Hitching A Ride
Pacing the bedroom, Genesis was trying to find ways to get out. After kicking and smashing at the door, which was locked from the outside, she tried the windows. They were four floors up. Though he only brought her up one flight of stairs, it was apparent one side of the house was higher than the other and this side was the taller one.
Moving back to the window she watched as Kiefer left the house, his face and neck a bright shade of red as if in a rage. His footsteps Wer
fast and then he was pressing a key fob to open the garage. In minutes he came tearing out of the garage in a sports car and was gone through the gates and onto the street, his tires blackening the asphalt as they spun.
He was gone. He’d left. She wasn’t sure how long he was going to be gone but she realized this was the time for her to escape. She needed to find a way out of this room and this house. Racing back to the door she tugged and pulled and kicked it again. Looking all around the room she was searching for something to break through the door.
on
Her eye caught the lamp the nightstand, and she grabbed it. It was heavy and made of metal. She removed the shade and the bulb and then unplugged it. Swinging it multiple times she bashed the doorknob. If she could break the doorknob off, she could get the door
open.
“Come on, Genesis, you need to do this and get home.” Astra
and Egan were waiting for her at their rendezvous spol.
She felt her heart stop when the doorknob dangled precariously. She smashed it three more times and finally it fell to the floor. She fidgeted with the internal mechanisms of the knob which were stuck holding the door closed and then got it opened. Sticking her head into the hall, she listened for voices.
Tiptoeing down the stairs Kiefer carried her up, she could hear yelling coming from a room near the bottom. Ducking behind a door she covered her mouth to try to hide the sound of her breathing.
Tadgh, Jerren, and Aoife were arguing.
“You didn’t like her either Tadgh!”
“Are you kidding me right now?” Tadgh grumbled. “I always liked her, but I didn’t like the way she made him react. He was so into her, he wasn’t thinking clear. He fucking married her within weeks of meeting her. He was reckless and unlike himself and it freaked me the hell out. But then I spent time with her. I got to know her. I learned about her. She was a good woman, Aoife and you destroyed our brother’s happiness over a bullshit scheme of wanting to have Laoise as your sister.”
“She deserves it more.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s done things for this family and that bitch hasn’t.”
Hitching A Ride
3/8
“By your logic, you shouldn’t be part of the family then. You’ve never done anything for the family business.”
Genesis decided she’d heard enough. She looked around for
an exit and her eyes widened at the sight by the front door. Someone had dropped her backpack and shopping bag by the front door. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?
She ran to the door and grabbed the bags and then ran back into the house, ducking into a side room. She knew better than to try to simply walk out the front door. There were bound to be soldiers everywhere.
She transferred some of her things from the shopping bag into the backpack and then looked at the cheap cell phone. She needed to find a way to get it charged. For now, though, her main priority was to escape. She peeked back out of the room she was in and then made her way to the back of the house. Slipping through, she exited out the back door and onto a small patio. A pool was there, and she noted the pool house at the far end.
Entering the pool house, she hid for a moment when she heard people coming towards her.
“I can’t believe he shot Barry.”
“I can’t believe I have to clean it up. Fucking gross. He must have really pissed the boss off to get shot in the face.”
“Well, let’s take his body to the shop. We’ll get rid of it but man, we need to find out what the fuck he did. This guy barely spoke
Hitching A Ride
two words and now he has no face.”
4/8
She covered her mouth to stop the gasp from coming up. Kiefer killed Barry. She couldn’t remember his name earlier, but she knew now Barry was the man who used to hold her down for sexual favors from Aoife.
Her heart thundered as she waited for the men to go in the direction she’d been heading. Where the hell was, she going to go to get out of here? She came out of the pool house and then raced through the garden and prayed she came across the end of the property sometime soon. After nearly thirty minutes she found herself looking at another house. There was another house. She didn’t know who lived there but she prayed it wasnili someone who kept guard dogs.
