I pull it out and set it on my bed, then go to my desk. The fake IDs are taped under the bottom drawer. I learned that trick from a thriller novel, which is either genius or pathetic. Two passports, three driver’s licenses, all with my face and different names. Anna Kim is just one of several identities I’ve created over the past three years, but it’s the one I like the best because it’s closest to the real me. These IDs are my insurance policy, the ones I bought from a very expensive forger during my first desperate weeks on the run. I add them to the bag along with the hard drives with backups of backups of backups. Every piece of evidence I collected, every file I copied, every email I saved. The information they want, the information that could bring down some very powerful people.
The evidence that got someone killed.
My hands pause as painful memories flood my mind. My closest friend at the university, Dr. Jonas Webb, found dead in his office, apparent suicide. No note. Jonas was my friend and he wasn’t suicidal. Jonas had a wife and twin daughters and a sabbatical planned in Greece. First, he planned with me to give our evidence to the FBI… and then Jonas was dead, and I knew I was next, so I ran.
I keep moving.
Can’t think about Jonas or his wife’s face at the funeral. I watched from across the street, hidden behind sunglasses and a rental car.
Focus. I need to move. Bus station, then switch to a train, then... somewhere. Anywhere. I must leave to keep Ellie and Zoe safe, it’s the only way.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I blink with surprise. It’s a text from Keric.Did you get home safely?
I bite at my lip and stare at the message. He’d called and I missed it and he didn’t leave a voicemail, instead he’s texting. He’s so kind, checking up on me to make sure I’m okay. Normally I’d be sitting on my bed, giddy at the thought of Keric Irontree texting me so quickly after we’d spoken at the wedding.
But instead, I’m filled with dread. The little typing indicator pops up, then disappears, then pops up again like he’s trying to figure out what else to say.
I don’t know what to say either and I need to respond.
Act normal.
I decide to stick with the truth, trying to not say anything that would lead to a long discussion because I’ve got to cut this short.Yes, I’m fine. I enjoyed talking with you tonight.
He responds quickly,Good. Sleep well, Anna.
I whimper in and pout my lips. It’s such a nice response. I sit down hard on my bed, still wearing his jacket. I want to scream because I was so close to having something real in my life. Keric looking at me across that table, saying he’d been paying attention. The possibility of more was right there, so close I could touch it. More than this half-life I’ve been living for three years.
In order to stay alive, I’ve become a ghost.
Dr. Anna Lee, the confident professor who wore bold colors, taught Victorian literature and believed she could make a difference, died the night Jonas did. The woman who replaced her, Anna Kim, is quiet and forgettable. She keeps her head down, her hair short and her life small. She doesn’t get close to people, doesn’t make friends and doesn’t go to weddings. Andshe would never allow hope to blossom when a fierce orc with a crooked nose hands her his jacket.
But I did make one friend…Ellie.
And tonight, for just a few hours, I went further. I forgot to be afraid and keep my distance. I forgot that people who get close to me end up in danger.
The photo from the wedding is still on my living room floor. Me looking at Keric like he’s someone I could trust. Like he’s someone who could be… No.
I delete his messages without responding further and power down my phone. They can track phones. Heat pricks behind my eyes. I made the fatal error of allowing myself to grow close to Ellie and her daughter and now I’ve put them both in danger. I won’t put Keric in danger too. Enough of this dawdling. I’ve got to get going.
One final sweep of the apartment, checking for anything that could identify me, anything that links Anna Kim the teacher to Dr. Lee. My hand lands on my faculty ID for Black Oak Academy. Professional photo, hair in that severe bob, tortoiseshell glasses. Anna Kim printed across the bottom.
I drop it on the counter. Let them find it. Let them think Anna Kim is running scared, leaving everything behind. Let them wonder which identity I’ll use next.
They’re not wrong about the running scared part. In the bathroom, I stare at myself in the mirror. Short black hair, no makeup, Keric’s leather jacket swallowing my frame. I look exhausted and defeated, exactly like someone who’s been running for three years and just found out it was all for nothing.
I let out a bitter laugh.
At least my skin looks good.
I refocus and shrug off the jacket. I can’t take anything that connects me to them. I drape it carefully over the back of my desk chair, smoothing out the creases. My fingers linger on theworn leather. “I’m sorry,” I whisper to the empty room. Sorry I can’t call him, can’t explain. I’m about to disappear and he’ll think... what? That I’m flaky? Rude? That whatever connection we had was all in his head? Better that than him dead.
I grab my plain black, waterproof coat and shoulder my go-bag. One last look at my apartment. The photos are still scattered on the floor, evidence of Dr. Lee’s past spread across Anna Kim’s present. The box they came in sits on my coffee table like a threat. I should burn it all, but I can’t risk the smoke, the attention. I’ll leave it. Let whoever finds it deal with the cleanup. The FBI is probably still looking for me. The thought makes me laugh, sharp and humorless. They’ve been searching for three years—the witness who ran with all the evidence. I have zero trust though, considering Jonus died right after he’d gone to them. I’m the missing piece of their investigation and here I am, about to disappear even deeper because I made a friend and went to a wedding and caught feelings for an orc.
Not just any orc. Keric Irontree, who everyone avoids because he’s supposedly “scary,” which is total nonsense considering he made sure I got back inside the school building safely when Garlen lost control. He stood so close I felt the heat coming off his body, but not so close that I felt trapped.
I’m going to miss him and Ellie and my life in Truckee, the students and my job too. All of it. But there’s no time for regrets or what-ifs or any other pathetic emotions.
It’s after midnight now and I’m wearing a long, puffy coat and sensible boots.
