other than where someone might have known, and arrive in a place you don’t have fond memories of, only to be told you’re leaving again. It’s as though . . .”
Jackson leans against the back of the vehicle. “As though?”
I huff. “As though we are trying to evade everything I am.”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing. From the moment you landed, someone could have tracked you. The steps you’re taking are to ensure that, if someone is watching, which Theo believed they would be, they would have lost you by now. So, us driving, changing your identities, and then moving again allows us to muddy your trail even more so you don’t have to continue to run.”
Eden lifts her head as I shift her. “I’m hungry, Mummy.”
“I know, darling. We’ll get food, I promise.”
She looks to Jackson. “Hello.”
He smiles. “Hello, Eden. My name is Jackson.”
She buries her head in my neck, and I smile. “She takes a bit to warm up.”
“I understand. I have two daughters.”
For some reason, that small fact comforts me. “And if your daughter were in my shoes, what would you do?”
Jackson cracks his knuckles. “The sad thing is, my wife and children are aware that, at any point, their worlds can come crashing down. The job I do has risks, and we prepare for that, which is what Theo did. The mistake he made was that he didn’t share the risks with you and Eden until moments before he died, much to my disagreement. If you were my wife or daughter, I would tell you to trust your gut. If you think I’m lying or a threat, then don’t get in this car, but if you trust me and that phrase I said from the beginning is enough, then we need to leave.”
My gut. God, I don’t even know what to think, but he knows about goat tacos. That has to mean something, right?
