Page 7 of Protective Assignment
Even though Hannah had offered to get her a coffee so the two of them could talk, River had excused herself and returned to her room, locking the door behind her and sliding the wooden chair from the desk against it to make it a little harder to open.Force of habit—she would always think about protecting herself, no matter what the circumstances she found herself in happened to be.
She perched on the edge of the bed, looking out the window to the parking lot to make sure she didn’t miss anyone trying to make their approach.She wasn’t going to let anyone get the jump on her, even if Cade had gone out of his way to try and assure her this place was safe.She didn’t trust him yet, though—she didn’t trust anyone, not when it came to getting where she needed to go.
But this place…it seemed like it made sense for her to arrive here.It was like a rehab, right?A place where people could come to fix themselves up after they’d been through hell.Ironic that she could probably use some of the help they offered, but she wasn’t going to stick around long enough to take advantage of it.They would probably get tired of giving her sanctuary soon enough anyway, especially when they realized she wouldn’t be able to pay them.
That was not a problem, though.She’d get back out on the road, keep moving, and she could work on whatever she needed to when she had finally arrived at her end goal.She wasn’t going to let the fact that she didn’t exactly knowwherethat was stop her journey.
She pulled the knife from where she had stashed it inthe pocket of the jeans Hannah had brought up for her.It felt good to be in clean clothes after so long, even if they didn’t really fit.Just being able to shower and eat had been a weight off her shoulders.The roast beef she’d had tonight had been the best thing she’d ever tasted.Even though her stomach was full, her mouth still watered for more.
Her eyes started to get heavy, and she wrapped her fingers tighter around the knife as she began to doze off.She knew she needed to rest, but it was hard to let go of the control she had been hanging on to for so long, even for a single night.She knew that she was relatively safe at the moment, but letting down her guard after months of her body being in fight-or-flight mode was hard to do.
Eventually, though, she nodded off with the knife still grasped in her hand, until she was woken with a start by the sound of engines in the parking lot.
She sprang up, eyes wide and heart racing, and darted to the window to peer into the parking lot.The first light of dawn was already filtering through the trees.A couple of cars had arrived, along with a large van.A handful of what looked to be hikers climbed out, spilling into the parking lot.Her eyes scanned the faces, trying to see if she recognized any of them.She searched for a familiar gait, someone looking up at the window for her, anything, but none of them seemed familiar, or to be paying any attention to her.
She relaxed her stance but continued to look around the lot.It was getting busy; there would be too many people around soon.She needed to leave.She had no way to control who came in and out of this place, and that scared her more than she wanted to admit.How could she ever reallyfeel safe if she was constantly second-guessing every person who stepped through the door?
Sliding her gaze past the crowd approaching the entrance, she spotted a row of bikes at the far end of the parking lot.That would do.She could steal one of them, take off, and she would be gone before anyone even noticed.But one look at the gray skies above told her that wouldn’t be a good idea.She wouldn’t get far before the weather turned again, and then, where would she be?Soaked through, back out in the middle of nowhere with no idea how long it would be before another driver was kind enough to pick her up and take her a little farther down the road.And she had no idea if the next one would be as kind as Cade seemed to be.
She sighed and sat back down on the bed, running her fingers over the blade of the knife again.She could stay for a few days, right?Just a little longer.Until the weather cleared, at least.She could get some supplies, make sure she had a decent amount of food in her stomach, and then move on.Give herself a better fighting chance to be full and rested.
As though agreeing, her stomach grumbled pointedly.She needed to get something to eat.Would the cafeteria be open this early?She didn’t think to check for times.She wanted to take advantage of being here as much as she could, no matter how much her instincts were telling her to stay hidden in her room.Eventually, she knew Hannah or Cade would come looking for her, though, so better not to.She would just do better at keeping a low profile, stay out of the way.
In reality, she knew she had already failed at that.What with Cade bringing her here and Hannah trying to befriendher.If it hadn’t been for him, she would have been out there all night, in the pouring rain, freezing and probably ending up sick.Who knew if she would even have survived another night out in the cold like that?Her body was getting frailer with every passing day.With no proper food or sleep and always ready to run, she found her body was slowing down.Though her mind was still focused on her end goal, enough to push her forward, if she didn’t get proper rest and nourishment soon, she wouldn’t make it anywhere.
She removed the band from her hair and tried to run her hand through the tangles with a sigh.She really needed to take the time to run a brush through it thoroughly soon.With as long as she’d kept it and being on the run, it was impossible for it to not look like a rat’s nest all the time.It would actually be best if she cut a good chunk of it off, maybe to her shoulders, so she’d blend in better.Deciding to worry about it later, she did her best to make it look as decent as possible before replacing the band.For the time being, she just wanted to keep her focus on staying safe and making sure she didn’t get too comfortable.
If what Cade had told her was really true, she couldn’t think of anywhere further removed from her previous life than a place meant to rehabilitate people who’d served in the military or in other law enforcement roles.
She kept her head down as she made her way back to the cafeteria, trying to go unnoticed by any of the new guests who had arrived.A few of them were at the front desk, presumably checking in, their attention on Hannah and her instructions.She quickly rushed by as Hannah’s laughter filled the room.
River felt a pang of envy and longing when she heard it, and wondered if she would ever be able to laugh like thatagain.So carefree, with nothing to worry about, nothing to scare her, no reason to hide or be ready to flee from any danger that came her way.
She took a wrong turn coming out of the reception area and wound up in a corridor she didn’t recognize.She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around.Where was she?She was about to turn around and retrace her steps when she heard a voice she recognized.
“Damn it,” the voice muttered in frustration, and River glanced over at the door it was coming from.She slowly pushed it open and there, on the other side, was Cade.She felt a flood of relief when she saw him.She wasn’t sure what it was about him, but there was something comforting about his presence, especially when she was as lost as she was.
As soon as he heard the door open, he looked up and put down the weights he had been holding.He was in what looked like a small gym area, with a handful of fitness machines lining the opposite wall and some free weights closer to the door.He grinned when he saw her, but when he noticed the look on her face, the smile soon faded to a frown.
“What’s up?”he asked her.“Are you okay?”
“I—I’m fine,” she replied, her voice giving her away.“I was just looking for the cafeteria, that’s all.I guess I got turned around.”
He eyed her for a moment, and the way he looked at her, it was as though he could tell there was something more going on inside her head than she wanted to admit.He took a step toward her and she felt her muscles tighten, her mind telling her to get ready to run.
She stood her ground.She didn’t need to run.He wasn’t going to do anything to her.If he was going to hurt her,he would have done it when he picked her up on the side of the road.
His pale gray eyes, the same color as the sky outside, looked at her with a mixture of wariness and concern like she was a wounded animal that could bite at any moment.
“Are you really all right, River?”he asked her softly.
There was something about the way he asked the question that made her stop dead in her tracks.It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to her with such gentleness and genuine caring, like he really gave a damn what her answer would be.She looked away from him quickly, swallowing down a rush of emotions that threatened to rise up and take over.
She didn’t want to admit to him how long it had been since anyone had treated her with kindness, or even basic human decency.It wasn’t his problem.
Sure, he seemed like he genuinely wanted to help her but she still wasn’t going to tell him everything.He probably wouldn’t even believe her if she stood there and told him the truth.It would sound ridiculous.
Feeling the tears sting her eyes, she blinked rapidly to clear them away and looked back up at him, plastering a smile on her face and hoping he couldn’t tell how close she was to breaking down.
