Megan Franchino knows her chance for escape is now or never. With school finally out for her son Antonio, and her abusive husband going out of town she just might get far enough away before he starts looking for them. If they fail to get away, Megan knows she will not live to regret trying. There is no choice though, their recent injuries prove that if they stay one or both of them will eventually die from the beatings.

There is only one place she might feel safe to go, but will she be welcome there? Can she even get there? How long can she stay? What then? And if her husband's family does catch up to them, is there any way to keep Tony safe?

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The Legal Stuff: Dollar Runaways © 2014 By Tiffany Shar
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 By Tiffany Shar. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.
 
 
Preface

Like the first four books I posted here on BigCloset, I will be posting a full copy here on BigCloset. I was planning to post it a chapter at a time, but due to some real life events that took place in the last week I am doing two per week instead so it’ll be completely posted before I get too busy with other things! The book has a total of 26 chapters and a short epilogue. The full version should be completely posted by early March. For those that cannot wait however, I have an e-book version of the full book available from Lulu.com as of today. You may find it at My Store. My assumption is that the majority of my readers would be more interested in this edition of the book rather than a hardback or paperback. There are two types of eBooks available depending on how you wish to read it. One is the ePub format that you should be able to load on any e-reader (you may need an additional app, but I believe all will read it), and the other is a standard PDF formatted file. I believe the PDF is the best way to read it on a computer screen personally. If you enjoy this work perhaps you will consider supporting me by purchasing it ($5.95 for the eBook formatted files).

Several readers have commented on the similarities of the story to Wanda Cunningham’s ‘Incognito Parallel.’ I would reference you all to the ‘Dedication’ in the first chapter where I recognize that her tale most definitely sparked my imagination, and this book! I believe you will find that in the end though this work is its own story.

One caution before continuing through this book; it is darker than my past novels have been. If it were a movie it would probably be rated R for Language and Violence. Much of this novel is just as light as you are used to seeing from me though!

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading Dollar Runaways!!

Chapter 21: Best Laid Plans

MEGAN WOKE UP in the morning a bit confused, something loud was sounding that she hadn’t heard in a week. Something in her brain said alarm and she realized that she’d slept the entire night for the first time in a week. She felt a little panicked though right then so she put her robe on and went to look at her daughter. She figured she’d probably slept through the nightmare and Madison had come in.

Opening the doorknob slowly and quietly she looked in and was amazed to see that her daughter must have slept well!!! Normally her daughter tossed and turned under the best of circumstances... She could destroy a bed like no other kid! But she looked like she hadn’t moved from when she kissed her goodnight.

“Ashley?” She said and rubbed her shoulder.

“What?”

“It’s time to get up Princess,” she said with a smile.

Ashley sat up and seemed to be as confused as her mother was. “It worked...?”

“Something did... I think. Do you remember any nightmares last night?”

She shook her head, “I don’t think so...”

Megan gave her daughter a big hug and held her for a long moment, “We’ll keep trying this for a while then.”

Ashley nodded, “I hope it works again tonight...”

“It will,” she reassured her daughter. “Come on, out of bed and off to your chores.”

Her daughter sighed and began moving. Meanwhile Megan returned across the hall to her room and found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that she didn’t worry about ruining. It had come from ‘her’ room back at the supposed house. Actually there were a number of cute things in the boxes that she was really waaaaay too old to wear. Most of it was all out of the juniors department, and even a few from the girls she thought. Even as an adult she’d still had to shop in both of those departments sometimes, but she’d finally found a couple of stores that sold extremely petite sizes...

Megan finished dressing and headed to go milk the cows...

I FINISHED UP with my chores, got my shower done, dressed, and brushed my hair. Instead of waiting for Mom or Madison to do my hair I decided to just use this hair band that matched my outfit and pushed my hair out of my eyes. It was simple but I thought I looked cute like that. After a quick look at the mirror I hurried down to see if Consetta was there and needed any help with breakfast. Sometimes she was there on Saturdays and sometimes not. The hands were all there this morning doing some things so she might be there I thought. Sure enough I saw her smiling face, “Good morning hija,” she said to me and I gave her a hug.

“You look cheerful this morning!” She told me.

I whispered to her, “It’s the first morning I haven’t woken up with a nightmare in at least a week...”

“You poor thing...” She said and gave me another hug. “You want to help out?”

“Please?” I asked.

“Of course! Why don’t you start on the toast, we’re just doing eggs, toast and bacon this morning. I’ve already got the rest mostly done.”

“Okay!” I said with a smile and began helping her.

The breakfast toast was soon done since her toaster was so ridiculously large! I cut them into triangles and buttered them as they cooked and proudly took the large platter of them out to the dining room. Annie came in then and gave me a hug, “How are you doing Ash?” She asked.

I smiled at her, “Great!”

“Well this is different, you haven’t been this perky in the morning in a couple weeks...?”

