flip the envelope over in my hands a couple times, then start to open it.
“Don’t open it yet. Wait until you get to your resting place. Stay safe,” Andrew says, then hops in his car.
I look around and say my silent goodbye to a city I love, hoping this isn’t goodbye forever.
“Get in,” Mark says curtly.
I do as he says, and buckle up, not knowing where I am going, and not wanting to ask. I don’t know if I am allowed to. We pull out and I close my eyes, laying my head back on the headrest and taking in everything. I’m terrified, unsure if this will even work. Steven has always been able to find me no matter where I have gone. This is completely different this time, but I’m still scared. If he does end up locating me, he will keep good on his promise.
It’s unlike me to trust so easily, and that’s exactly what I just did with Andrew. I took the first chance at getting out and I ran with it, hoping this isn’t all a lie. I’m grasping at anything at this point, so I can just learn to be again.
“Hi, um . . . Mark, how long will we be on the road,” I ask quietly, not wanting to be a pest.
“Well into the night. We have about twelve hours until we get to our first stop. Do you need something?”
“No, just wondering. I don’t know really how this all happened so fast. I just don’t know where we are going, and I’m a little scared.”
“Well, Mrs. Fields . . .”
“Clarissa, please call me Clarissa.” I hate that damn last name.
“Clarissa, you have nothing to be scared of. I fully intend to keep you safe, and I will not let anything happen to you. This is not something you really can prepare for. If you would have known, well, then so could have your husband. Just try to relax, and enjoy the ride.”
“You’re right. Ok. Thank you.”
“No problem. If you need anything, just let me know.” He looks at me in the rearview mirror.
“I think I’m just going to rest. Thanks, though.”
“Very well.” He nods.
I try and get comfortable, staring out the window and watching cars go by on the freeway leading out of the city.
Instinctively, I keep looking back to make sure we aren’t being followed. Even though I believe they have taken all the necessary steps to ensure we’re not being tracked, I still can’t let my guard down.
“Clarissa.”
My eyes flutter open. I jump up, trying to remember where I am. It starts coming back to me as I look out the car window. It’s dark outside, and I don’t know what time it is.
“Clarissa. We are at our location for the night,” Mark says. “We won’t be here too long. Just enough time to get a little rest before we move on.”
“Ok.” I open the door to get out.
Mark goes to the back of the car, pops the trunk, and grabs a couple of bags. We walk to a room at a small hole-in-the-wall motel, in the middle of nowhere land.
He removes a key card from his back pocket and opens the door. We’re greeted by one of the dingiest rooms I have ever seen. The smell of stale cigarettes and musty air fill my nose as I look around at the small quarters. The burnt orange comforters on each bed match the carpet, and I feel like I just stepped into another world here.
Curiosity gets the best of me. “Where are we?”
“We’re in New Mexico, Belen to be exact. I know it’s not the nicest place, but we won’t be here long. You have first pick of which bed you want.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’ll take this one.” I shrug, pulling back the comforter before I sit down.
“You can open that envelope now. It has some important information in there that you’ll need to go over.”
I peel back the lip of the envelope, peeking inside before I take everything out. Whatever’s in this envelope is going to be life changing, so I take a moment before I read the stuff. Inside is a bunch of papers containing a new identity. New name, social security, and a stack of cash.
I read on, letting my new name sink in for a minute: Parker Lynn Daniels. I’ve never been anything other than a Clarissa, and I don’t know how I’m going to get used to it. But it’s what needs to be