No More Running (3 page)

“I’d like to think it’s our small town mentality.  The natives remember the times before we got so crowded and we’ve tried to teach our principals to our children.”

I thought about it and shook my head.  “I don’t think its small town mentality.  I’ve tried a couple of small towns, and I was treated as an outsider from the get go.  They never tried to make me feel welcome, so I never stayed long.  I still think it’s the southern hospitality I’ve always heard about, but I’d have to try a couple places out to test that theory.”

Mr. Davis was quiet for a few minutes after that.  He looked at me as he sipped on his decaf coffee.  “Can I ask you a personal question?  You don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable to do so.”  I just nodded, so he asked the one question I dreaded.  “What got you to traveling in the first place?  You don’t strike me as the adventurous type.”

I thought about it and decided to tell him a little.  “I had to get away from a bad situation.”  I drank down the rest of my hot chocolate.  I got up and got ready to leave.

“Why do you keep going?”

“Sometimes bad things follow you wherever you go.”  I said sadly.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Davis.  Take it easy, you still need to get your strength back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as I got home, instead of going to my apartment, I went into Mrs. Chambers’ house.  I was going to clean it and prepare dinner like normal, but I first wanted to get on the computer to e-mail Dr. Stevens and check in with him.  I had kept in touch with him frequently over the years.  He had someone keeping an eye on what Chuck was up to, and kept me informed, but I hadn’t contacted him in two months.  I had been so busy with work, helping Mrs. Chambers in her house, and Mrs. Davis clean up and close down her shop in the evening while Mr. Davis was sick.

Mrs. Chambers spent her days with her friends in her Bridge club, so I logged onto my e-mail account on the computer.  I had numerous e-mails from the doctor.  He said that Chuck had taken extended leave from the force last month.  My breath caught at this.  Normally when he found out where I was, he would just take a few days off, switching his schedule around with others to give him time to get to wherever I was.

The last e-mail sent yesterday told me to call him anytime of the day and gave me a number to get in touch with him.  I deleted all of his e-mails and emptied my trash like he always told me to, went to my purse to get my phone, and dialed the number he gave.

“Thank goodness, Di.  I knew you were alright or I would have called your phone which is a no-no with your ex being a cop and being able to pull records.”  Dr. Stevens said in a rush.

“What do you mean?  Has he found out about you?  Is he after you?”  I was worried.  Doc had done too much for me, and I didn’t want anything to happen to him.

“As far as I know he hasn’t made me yet, but I know how he got your identities.  My contact that made the false IDs for you and others was arrested some time ago.  When he was, his files and computers were confiscated.  Now, he didn’t know who you were, but whoever got those files would only have to run a search on the names; credit cards, bank accounts, drivers’ records, etc.; to be able to locate someone.  I believe this is how he found you, because the one thing that would link you to all of those names is your drivers’ license.  You don’t ever get credit cards or anything else.”

“I was thinking of packing up anyways, Doc.  I’ve been getting itchy here.  I’m too exposed, and too many people have latched onto me here.  I care about these people, and you know what he’s done to anyone he found associated with me in the past.  I told you before that I’m tired of changing, but I can keep moving.” I told him as I headed back to my little apartment. “I’ve saved up and added to what was left of what you’ve given me.  Everything I had in the bank has collected interest, so I’m good to go for a while.  You know me, though, I’ll work my way across America if I have to.  I was even thinking of applying for a passport.”

“He would get wind of it, and I don’t have a way to help you anymore.”

We were both silent for a moment, thinking of what my next move should be.  “I’m nervous, not knowing where he is or what he is doing right now.” He said, finally.  “I think you should stay put.  You work for a security company.  I think they could help you if he came at you there.”

“That’s one of the reasons I was going to e-mail you today.” I remembered.  “My boss overheard a conversation I was having about putting my notice in to start traveling again, and he said some things that make me think he knows something.”

“Like what?”

“Basically he said that I couldn’t run forever, that I would run out of places to go.”  I could still picture the look on his face as he said that.  He had been upset and angry, but there was pity there.  The pity in his eyes is what made me think he knew more than he let on.  I didn’t want or need to be pitied by anyone, either.