I blushed, “I didn’t have any nightmares last night...”

She gave me another hug and said, “That’s great to hear honey!”

Breakfast felt better for me until I realized that Mark and Kaitlyn were going home the next morning. I hoped that Madison was still staying there, so I asked her when she sat down next to me, “You’re still staying here, right?”

She nodded, “Of course!”

“Cool!”

That morning went a little bit odd from normal as the hands worked until about eleven and then went home. Hank took Mom and I shooting then while Madison helped her mom start to pack up things. “Let’s move the target back a bit,” Hank told me as I had started to staple it to the frame we had been using and walked past it. We went another thirty feet or so and he stapled it up there. When we got back to the stand I noticed for the first time the rifle was different, this one had a scope on it!

“This ones different?” I asked.

He nodded, “This one has a bit bigger bullet and a lot more powder behind it, it’s a .223.”

“Oh,” I said simply.

“Set it down and hold it the same way you did with the other rifle.” He talked me through using the scope then said, “Okay, when you’re ready go ahead and shoot.”

I took a deep breath and lined things up and wondered if I would be able to hit the target or not with this scope. I took my time though and lined up the first shot and pulled the trigger. With the .22 I never really heard it through my earmuffs, but this one I definitely could. It also sent the gun back into my shoulder a little bit and I was a bit surprised.

“Go ahead and shoot again, same area,” he told me. I did so and held everything as still as I could. After the seven rounds in the rifle were expended he locked the bolt open, checked that I had safed it, and then we went down range to check the target. Mom walked with us as she had been watching me.

I reached the target and felt my eyes go wide! There was one hole off center, but I could clearly see six other holes in a tight grouping right through the bull’s-eye! “Wow!!!” I squealed.

“Yeah, wow is right! I think this target is too close for you,” he winked at me. He pulled the target off and took the other one he was carrying and we walked another sixty feet down towards the far end of the range.

“I can’t shoot this far... Can I?” I asked him.

“Who says you can’t?”

I shrugged, “You really think I can?”

“Let’s find out!” He said.

The three of us went back to the stand and Mom took that time to go ahead and shoot a clip through her pistol while we reloaded the rifle. There was a second target set up on her side already an extra ten feet past her first one and she took aim at it with a second clip she had loaded and soon was waiting for me to shoot.

“Take your time Ashley, sight in on it.” Hank walked me through shooting at the target and I aimed for the bull’s-eye. While I was doing so he took a spotters scope out and watched the target, “Fire when you’re ready Ashley,” he told me quietly.

I made sure the crosshairs were right and pulled the trigger.

“You hit the target a bit low,” he told me quietly.

“What? It was right on the bull’s-eye,” I told him.

“I believe you, go up just a bit more now though, aim three inches above the bull’s-eye and I’ll explain why later.”

I followed his directions and fired the second shot, “Hit,” he called.

I went through the last four shots and we went to check on Mom’s targets first.

“Amber, you are a freak,” Hank told mom with a smile as we looked at her target. On both targets her bullets were in such a tight grouping on the bull’s-eye that there was nothing left in the center of the target. He smiled and asked her, “How far out can you do that with a pistol?”

“It used to be forty feet,” she told him.

“Did you used to compete on the ranges?” He asked her.

She shook her head, “Mom and Dad never wanted anyone to know I could shoot. I never even told Ray I could shoot.”

He shook his head, “That man was a moron.”

Mom laughed. We kept walking back after they reset the targets and finally reached the end where my target was. The first hole was three inches too low, but the other five were in a tight grouping through the center. “Why did I have to aim like that?” I asked him as he replaced the target.

“Gravity.”

“Huh?”

“The farther you shoot the longer the Earth has time to pull the bullet down. People who shoot as snipers for the military or police have to learn to gauge that. The scope you’re using can actually be set to compensate the distance but I’d rather teach you to aim differently first. The rest of it becomes simple math.”

“Oh,” I said.

We continued with the .223 rifle for another half-hour before he had me shoot six clips with the .22 handgun and finally another three clips with mom’s .45 pistol. On all of the guns I was getting pretty decent and was hitting the target where I wanted. Mom and Hank seemed to be pleased, but I hoped I never had to use this skill. By the time I finished I was sore from shooting the bigger pistol!

Gloria had lunch ready when we got back and I ravenously ate the grilled cheeses she had made for us!

“So what do you want to do this afternoon?” Madison asked Mark.

“Swimming?” He suggested.

“Okay,” she said brightly, “You okay with that Ashley?”

“Sure!”

The three of us made our way down the trail to the fishing hole by about two with a promise to our parents to be back by four to get changed and go to dinner. I happily pulled off my jeans and t-shirt I’d worn over my one-piece suit and got into the water. I swam around in a circle over the shallow edge for a bit before laying on my back and just floating. We’d been there for quite a while and Madison and Mark were quietly talking while they were floating a bit farther in when all of sudden there was a big splash and I felt water on my face. I turned over and righted myself planning to yell at Madison for playing a joke, but I was looking at the face of a beaver!!!! “Aaah!!!” I screamed and swam for the bank.

