on. “If you don’t know where we’re going, then how are you going to use your GPS?”
“I’m not going to use my GPS.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t know where we are going, Hadley. I guess I’ll just figure it out as we go.”
She was silent for a minute and then asked, “How are you going to make sure those men don’t follow us?”
That was the question I really needed to consider. I reached in my purse and took out my phone, quickly tossing it out the window. “First, we ditch our cell phones.”
“What? No way!” they both shouted simultaneously.
“If these people are looking for us, our phones will be the easiest way for them to track us. We have to get rid of them,” I repeated.
“This is so unfair,” Charlie pouted.
“You’re right. It is totally unfair, but right now I don’t have a choice. We can try finding a pawn shop or something tomorrow to get you a new phone under a different name, but for now, toss it,” I told him as I motioned towards the window.
With a look of pure agony, he threw the phone out the window. Lastly, with a scowl on her face, Hadley reluctantly did the same. I rolled up the windows and tried to ignore the angry glares I was getting from the kids. It didn’t take them long to settle down, and I thought they’d both fallen asleep until Hadley asked, “Are you going to try to get a job whenever we get where we’re going?”
“I will, but it won’t be like the job I had back at home. Maybe I can find a job as a waitress or a cashier. Maybe both, depending on how much they pay. And I’ll have to a find a place for you and Charlie to go to school.”
“School?” she groaned. “Why can’t we just take a few weeks off?”
“That’s not going to happen. I don’t want you getting behind. As soon as we get settled, Detective Brakeman is going to do what he can to help you get enrolled. You’ll have to use different names, but we will work it out.”
“I don’t want a different name,” she huffed. She pulled her knees up to her chest, covering them with the hem of her oversized sweatshirt, and whined, “This sucks.”
“Yep. It sure does,” I agreed. I wanted to come up with some kind of positive spin to put on the situation, but there wasn’t one. I couldn’t think of one single good thing about any of it.
Hadley turned and stared out the window, giving me her best silent treatment. I left her alone, knowing that she just needed some time, and continued to drive down the East Coast. The kids were exhausted, so after only a couple hours of driving, they both fell sound asleep. It was the first real moment I’d had to myself since my parents were killed. There was always someone around or something that had to be done, so I hadn’t really had the time to think about everything that had happened. I hadn’t stopped to think about how much I missed my parents or the large, empty hole that was lodged in the center of my heart. I hadn’t had time to think about how much it hurt to lose them. I had to push my feelings to the side. I had to learn to forget the rage, the fear, and the sadness before it completely broke me and left me a shattered mess. I had to keep it together for Charlie and Hadley. I was all they had left, and I couldn’t let them down.
We were in the middle of the second day of driving when Charlie asked, “We’re in North Carolina right?”
“Yeah. I guess we are,” I admitted with a smile.
He perked up in his seat and said, “Then we’re getting close to Tennessee. We should go there.”
“I guess we could. Is there somewhere special you had in mind?”
“Nashville would be cool … or maybe Memphis. Definitely Memphis. Remember how Dad was always talking about how he wanted to go see Graceland?”
I laughed. “Yeah. I think he mentioned it a time or two.”
“I think that’s where we should go.”
“Okay. We’ll give it a shot,” I told him as I reached for the map. I decided that it was just as good a time as any for him to see the place where Elvis made his mark, never realizing that the famous city in the south was about to make quite a