I open the bag and look inside, noticing a small yellow Post-it note folded in half, stuck to the bottom. Reaching in, I pull out the note, my fingertips shaking as I unfold the message. Written across the top of the note are two series of numbers. One looks to be nine digits, the other sixteen. Below that, printed in Max’s handwriting in bold letters, the word:RUN.
Chapter Fourteen
Everleigh
“Run.” The word sits on the tip of my tongue, but I’m unable to speak it.
“What?” Lucy gasps. “What does it say?”
I slide the paper across the table, my body stiff as a wave of nausea rises.
“It’s a bank account number.” She pulls out her phone and types something in. “The routing number is from my bank. Makes sense considering that’s where the safe deposit box came from.”
It’s a small town and there aren’t hundreds of banks to choose from. There are two. The Bank of America, and the small credit union that’s on Main.
Lucy types in a few more things, not bothering to look up from her phone. “I’m going to have to check this at work,” she finally says. “I can’t see anything on my cell. Why would he tell you to run?”
I shrug as she slides the letter back toward me. “Why is he being so cryptic about all of this shit? Should I take it to the police?”
She narrows her eyes. “And when they ask you where you got it from? You can tell them your shady bank employee friend unlocked the vault illegally. I’m thinking that’s a negative.”
“Right. So what then? I don’t know what I’d be running from, or why he’d go to all these lengths.”
“Was he into any illegal stuff? I mean, you’ve been not running for three years successfully, so I say you hold on to the money for a while, see if anything else strange happens.”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t want the money.”
“Well, I can’t put it back. Hide it under your mattress or something.”
I slide out from the table. My stomach is churning, and I need to move. I tuck everything into my bag before we make our way out of the restaurant.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Lucy says, with a grin. “You’re paying the bill. You just got a ten-thousand-dollar influx.”
I laugh and toss forty dollars onto the table from my purse. There’s no way I’m touching this money until I know what the hell is going on.
At home, Ryan’s reaction to the cash isn’t as clear as I’d hoped it to be. Instead, he’s rather indifferent about the whole thing.
“He was a paranoid guy, everyone knew that. He probably thought someone was after him, he hid out, and took the money to the bank the following morning because he wanted you to have it. Maybe he opened the bank account to give you what he had left, and now he’s living like a hermit off grid or something.”
My brows narrow. “But why would he tell me to run? And where am I supposed to run to? He didn’t tell me where he was going.”
Ryan shrugs. “What are you going to do with the money?”
“I’m going to hide it in the house for a while. Lucy is checking the bank account for me tomorrow. I just don’t understand why he would—”
“You were the closest person to him, Everleigh.” I realize now that Ryan’s eyes are dark with bags beneath them like he didn’t sleep. “Of course, he would leave you money. You’re…” He lets out a heavy sigh and I get the feeling he’s holding something back.
“Are you okay? Did something happen today?”
He looks up at me with wide brown eyes. They’re usually bright and happy. Today, I can almost see the storm clouds moving in. He exhales harshly and stands from the sofa where he’s been sitting. “Viktor called today. He was wondering why you didn’t go to class.”
“He calledyou?Why’d he call you?”
Maybe because he knew you wouldn’t answer.
“How’d he get your number?”
Ryan looks to the left quickly, then rubs his hands together. “We exchanged numbers.”