Putting her toes into the chain link fence and climbing it, she scratched her legs as she scampered down the other side. She froze at the sound of people talking and she ducked behind a bush and noted an older lady sitting and talking to a younger
man.
She twisted her lips at the scene she was spying on when the man called the woman Mom and poured her lemonade. Someday she hoped Egan would come visit her like this and take care of her the way this man was taking care of his mother.
Sliding along the side of the house she threw yet another prayer of thanks to whatever guardian angel was watching her today. There sitting in the middle of the driveway was a motorcycle, key in the ignition and a helmet sitting on the seat.
Hitching A Ride
5/8
Could she steal a motorcycle? She was running from the Irish mob. Of course she could steal a motorcycle. Adjusting the backpack on her back, she crossed her fingers she didn’t kill herself before hitting the road. Deciding against starting it up in the driveway, she coaxed it down the drive and reminded herself of the time she and Astra toured Ireland on motorcycles. It was when she’d met Kiefer. They’d gotten turned around and ended up in an unsavory section of town. Walking into a pub to ask for directions, she’d stumbled over the broken sidewalk and straight into Kiefer’s arms. They’d made love the first day and didn’t stop for a full year every chance they got.
She pushed the thought away and then climbed on the bike. It was a bit big for her, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She revved the engine, grateful for the luck she was finding.
It didn’t take much time for her to drive through the streets and while she didn’t really know where she was going, she did know she was putting distance between herself and Kiefer O’Reilly. When the streets started getting busier and more crowded, she found a place to park the bike. Hopping off she ducked into a café. Ordering a tea, she was never going to drink, she sat in the furthest corner of the room, her eyes on the door and waited for her phone to charge.
Two girls sitting at the next table were talking about going to
to visit one of the girl’s mother.
Sacramento
“Hey, sorry to eavesdrop. Did you say you were going to. Sacramento?”
“Yes.”
Hitching A Ride “Today?”
“Yes, we’re leaving here soon. Why?”
“I’ll give you a grand in cash if you take me with you.”
The two women blinked. “Are you a criminal or something?”
6/8
“Nope. Running from an angry ex husband. He’s probably going to watch all the bus stations here in town. I only need to get to Sacramento so I can catch a bus or train to Seattle and then to
Vancouver.”
“Is he dangerous? Will he hurt us if he catches up to you?”
“God no.
He’s infuriated because I called him out for having his girlfriend in the house. He tried to tell me they were friends, and when I caught them in bed it was only because they fell asleep watching a movie on his tablet. He thinks because I’m pregnant I should forgive him but I’m not the forgiving type.” The lies were falling like rain.
“A grand?” one of the girls asked.
“Yeah. It’s all the money I have,” she kept up the bullshit, “but a friend of mine is going to wire me money once I get there. She lives in Canada. I’m going to visit her until I figure out next steps, you know? I’ve been with him for years and I knew he was cheating, I just knew it!” she let some tears fall for good
measure.
“Can we see the money up front?”
“Yeah,” she dug into the space where she had her money broken up in sections and pulled the elastic wrapped cash out. “It’s in fifties and one hundreds. I’ll give you half now and half when we get there?”
“Deal. We’re going to finish our coffee and go. It’s a five–hour drive and we should be there by ten. We’re going because my cousin is getting married tomorrow, but we didn’t want to get there too early. We’re a couple,” the girl waved between them, “and my parents are judgemental as hell.”
“I’m sorry to hear this.”
“If you pay us the money, we’ll be able to stay in a hotel instead of my parent’s house,” one of the girls shrugged.
“Okay.” She opened her phone and sent a text to Astra.
“Found a way to Sacramento. Meet you tomorrow.”
“You’re safe?”
The immediate response almost rendered her to tears. She took a breath and typed back.
“For now. Stick with the plan to meet in BC. I’ll see you then.”
As she tucked the phone into her bag and followed the two girls out of the café, she prayed she’d be seeing her friend and holding her son as soon as tomorrow. Everything else would
have to wait.
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