“Hey, Dani. Janet Owens here.”
“Been a long time,” Dani said. “What’s up?”
“There’s been an accident involving Mr. Vickers.”
“Oh?” Dani’s legs grew weak at the mention of his name.
“There’s a possibility that he’s escaped.”
“How?” Dani slumped into her chair as shockwaves rippled through her body. “When?”
“Last night during a prisoner exchange. Him and seven other inmates, though the actual names of the ones still on the loose haven’t been released,” Detective Owens said. “You won’t see anything about this on the news. The correctional center that Vickers and the others were being transferred to fucked things up good. They never arrived.”
“But, what … How could this possibly happen?”
“I don’t know, but there’s a big cover up going on. At this point, it’s still a search and rescue, they’re not ruling out an accident. The governor’s son is the head of the correctionalfacility Vickers was being kept at, so I’ll bet that has something to do with the cover up.”
“I don’t understand. If he’s on the loose, wouldn’t they put me in witness protection or something?”
“Not necessarily. The governor is more interested in avoiding bad press than civilian safety. Honestly, I would get in big trouble if my department even knew that I was talking to you,” she said. “You have all of your security set up?”
“Yeah. What should I do?”
“Continue your routine as normal. I don’t think you need to worry about him heading your way,” Detective Owens said. “My sources have a reason to believe he’ll make a run for the Canadian border if he’s still alive. If the van he was riding in crashed and he survived it, he and any other inmates wouldn't get far. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner, but I just found out myself.”
“I appreciate that.”
“And Dani,” Detective Owens said, her tone more serious than ever. “This discussion never happened.”
The remainder of that Saturday, Dani threw all of her energy into doubling down on home security. Her instincts told her she should run away and hide somewhere; disappear and start a whole new life high up in the mountains, far away from people and places and things. But she knew that if Matt Vickers wanted to find her, he would. It made little sense to be anywhere else. At least in her own home she would be playing by her own rules. If he did manage to find her, he would fall right into her trap, and Dani would be ready and waiting to finish the job she started twenty-five years ago.
She got to work on the exterior first, setting snares under every window and installing motion detectors every five feet. The windows in her home were impact resistant, which wasn’t as good as having steel bars, but those didn’t fit into the aesthetic of her HOA. If someone were to break through one of her windows, the impact resistant glass would at least take a lot of effort and make some noise. If they could hold up to a Cat 4 hurricane, hopefully the windows would withstand an intruder as well.
“A little late in the year to be getting ready for hurricane season, isn’t it?”
Dani wiped the sweat from her brow and turned toward the familiar voice. Her neighbor, Carl, stood at the edge of the sidewalk and smiled at her from under the shade of his baseball cap. His mature pale skin was red from the sun, sweat stains in the shape of a smiley face developing on the front of his pink polo shirt. Carl was retired and had a habit of intrusively offering his opinion to Dani about everything from how often to run her sprinkler system to which of their neighbors seemed “suspicious.” Dani was usually able to avoid him, but that day, he caught her by surprise.
“I’m just making sure my home security system is functioning properly,” Dani said. “I’m all set for hurricane prep, too.”
“You know, I got a guy that comes out and does my security system for me,” he said. “Really affordable. Cameras and everything. I can give you his number.”
“Thanks. I’m all set though.”
“What is it, one of those DIY doorbell thingies?” Carl scoffed. “Those are no good. Imports. They listen in on your house so they can get your social security numbers and passwords and steal your identity. Nah, you need a good, honest system. Made in the USA, that’s what I say.”
“I’ve got my own custom security system,” she said, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. “Thank you for your suggestion though.”
“No problemo! Say, it’s been a while since I seen your aunt … eh, Lisa!” He snapped his fingers and his expression lit up. “Wasn’t that her name?”
This time, Dani’s eyes disappeared into the back of her head. “Yes, Aunt Lisa. She was very flattered, but not interested.”
“My offer still stands. Shame to let my season pass to the Rays go to waste.” Carl wiggled his eyebrows. “Invitations open to you, too.”
“No, thank you.” Dani dropped her friendly smile. She’d had enough. “I’m about done out front. I need to go check the back. Take care.”
“Oh! There’s also the neighborhood Fall Festival coming up! We could…”
“Bye, Carl!”
