“They’ll simply be called shooter one and shooter two.Does that make you feel better?”He said that it did and thanked the man.“I understand where you’re going, but I have a feeling that for every person who doesn’t mention names, there will be that many more saying it around your town.If nothing else, small towns get better intel than we do when we’re doing the investigation.”
With both bodies being finished, Aaron was ready to go home.It had been a very long day forhim and the others, and he just wanted a hot meal and a nice, relaxing evening in front of the television.After making sure that his officers were home too, he made his way to the house that he’d been living in since he was eighteen, having moved out of his parents’ home.Sometimes he had to stop and really think about how long that had been.It seemed forever, but it had only been ten years.Christ, he just wanted things to be back to normal.
~*~
Betty hated hospitals with a passion.She’d been coming to this one since she was old enough to walk.And since getting married, she’d been here more than most.Having a deadbeat husband around made it so she was his punching bag for—
“Mrs.Palmer, when did you say you fell again?”She knew that the nurse knew she’d no more fallen than she’d gotten up winning the lottery this morning.But they both played the game so she could hold her head up high.She told her earlier this morning.“You have some other bruises on your back that look older.Have you fallen more than the one time?”
“I’m pretty clumsy.”The nurse, whose name tag said her name was Megan, asked her when that fall had been.“Three days ago now.That’s when I thought that I’d broken my leg.”
She still couldn’t look at her leg the way it was bruised up.From the knee to the bottom of her foot was all bruised.And some of the colors on it, red to a dark blue black color blended together in a way that reminded her of the darkest nightmares she’d ever had.Larry had taken a baseball bat to her body when he thought that dinner wasn’t coming to the table for him quick enough.Dirty bastard.She hated him with a passion that couldn’t be described.He’d been beating her up for the last five years, and she was sick of it and of him.
“The doctor wants to set you up with a head scan to make sure you don’t have a concussion.”She didn’t even glance at Larry to see if it was all right.He’d be the loving husband until they got home.He told Megan that he’d be all right with her getting one, so long as he could go with her.“I’m sorry, sir, but the room that they have to do it in has restrictions.You’d have to take off all metal, and that would include your wallet that’s connected to that chain.Not to mention all the rings you have on your face.That nose one would cause the machine to tear it from your face.”
“I guess it will be all right then.I don’t want to have to take out my piercings.A couple of them are new.”She knew that too.The one that he had on his lip was new, as was one of the ones on his ear.She didn’t have a single earring in her body and liked it just fine.But she did have to remove her watch.She hated to do that, especially when Larry said he’d hold onto it for her.
The watch had been a gift from her mom when she’d graduated from high school.It meant the world to her, and that’s why Larry would hold onto it.He knew she wouldn’t leave without it.Or so he thought.She thought that living without him around would be well worth losing the watch over.And she knew that her mother would agree with her had she been alive.
They wheeled her down to the room for the scan, and as soon as the door was closed behind her, Megan turned into this other person.Like she was a she bear and she was one of her cubs.All the indifference that she had before was gone.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come back in.Did you want out of this mess you’re in?We can and will help you.”She told her that he’d find her.“No, he won’t.He will have no idea where you are, especially if you press charges against him to put him in jail for a few days.”
The police officer that she was introduced to was Joey Dillon.She knew him from high school.He told her that he was there to take her statement if she was leaving tonight.It all seemed so rushed, but she had a feeling with the way things were going that this nurse and Joey had done this before.He smiled at her and told her that she’d be correct.She’d not even realized that she’d said anything out loud, but he seemed to understand that, too.
“I’m not human and can read your mind.That’s why we were so sure that you wanted out of this with Larry.He’s a mean bastard.”She said that he’d hurt her if he even thought that she was leaving him.“We’ve done this dozens of times before, and we’ve had no trouble.You just tell me what you want to do and you’ll be gone before he has any idea that you’ve been taken away.”
She pressed charges, one of the hardest things that she’d ever done, for fear of him, then she got dressed in something other than what she’d come in with.It had been her night gown, so she was glad for the other clothing.The shoes she was given pinched her feet a bit, but she didn’t care.If she could get away, then she’d wear them the rest of her life.After getting dressed, she was taken down the hall and put into an awaiting car and was on her way.
