Page 58 of After The Storm

“Why?” Kate asked, once again with the damn questions when all he wanted her to do was follow his directions.

“Because I have to pay this toll to get across the bridge and the less people see of you, the better. Now put your damn head down and do as I say.”

He prayed to God she didn’t ask another question or argue with him over this as he rolled up to pay the toll. The guy in the booth smiled at him, probably wondering where they were going in the middle of the night or more likely wondering what kind of person lived in one of those beautiful homes on that side of the lake and still drove a piece of shit car.

“Gorgeous night, huh?” the worker asked in a very thick southern accent.

Roman handed him the money and tried to keep his disgust tamped down. “Yeah, gorgeous. Have a good one.”

“You too! Night, y’all!”

They drove off across the bridge with Kate’s head still down, and as they reached Metairie on the other side, the car began to buck, jolting forward once and then again before it rolled to stop on a side street. A few seconds later, it made a wheezing sound Roman knew couldn’t be good.

“What happened?” Kate asked, popping her head up.

“I don’t know,” he answered, feeling his anger begin to bubble up inside him.

He tried to start the engine, but it was no use. It was dead.

“Let’s go. We need to get out of sight. Somewhere there aren’t so many streetlights,” he said as he threw the driver’s side door open.

Stepping out into the street, he slammed the door shut and hurried around to Kate’s side. “Come on. The longer we’re out in the open like this, the better chance someone will see us.”

She looked up at him in disbelief. “What are we going to do? Walk? To where? Where are we going?”

Roman had already had enough of this interruption of their night and her questions. Pulling her out of the car onto the sidewalk, he slammed her door shut and pointed down the street. “Walk. Quickly.”

“Where?”

Just then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a police car turn onto the street where they stood. His heart began to pound as he scanned the area to find a way out. He saw nothing closer than a block away.

Sliding his arm around Kate, he began walking with her toward the next intersection. “I need you to walk faster. There’s a cop just down the street. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself, okay?”

“Okay. I won’t,” she said nervously, clinging to his arm as they walked.

The blue and red lights on the cop car began to flash in the windows of a shop as they passed, and Roman knew they had to get out of there fast. “Kate, run! Don’t let go of my hand, but run!”

She tried to look back to see why they needed to leave so quickly, but he pulled her along down the street toward the intersection and hopefully someplace they could hide until he figured out where the hell to take her. They made it to the street and he saw houses with yards.

As the police car came up behind them, they ran into the side yard on the second home in and raced toward the back of the house. The cop turned on the siren, which began to blare through the neighborhood, and Roman pulled on Kate’s arm to make her run faster.

“Catch up! We need to find a way out of here!” he barked back at her.

She didn’t answer, but he felt her hand slip from his hold and seconds later, he saw her on the ground writhing in pain as she held her foot. “I twisted my ankle.”

Roman stopped and looked around for the cop. “You need to get up, Kate. Now.”

“I can’t. I twisted it or something.”

Lifting her onto her feet, he took her hand again. “We have to get out of here before that cop finds us. Try running.”

She put pressure on her right foot and nearly collapsed to the ground. With tears in her eyes, she cried, “I can’t! What are we going to do?”

They had no choice. They needed to get out of that yard before they were trapped. Scooping her up into his arms, he held her close to his body. “Put your arms around my neck and hold on tight. I’m going to get us out of here. Don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry, Roman. I’m sorry I messed everything up.”

He looked into her tear-filled eyes and tried not to be furious with her for fucking up their perfect hiding place. “It’s fine. Just hold on tight.”

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