Then she said, “Yes. Yes, I think we might be pretty bad.”
But she laughed, and Mack laughed too; he didn’t know what else to do. The fear that she might just walk away would not let go of him; he kept waiting for the end, for the final fatal blow that only Hailey could deliver.
She read his mind: “You’re not alone, okay? I know it feels like it will never stop. Like it could follow us everywhere.”
It did feel like that, like Sunshine Enterprises would be burning down on them for the rest of their lives. Mack closed his eyes at the endlessness of it.
“Except what if it couldn’t?” His eyes were open again; they settled on the photo of the pioneers. “What if it couldn’t follow us everywhere?” He put his finger to his lips, then, from his Spotify, he turned on some Hendrix.
“What are you doing?”
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear—he had learned to be careful. “What if we run? What if we just disappear? All of us, all four of us.”
“You’re serious?” There was shock on her face and in the loudness of her voice. But Mack pressed on; he had made up his mind.
He kept his mouth on her ear. “My father did it. Remember? His only regret was that he left us behind. I won’t do that. I need you. I need the girls. We could go together.”
“Your father ended up in prison.”
“So we disappear better. Run farther. If we stay, I’ll end up in prison anyway. You might too, and then Mabel and Gigi would be alone.”
She was quiet. She was actually considering it, Mack could tell. She was as crazy as he was, deep in the cracks where it mattered.
“What’s here for us? Even if we fight this and win, what’s left? A mountain of debt. A house that’s falling down. Public humiliation. Two jobs in the toilet.”
“My parents,” Hailey said, and selfishly, the tears that slid down her cheeks brought Mack hope. She was thinking it through.
“We’d have to really disappear for a while, but then... Someday maybe... But your parents are in danger too. Maybe if we’re gone, they won’t be.” Mack knew what he was asking of her, how hard it would be. But it was the only way he could think of to maybe save them all.
“How would we even do it?” Her voice had dropped, and Mack’s heart quickened when she slid her cheek along his to bring her lips close to his ear. “I mean, can you really disappear in this world? With two kids?”
“I guess it depends on how quickly they start looking for us. The police, I mean. And Sunshine Enterprises.” Mack thought the latter was probably the one they really had to worry about, the one most capable of finding them.
“Where would we go? They’d track the car.” He could barely hear her now her words were so soft.
“So let them track it to the airport.”
Hailey nodded—the tiniest brush of her hair on his cheek, but it meant everything. “We could buy the tickets in person. It’s vacation season anyway, so it might not be that unusual. We could... we could say we’re choosing where to go at the last minute. That we’re travel influencers or something, and this is our thing.”
“Then we get as far away from here as we can,” Mack said. “One flight at a time.”
Hailey was silent and still for what felt like an eternity; he knew she was arguing the case against herself.
Mack pulled her closer. “We’re all we have left, Hailey,” he told her, pressing his forehead against hers.
“You know it’ll never work,” she said, but then her arms were tight around his back, her whisper so close that it felt like it came from his own mouth: “But we need to hurry.”
62.
Hailey
There was so much to think about.
None of it felt real; the stakes were too high.
The practicalities: Cash. Documents. (Thank God for Pammy and Eddie’s anniversary in Cancun; the girls would never have had passports otherwise.)
Gulliver: His liquid eyes followed their every move, as if he knew they were deciding his fate. Could they take him? Would the airlines allow it, with no more than his piecemeal vet records and leftover tranquilizers? Would wherever they were going let him in? All they could do was try it; they could not risk a Google search.
