It is enough.
Cade
Ialmost forgot we’re not just Bunny and Cade.
The solitude over the last few days tricked me into believing we’re just two people, folded into each other’s bodies—normal and in love. We laughed and talked and fucked until the sun came and went. Suddenly, we had more money than we knew what to do with, and yet it didn’t matter because the only thing we needed was each other.
Everything was perfect, and what solidified it was that my brain finally stopped screaming. I felt a sense of peace for the first time in years.
And then the news came on, and our faces were plastered for all the world to see.
“Authorities continue searching on Tuesday for a young man and woman suspected in last week's double homicide on Park Avenue. The medical examiner’s office identified the two victims killed as Nathan Alexander McDermot, 40, and Colette Renee Sulivan, 33. Both victims were found deceased in their upscale Manhattan apartment?—"
“Fuck,” Bunny whispers, gaping at the screen beneath the covers. My gut sinks, and the noise in my head returns.
Fuck.
“Investigators don’t yet know the motive behind the June 14th slaughter in the Upper East Side of Manhattan’s Historic District. The victims' families are distraught over the news, claiming the two were beloved by all. McDermot comes from a long line of investment bankers, and Sulivan was a renowned photographer with many successful galleries across the state.”
I feel my knees weaken, so I plant my feet in the carpet and breathe. My fingers go numb from clenching the towel around my waist, but I can’t look away.“The two suspects were last seen driving a 1975 white Ford convertible with a chipped bumper and the license plate number N7LT687. If you see these two, authorities have advised you not to confront them. They are considered armed and dangerous. Police asked anyone with information on their whereabouts to call them at 555-265-5243 or to submit an anonymous tip at 555-0010.”
Bunny, now on her knees, holds her hand against her chest, clawing at my shirt draped over her body. I can see the panic building in her glare, a storm brewing in the deep blue. Losing my ability to speak, I do the only thing I can and rush to shut it off. I can still see our sketched faces, though, as if we’re burned into the glass.
“Shit.”
Behind me, Bunny scratches divots in her scalp, chiding, “I should have known… I should have known… I didn’t even think…”
Unable to process anything but the sound of blood and static in my ears, I do the only thing I know how.
Survive.
“We gotta go,” I deadpan. “Now!” Throwing on the first thing I see, I scavenge the room, throwing everything we’ve collected onto the bed beside her knees. “Now, Bunny!” tossing her some clothes, “Get dressed! We’re going.”
“Where are we going to go?” she asks with a tremor, but I’m too busy to answer. I’m too—I don’t know. I don’t know. “Cade.”
“Bunny!I don’t know!I don’t know!” I break, feeling every piece of armor I’ve built crack. “But we can’t stay here! They have the car. They haveour faces!”Drawings, but close enough to matter. “How long before they find us? Huh? Theycan’tfind us here. We can’t do that to Susie.”
“I know,” Bunny sighs, slipping too-big pants over her legs, “but where do we go? What do we do with the car?”
Shit. I don’t fucking know.“There are tons of alleys,” I throw out. “We’ll drop it in one, and when they find it, Susie will report it stolen.” There. One problem solved.
“And then what?”
Fuck! “And then,” I rack my brain searching for every possible solution, but my mind comes up empty. Like wind, every idea slips through my fingers, all of them unattainable. “And then I don’t know. I don’t know, Bun.”I’m defeated.“I didn’t think this far.”I’ve failed.“I just wanted you to be safe.” And now her face is on the national news.
I don’t feel my knees crunch when they hit the floor. I also hardly notice the tears flooding my eyes, but the hole growing in my chest, threatening to devour me completely… that refuses to be ignored. I try to snuff out the pain by pressing my face into the bed. Maybe suffocation is all I need, but the arms come to rest around me, and a head lies on top of mine.
Delicate hands find my cheeks, cradling them softly. “Hey,” Bunny whispers, pulling me away. She doesn’t give me the opportunity to bury my face again, climbing onto my lap.
My tears.
Fuck.
Blinking, I try to rip my face out of her hands, but Bunny holds firm, eyes hardening when I try to hide myself. It’s astruggle to let her see, but in the end, I give up and give in, letting her see the broken parts.
She doesn’t turn away.
She isn’t disgusted.
