all to do with the money. The money only made their escape easier.
She loved him. She loved the boy that he’d been, and the man he’d hidden away under the veneer his depraved aunt had polished over him with layer after layer of cruelty. His happiness was all she wanted, and he’d told her more than once that she made him happy.
The woman came back and offered Marie a blanket. Marie took it, covered herself, and continued with the book. She’d only been reading for 20 minutes when her eyes closed and she fell asleep. She didn’t know she was that tired still, but it was obvious when she woke up that she’d been asleep for a while. She hadn’t changed position and her hip ached on that side. She went to the bathroom, glanced at Matteo, and saw he was still asleep.
The woman came back, offered her a rather fancy looking sandwich and Marie took it gratefully. Turkey on ham, with lettuce and tomatoes, with a pack of mustard spread over it, was just what she needed. She opened her book back up, sipped at another can of ginger ale, and ate her sandwich.
Before long, the pilot let them know they’d be landing and the woman came back to wake up Anton and Matteo both. The men stretched, buckled in, and before they knew it, they were on the ground in Houston. Marie put her coat over her arm, grabbed her bag, and walked off the plane with a wave to the woman.
“Well, here we are. It’s 2:15 pm, 72 degrees, and the sky is clear. What do you guys want to do?” Anton asked them, and they both looked at each other.
“Let’s get to the hotel and relax for a bit. We have a long drive tomorrow and we’ll want to be rested for that.”
“As you wish.” Anton smiled and went to ask about getting a taxi. One arrived ten minutes later and they packed their meager belongings into the car, all in new suitcases, and Anton told the driver where they wanted to go. Houston was huge, amazing, and so warm compared to Montana and British Columbia. Marie was getting hot underneath the black sweater she had on and wanted her t-shirt and shorts back, with a pair of flip flops to go with it.
“I want to go shopping, Matteo. If I take Anton with me, do you think it would be alright?” she asked as the taxi pulled up to the hotel they’d reserved. He was in the front seat and turned to look at her with concern.
“I’d rather be with you, but, uh, yeah. I guess. I’ll get us checked in and text Anton with our room numbers. Here, use this card.” He reached in his wallet and took out one of quite a few cards he kept in there. She knew it would be another secret account he had but didn’t ask about it.
“I won’t stay out long. I’m just going to get us a few things more suitable for the weather.”
“There’s a shopping mall a five-minute walk up the street if you’d rather walk, miss,” the taxi driver, a woman with fiery red hair that had to be a dye-job, told Marie with a smile. “You can get whatever you want up there.”
“Cool, thanks.” A smile beamed back at the driver as Marie slid from her seat.
“No problem. I’ll help your fella get these bags inside then. Welcome to Houston.” The woman winked at Marie and disappeared behind the car.
“I hope you don’t mind?” she asked Anton as they walked away in the direction of the mall.
“Not at all. I’d like to get a new phone for all of us, and a few other things that I’ll be able to get there.”
“Great. I think we’ll need to take a taxi back but the walk is nice. At least there’s no snow.” She smiled at her bodyguard and he smiled back.
“We need sunglasses too, I can’t believe we haven’t got any of those either.”
“There are things you don’t think about until they’re gone, you just take them for granted.” Marie pulled the sleeves up on her sweater, but she was still too warm. A few minutes later they walked into a large mall and Marie stared around. “Okay, let’s get a drink first, then clothes more suited to the weather.”
“Good idea,” Anton said, always a man of few words. He was in guard mode and kept an eye on everyone and everything as she