Page 147 of The Archer Brothers

“I’m going to give you cash for your car and drive you the bus station. I’ve wiped out the cameras on the interstate so no one can trace you here. Your new name is Amy Jones. What do you want to call her?”

“Um … I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head.

“What’s her name?”

“Claire.”

He punches a few keys before saying, “Her name is now Chloe Jones. It sounds the same and shouldn’t confuse her. She seems young enough to not have many memories.”

No memories of her father.

I wipe away tears and stare at the new license he’s printed for me. It says I’m from Austin, Texas. I sob when he hands me a new birth certificate for Claire … Chloe, and I see that I’m the only listed parent.

“Amy Jones, whoever it is that’s following you will have a hard time finding you now.”

“I have something to tell you both,” I say, as the tears start. Ray and Claire seem concerned, but I hold up my hand, assuring them that I’m okay, even when I’m not.

Swallowing hard, I glance at my husband, then my daughter. “I’m not who I say I am.”

“What do you mean, Amy?” Ray asks, concern and confusion lacing his voice.

I shake my head, biting my lower lip. Maybe Cara should’ve told them and I could’ve taken the easy way out. I could be a coward and sit stoically while she details my life on the run.

“Six years ago I was living in Coronado, California and married to a Navy SEAL. He deployed when our daughter was two. One day a man came into our home, brought by someone I considered a friend, and tried to hurt our daughter.”

I risk a glance at Claire to see her reaction, but she’s only staring at me.

“I reported him first to the MPs but they didn’t do anything, so I went to the police and filed a report. They brought him in, but didn’t have enough to hold him. Therefore, they had to let him go. The next day, my husband and his team were pronounced dead, and the man—” I have to stop to catch my breath. It’s hard to think about that day, the menace I heard in his voice. “He came back, asking for my daughter, and I did what any mother would do. I ran.”

After clearing my throat, I continue. “A friend told me about a guy who helped people escape. I went and saw him, and he gave Chloe and I new identities, and then drove us to the bus. We got off here when I saw the ‘help wanted’ sign in the window at the gas station.”

“Amy,” Ray covers my hand with his, “I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this now? Why not earlier? Why keep the secret?”

“I’m sorry I lied,” I choke out, covering my mouth to keep some of my cries muffled.

“I’m not worried about the lie. You did what you had to do to protect Chloe.”

“Is my name Claire?”

My eyes dart to hers as I seek her face for any sign that she’s known this entire time.

“Where did you hear that name?” I demand, more forcefully than I intended.

She shrugs. “Some lady at the Green came up and said it.”

Some lady … Frannie. Cara and Ryley were with me, and neither of them would do that. It has to be Frannie. There’s no other woman it could be.

“What’d she say exactly?” I ask as my voice quivers.

“She said, ‘Wow, Claire you’re all grown up’.”

My body temperature is now non-existent as dread courses through my body, making me ice cold.

“She’s here.”

“Who’s here?” Ray asks.

“Frannie … is the woman who brought the man to hurt Claire.” Rising, I start to pace. “I have to call Tucker,” I say, reaching for the phone.

---