“What is this?” I looked at the document she had on her phone. It essentially ceded partial power of attorney over to another party. “Why do you have it?”
“You can find all kinds of legal forms on the internet.” I hated that Vivi had lost her lightness. “I had it so I could sign my share of Dad’s estate over to you. But now I’m thinking we need to sign it over to Archer.”
“What? Why?” Belle’s brows raised almost comically, but she asked the same question on my lips.
“Then he can manage the land while we figure our shit out.” Vivi spoke as if what she said was obvious.
Both Belle and I nodded in agreement.
“Good. You do that.” I turned to Belle. “Make sure the cars have gas, charge it to the farm. I'll go and withdraw all the cash we have in our accounts. Text me your card PINS.”
Belle’s eyes widened. “You want us to split up?”
“It’s the fastest way.” My stomach turned, but I needed them to understand. “The sooner we leave, the more of a headstart we’ll have.”
At the ATM, I fumbled with the keypad and kept my head swivelling as I scanned around hoping no one recognized me. Every car, every noise became an instant threat. It was only as I withdrew the last cash from Vivi’s account that I noticed the camera overhead. “Fuck.” Oh well, they would find out sooner or later we left town.
Within half-an-hour, we were all back. We had a half-baked plan, but none of us had any idea what to do next. Where could we run to? My father had a private plane, but it could easily be tracked. Instead, I texted Archer.
Rory:Arch. Don’t trust anyone. They killed my dad. Mrs Shell has the documents you need. She’ll make sure the PM gets it notarized. If they threaten you, let them know we will appoint another caretaker and we will send what we have to the press. But we need an escape plan.
Archer:I will be deleting these texts as soon as we're done. I will send the numbers of your burner phones to a man calledTex, he’ll be in touch. Do not share those numbers with each other or anyone else. Don’t worry about me. I have enough on them to stay alive.
That surprised me. My threat was flimsy, but it could buy us some time. A breath of relief left me. Archer could take care of himself.
My duffle bag pinged in quick succession to each of my sisters.
I dug into the bag and pulled out the burner phone.
Unknown:Tex here. Get to LEX.
The abbreviation for Blue Grass Airport.
Each of my sisters got the same message. And then each of us got directions on where to park
I dropped my phone in the same trash can as them before I hugged my sisters. Something told me we wouldn’t have time once we arrived at the airport.
I looked at each of them. “See you on the other side of this.”
With tears streaming down my cheeks I climbed into my car and headed west. Once we took the turnoff to the airport, we each headed in different directions. Two men waited for me as I arrived at the spot Tex’s directions led me to.
The bigger of the two men held out his hand. “Name’s Christopher Powers. Friends call me Abe, and this is Wolf.” The other man gave me a curt nod. “We’ll be escorting you for the rest of your journey.”
“Hello.” I gave them each a skeptical glance, assessing them from head to toe. They didn’t look like serial killers. They both had the same posture as Archer. The one he returned from bootcamp with. “Where are we going?”
“We’re headed west, we’ll talk more on the plane.” He took my duffle bag and led the way, Wolf trailed behind. “We’ve got you, Rory. Just Breathe, you’ll be safe soon.”
CHAPTER 1
Rafe
The Mud
Dark.Wet. Cold. Always an awesome combination. And after the day I’d had, it was like the cherry on top.
Calvin’s boots sloshed through the greasy mud as I pulled on the winch once more. “I think it moved a little, what do you think?”
“I think you’re filled with wishful thinking.” In the hour we’d been at it, the truck moved maybe three feet.Maybe.“At this rate we’re never going to get out of here.”