Betty had been given money and a change of clothing from Megan.Megan told her that the next two places she went were going to be just as helpful and to do what she was told to do.Before she was even out of the parking lot, she realized that Megan might be hurt.But she knew that in order to make this work, she was going to have to do some things that she’d never have thought of doing with Larry.She was on her way to freedom.
The first stop they made only switched out cars.She was given a wig to put on and this time told to sit in the front of the truck.The man driving didn’t say much, but he did tell her once again to do what she’d been told and she’d be safe.He also warned her that she’d never get to go back home again if she wanted to stay alive.
“Yes, he’ll kill me if he finds me.He told me that a million times before.”She believed him, too.Larry was nothing if not a man who liked things to go his way, and that meant her to do what she’d been told to do.Like dinner was to be on the table and hot for him at six o’clock.Not a minute before nor after, or there would be hell to pay.Like tonight’s dinner.
It had been one minute before six when he’d come in the door.Dinner was finished, and she put it on the table for him by six-zero-one.He’d slapped her so hard that she passed out on the floor, only to be awakened by a bowl of hot water poured on her head.After that, he took his time telling her what time he’d said and how she’d disobeyed him again.Also, that he hated hitting her, and it was all her fault.The mother fucker knew it wasn’t her fault but his own, but she never said a word differently back to him.That would cause another beating, and she didn’t have the strength to deal with him again tonight.
The second place they stopped, a little after midnight, she was shown to a room and given blankets to use.The bed was soft and comfortable, but she was too terrified to even close her eyes.She must have slept some because when she was woken up the next morning for another leg of her freedom, she felt a little better than she did before.
Three more times, they stopped for her to be given a new wig and something else to wear.She was also given a great deal more money, nearly two grand, to make her way in the new city when she arrived.Betty didn’t know how long she’d been in the car, but she’d bet that they were miles and miles away from where she’d started.Hopefully, Larry wouldn’t be able to find her after all this traveling.
“You can’t contact your parents either.”She told the woman at the next house she was staying in that they were both dead.“I don’t want to sound insensitive, but that’s a good thing.No temptations for you to contact them.”
“Yes, you’re right.Do you know how much longer I’m going to be traveling?I don’t mind, but my bottom is sore from all the sitting.”She was told that she didn’t know where she was headed, and they liked it that way in case something happened and they were asked.“Yes, all right.I can see that.You will be careful, won’t you?I don’t want anyone hurt for me.”
“I can tell you that your husband has been arrested and will be in jail for two more days.That’s all I know.”She thanked her and told her she didn’t want her to get into trouble.“No worries on that.That’s the reason that the only person who knows where you’re headed is the driver.They switch out to keep you safe from harm.”
Having slept better that night, she was ready to go in the morning.Given a new identity, she was told that she’d have to remember the details of her new life before she was finished traveling.She promised the woman—no names were ever given—that she’d have it ready to use before the end of the next day.Hopefully, she was far enough away from her little town that no one would have any idea what she’d been through, nor was going through.
By the end of the third day, she was exhausted.When the driver pulled up in front of a hospital,she was taken to the emergency room and asked about her injuries.It had been in her file about herself to say that she’d been in an accident, and she played that well.After being admitted, another woman came to talk to her.
“You have a house here that you’re renting.The first four months aren’t going to cost you anything until you’ve got yourself a job.You’ll need to get one too, as you have to blend into the community that you now live in.”She asked the name of the place.“You’re in South Carolina, in one of the tourist towns around the beach.Getting a job should be easy, but you’re to take a week off to get to know yourself by the file and to make sure that you’re healed all the way.It won’t do for you to show up to work on your first day with a black eye.”
“I didn’t know that I had one.”She told her that it was fading, so she should be about another week in the hospital before she was able to get out.“They’re keeping me here because of the way I was moved away from my husband?”
“Yes.This hospital, along with many others, is a part of the network that helps people like yourself get out of a bad situation and onto something healthier.”She nodded, not sure what she should say about it.“It’s all right now.So long as you follow the rules that have been given to you, not telling anyone about the path you’ve been on nor contacting anyone from before, you’ll be as safe as you wish to be.”
Betty knew that this was costing someone a great deal of money, but she didn’t know what to do about that.One of the rules that she’d been given was to someday pay it forward if she could and not shy away from someone who might need a night in her home on the way to someplace else.She would become a part of the network so that she could help others.It was the least she could do for all that they’d done for her.
