Page 16 of No Escape

Suzie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Fugitives? Why would we be considered fugitives?”

Valerie sighed, rubbing her brow, doing her best to release the growing tension inside of herself.

“We’ve both broken our care orders by leaving Shady Pines, and the authorities will want to know if we had any hand in what happened to the victims there. We’re already in deep enough trouble as it is. We need to handle this ourselves,” Valerie concluded. The thought of Joshua’s life being at stake made her more determined than ever.

She turned to Suzie, “You’re right, though, we need to dosomethingwhile en route to Joshua’s. Can I use your phone?”

Suzie hesitated for a moment before handing Valerie her cell phone. Valerie dialed the number for a local police station and, disguising her voice, left an anonymous tip.

“Joshua Murphy of 26 Maple Drive in Redtree City is in great danger from an escaped killer named John Murphy. You need to send a patrol car to his house immediately to help protect him,” Valerie relayed urgently.

When the police operator asked for her name, Valerie hung up without a word. She then turned to Suzie and, with a hint of regret in her eyes, dropped the phone into a nearby trash bin.

Suzie’s eyes widened in shock. “What are you doing?!”

Valerie sighed. “I’m sorry, Suzie, but phones can be traced. We can’t risk being found before we have a chance to stop Murphy.”

“Why dowehave to do it?” Suzie asked.

“I… I caught him once before, a year ago,” Valerie said. “I know how he thinks, how he moves.”

Suzie never answered, instead looking around to the vacant lot outside the gas station.

Valerie could feel the loneliness of the place seeping into her bones.

The storm raged around them, its wrath relentless, as Valerie led Suzie out of the gas station and onto the rain-soaked road. The wind howled like some malevolent spirit, tearing at their clothes and stinging their faces. They huddled close together, seeking warmth and comfort in the face of the storm’s fury.

“Maybe we could try to hitchhike,” Valerie shouted over the maelstrom, her voice barely audible above the wind’s demonic cacophony.

But Suzie shook her head, her eyes gleaming with a sudden intensity. “I have a better idea,” she said, grabbing her sister’s hand and leading her down a side street.

As they moved through the tempest, police cars screamed past, their sirens wailing like banshees in the night. The sisters pressed themselves against the cold, wet brick of a nearby building, waiting for the ghostly blue and red lights to fade into the distance.

Suzie pulled Valerie toward a used car lot, the vehicles within standing like silent sentinels in the storm. Lightning flashed overhead, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the rows of cars.

“This way,” Suzie whispered, her voice barely audible over the storm’s onslaught. She led Valerie to an old, beat-up truck that looked as though it had seen better days. The paint was chipped and faded, the rust creeping over its body like a cancer.

Valerie watched, astonished, as Suzie climbed into the driver’s seat and quickly hotwired the vehicle. The engine roared to life, a defiant growl against the storm’s wrath.

“I’m full of surprises, sis,” Suzie said with a smile. “Get in.” She shifted the truck into gear and pulled out of the lot. “When you weren’t around as much, I learned a few things.”

Valerie felt a crack of guilt pulse through her, as the skies pulsed too with lightning. She knew she hadn’t always been there for her sister. She had put herself in harm’s way to protect her when they were younger and their mother had grown violent with delusions. But slowly she had checked out. By the time they were in their early twenties, a gulf had opened up between them. A rift caused by Suzie’s desire to stay in touch with their mom, and Valerie’s desire to never speak to her again.

Neither of these things were true any longer.

“I’m here now,” Valerie said, softly.

“I know,” said Suzie, squeezing her sister’s hand.

As they sped off toward Redtree City, the storm and the flashing blue and red lights of the police cars receded into the darkness behind them. The rain pelted the windshield, a relentless barrage, and the wind continued to howl like some tormented soul.

“Do you think we’ll get there in time?” Suzie asked, her voice tense with concern.

Valerie clenched her jaw, her knuckles white on the steering wheel. “I don’t know,” she admitted, the weight of uncertainty pressing down on her. “He could already be dead. Let’s just hope we make it.”

Together, the sisters raced against time and the storm’s fury, their lives and the life of Joshua Murphy hanging in the balance. The night stretched out before them, a vast, impenetrable abyss, and they plunged into it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

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