She says we’ll be moving to—
“Western Connecticut?” Ben says from next to me. “Why there?”
“Exactly,” Mom says. “Your father will think we’re headed back to Indiana. Ivan’s already put out clues to that effect. And Ivan says he’s going to make it impossible for us to be traced this time. He said to trust him.”
We do. We trust him. He’s always been on our side.
“There’s one more thing.” She pauses.
“Mom?” I ask in confusion.
“We’re not going by MacDonald anymore,” she says in too calm of a voice.
Ben shifts next to me. “What are we going by?”
“Rosewood.” Mom puts on her signal and pulls into a non-descript strip mall. “Remember we used that name now and again at the motels we stayed at on our drive to New England? Well, we’re going to use it formally now.”
“But that’s just a random name we came up with for kicks one night when we needed to stay anonymous,” Ben says. “That’s not ourname.”
“We need to be anonymous again,” Mom says in a flat tone.
“Forever?” I say.
“It will be okay,” is her only answer.
She drives around back and parks next to a black van. On the other side of the black van is a non-descript silver SUV.
Ivan steps out of the driver’s side of the van.
He gives us a nod in greeting and then proceeds to hand us our chance at a new life.
New IDs with our new last name, burner phones for the summer until “he’s sure my father’s sufficiently off our trail,” and four individual credit cards with our new names. The works. He has it all set up.
“And this here is your new car.”
“Oh, Ivan,” Mom says, wringing her hands nervously. “How can we possibly repay you for all of this? I can’t afford this car…”
“It’s yours, and I won’t hear another word about it.” His tone is gentle but offers no room for argument. “It will keep you safe.”
And he has a pep talk for us as well.
“Don’t get too close to anyone on this getaway,” he says to me and my brothers. His expression is deadly serious. “Hang out, and have a good time. But keep your distance. This isn’t a good time to make any lifelong friendships, you hear me? That will come later when you’re safe and settled. But not on this trip. Colorado is for shaking the devil and starting fresh. Deal?”
“Deal,” we all say.
Ivan points at the cards that provide us with our new identities. “This will keep you safe. Memorize the details. Your fake address, new last name—all of it. Make sure it all rolls off your tongue. That address isn’t real anyway—your actual new home has yet to be determined. But get used to saying western Connecticut.”
“You must have been up all night getting this done,” Mom says to him, shaking her head in wonder.
“It’s worth it.” Ivan looks at all four of us, his dark eyes filled with anger and his gray beard nearly covering his mouth. “You’re worth it.”
I step forward and hug him. “Thank you,” I whisper into his chest. “I’ll never forget this.”
Ivan pats my head gently like a father would. Like a father should.
I step back from him and notice Nick glancing around the parking lot.
“He’s still lurking around here, isn’t he?” Nick says in a pissed-off tone.