“I still think it’s a good idea if you stayed put.  With Garret Starr’s background, I think he is safe for you.”  Doc said.

“What background?”

“He was a decorated Marine.  Both he and his partner were.”  He informed me.

“Alright, I’ll stay for a bit.” Then I caught on to what he said.  “Wait, how did you know Stefan is his partner?”

I heard him mumble something on his end, but didn’t catch what he said.  Then he spoke up, “Do you think I’d leave you in a place where I didn’t know anything about the people around you?”  It sounded like he was leaving something unsaid, but I didn’t question him about it.  He’d done too much for me for me not to trust him now.

We talked for little while longer with me filling him in on what had been going on with me, which wasn’t much, before he asked a question that had me stunned.

“What would you think of me transferring down to Savannah?”  He sounded like he was nervous about what my answer would be.

I would love to have him around again.  He’d been a part of my life for eight years, though four of those years had been through emails and phone; I had missed him after I ran.  Besides being my doctor and always helping me with my injuries from Chuck, we’d gotten to know each other a lot more and had enjoyed our conversations on the phone.  He had been a good friend to me, though he had kept it formal until I ran, then he had finally started calling me by my first name.  His name was Dustin, but he had always preferred me calling him Doc, so I did.

“I would love to have you here, Doc.  I’ve missed you, but I don’t want anything leading back to you.” I said honestly.  “He would hurt you for just being associated with me, but if he learned that you were the one to help me escape, he would kill you.”

“Let me worry about that, Di.  There is an opening in the ER there, I’ve already checked, so I should be able to arrange a transfer there within a couple of weeks.”

“You’ve been planning this.”  I stated.  I couldn’t keep the happiness out of my voice.

He just chuckled and said he would call me from the phone he was using, which was a pre-paid untraceable cell phone, when the arrangements were made and we hung up.

I was bouncing around as I went back to Mrs. Chambers’ house to cook and clean.  That was how Mrs. Chambers found me. 

“Who is the young man?” She asked.

“What young man?”  I was confused and had no idea what she was talking about.

“Only a man puts a girl in the mood you’re in.  I’ve never seen you this happy, hun.”

I giggled.  I had not giggled since I was in high school, but I did when she said that.  “It’s not what you’re thinking, Ma.”  She had told me to call her this.  She said Mrs. Chambers made her sound too old.  “I was planning on traveling again, but I found out my friend is transferring down here to work, so I’m going to stay.”

We celebrated at dinner by having ice-cream sundaes, which were no-no’s for both of us.  Her for her sugar levels, and me for my figure, but we didn’t care, we just acted like two teenagers that night and had fun watching movies and gossiping while eating junk food.  It was the most fun I had had in years.

Chapter 3

I left for work early the following day so I could stop and talk to the Davis’ to reassure Mr. Davis that I’d be sticking around for a while longer.

“Good morning Mrs. Davis.”  I said going onto the shop.  She actually wasn’t waiting for me outside and it had surprised me.  “How are you this morning?”

“Oh, good morning Dina.  Thomas is not happy right now, and I can’t say I blame him.”  She told me, giving me a look, and making me feel like a five year old being reprimanded.  “He told me you were leaving us, dear.”

“Well, that’s why I wanted to stop by this morning.” We sat down at a table with her coffee and the hot chocolate and apple fritter she had for me.   “I spoke with a friend, and they decided to move down here for a while, so I’m going to be staying for a while longer.”

“This wouldn’t be a male friend would it?”

I blushed a little at her assumption. “Well, yes he is male, and he is
just
a friend.  He is ten years older than me, Mrs. Davis; I don’t think either of us feels like that about the other.”

“Well, I don’t know about that.  You wouldn’t be blushing like that for nothing, and age is nothing.  Thomas is twelve years older than me, and we’ve been happily married for thirty-four years.  As long as there is love, trust, and communication, any relationship can work.”

“I can see that, but it’s not like that for us.” I explained.  “Doc has been there for me, and helped me through some difficult times, but just as a friend.  He is the best friend I ever had.”

We talked for another few minutes before I helped her clean the table and got ready to go.

“Please, Lord, go tell Thomas the good news.  He’s been sulking around since you left yesterday, talkin’ ‘bout his little girl is leaving him.” She chuckled.

I walked back to the kitchen where he was baking the goodies for the shop.  “Hi, Mr. Davis!”  I said as cheerily as I could.  You could tell by his face that he was sad.  He mumbled a ‘hey girlie’ and went back to mixing.

“Are you not in the mood for a visit?” I asked teasingly, swiping some blueberries he had to make strudel with.  “I had some news to cheer you up, but I can come back when I get off work if you’d prefer.”

“Oh, just spit it out, girlie.  I could use some good news.”  He replied, not looking at me, but I could tell he had a smile on his face.

“I decided to stay.”

He whipped around to face me and narrowed eyes. “For how long, though?”

“It’ll be for a while, I think.”  And I proceeded to tell him about Doc moving down.

“I’m glad someone talked sense into that thick head of yours.  You have family and friends here that’d miss you an awful lot of you left.”  I thanked him, giving him a hug, and kissing his withered cheek. I stole a few more blueberries to munch on before I headed off to work.

When I walked up to my desk, Claire was already there waiting on me.

“Ok, Di, spill it.”  She said with a hard look on her face.  “Something is up with you.  Why do you all of a sudden want to leave?”

“Don’t worry about it, Claire.  I’m staying.  I don’t know if I’ll still have a job after yesterday, but I’ll still be sticking around for a while.”

“Not that I’m not happy about you staying, but why the change of heart?” She asked skeptically.

“I have someone who talked me into staying.”  I hedged.  I had got to thinking during my walk to work, and didn’t know if it was a good idea if people knew about Doc.  I didn’t really know if he wanted me telling anyone.  Yes, he was moving here for me, but wouldn’t it put him in more danger if we were seen together, and everyone knew we were friends?  I would have to ask him about that.  I still wasn’t sure if Chuck was watching him or not.

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about your job.  If you remember, it was overhearing you telling me about putting in your two weeks’ notice that got Garret in such a bad mood yesterday.  If he didn’t want you to quit, why in the world would he fire you?”

“I don’t know, but he was so angry with me.”  I really didn’t like when people got angry at me.  It made me nervous.  I didn’t think he would hurt me, but I really didn’t know him very well, either.  My mind kept going in circles about what I thought about him.  I guess it stemmed from not having confidence in my judgment of people.  The thing that made it worse is that I really liked Garret.  I don’t know when I realized it, but I knew I was falling for him.  The only other time I’d felt like this was with Chuck, at least in the beginning.

Just then Garret and Stefan came strolling up.  They were whispering the whole way to my desk, and when they got there, Stefan asked Claire for assistance on something and they walked off, leaving me with Garret.

I looked up at him, nervously.  “Um, Mr. Starr, I just got here, I was running a little late, so I’ll bring up my computer and get the messages together and bring them to your office.  Do you need your coffee?”  I knew I was babbling, but I like I said, I was nervous.

“I’ll get my coffee, Dina.  You go ahead and get the messages together quickly, and meet me in my office as soon as you can.  I have several things to discuss with you.”  He said evenly, not revealing what he was thinking.  I had always been able to read him before, but he was wearing a blank look on his face and I couldn’t figure it out.

“Yes, sir.”  I responded as I turned back to my desk.  I knew he was going to fire me now.  He’d never spoken with me like that before, he was being so formal, and I knew he didn’t like doing that.

A few minutes later, I walked into his office, put the messages on his desk, and sat in the chair in front of his desk, notepad in hand, hoping that all he wanted to do was dictate a letter to me.  I knew better, but it helped my nerves settle a little bit.

Garret had just watched me the whole time with an expressionless face.  Finally he spoke.

“Before you try to put your notice in, I have a few confessions to make.”