Madison and Mark were laughing their heads off at me as I glared at the beaver. He looked at me like, ‘What? Can’t I swim here too?’

I stuck my tongue out at him and found my towel. Mark and Madison were still laughing at me by the time we got to the house. Mom and Kaitlyn were standing there as we walked in and were trying to figure out what was going on. “The beaver decided to swim with Ashley... And she kind of screamed and ran away,” Mark explained.

“It didn’t bite you or anything, right?” Mom asked.

I shook my head and accepted her sympathetic hug.

“Well, it was time for you guys to get back here anyway,” Kaitlyn said.

Just as we were about to head upstairs the phone rang and Gloria called for Kaitlyn. We were just passing the office as I heard Kaitlyn ask, “What?!? When did it happen?” Madison and I stopped and Kaitlyn motioned for Madison to come there. I felt a pit in my stomach then... There was something about the tone of her voice that said something was seriously wrong.

“She’s standing right here, I’ll let her know...” Kaitlyn said, “I’ll call you tonight and see how she’s doing. Thanks for calling, we’re praying for you guys.”

The phone call ended and Madison looked at her mom, “What’s wrong?”

Kaitlyn took a deep breath, “Allie was riding her bike and was hit by a car sweetheart.”

I didn’t even know her and I felt tears in my eyes, I knew that was Madison’s best friend back home.

“Is she okay?!?!” Madison asked.

“She has a broken leg, arm, and wrist... and a lot of other little things. She’s going to heal, but she’s going to be miserable for a while.”

The two of them hugged and cried and I quietly backed my way out of the room, not wanting to intrude on them. I went upstairs and took the shower that Mom insisted I take then. She came in and washed my hair thoroughly before leaving me in my robe to get dressed with my hair still in a towel. I found myself on the bed in a tight ball with my knees on my chest and my hands curled around them.

“Knock, knock,” I heard from Madison.

I jumped up and hugged her, “I’m so sorry about Allie...”

“It’s okay Ashley, she’s going to get better...” she sniffled. “Look...”

“It’s alright, go home, go help her get better,” I said, realizing for the first time why I was so upset. I’d be losing my best friend after today – even though I was supposed to have her for two more weeks.

“You won’t be mad at me?” She asked.

I hugged her tighter and said, “No, she’s your best friend and she’s hurt... You should be there for her.”

She hugged me and said, “She may have been my best friend, but you have definitely become my best sister. If you’re still here over Thanksgiving we’ll hang out then.”

I just nodded. I didn’t have a clue in the world what my next week was going to be like, let alone the next six months.

Eventually the two of us separated from our hug and Madison insisted I get into the bathroom real quick and wash my face off before getting dressed. I did so and then went back out to my room. I was already planning on wearing the dress I had made and it seemed even more appropriate since Madison was going home... I was going to really miss her!

I forced myself to pull the dress over my head and was glad that it didn’t have a zipper or something in back to button or tie. With the embroidery and bead/glitter detail it looked absolutely gorgeous. The style of it made me look a little younger though I realized. Something about the way that the bodice was so high and the skirt flared out much higher up on my body than most of my dresses. It was pretty though, and I suspected I would get some compliments that night.

Mom came in then as if she could sense I was ready... I thought for a moment and realized she might have been cheating with that baby monitor thing actually. I had wanted to die of embarrassment when she told me that she was using it that first night, but her holding me was the only thing that made me feel better after those dreams. If she was using it now though... That was out of bounds!

“Were you listening into us?” I asked her.

“Not intentionally, I just came into my room as you started getting dressed. I’m sorry – I didn’t even realize it was still on. You slept through the night and I forgot to turn it off.”

“Oh,” I said, a little embarrassed.

She smiled at me, “Your dress is beautiful! I can’t believe you really did all of it!”

“Well, most of it. Gloria had me sort of help with the embroidery machine - but I still felt like she did most of that...”

Mom nodded, “You ready for me to do your hair?”

“Please?”

“Sit down, let’s get started,” she said and began working the hair into something like she had when it had been my birthday I thought. I noticed she was using some ribbon that matched the dress, but I couldn’t really see anything else.

I finally was able to look after she finished and hugged her, “Thank you Mommy,” I said to her.

“You’re welcome,” she told me back, “Now I need to go get dressed!”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror and loved that she had made a pile of braids on top into a crown like thing and then spun the braid down my back where I still had some loose hair. It was really cute!

Madison chose that moment to come into my room and said, “Oh my God! That embroidery really worked, didn’t it!?!” She asked.

I nodded, “I think so too!”

“Too bad I don’t have one of those at home,” she added.

“Ask for it from Santa Claus?” I suggested.

She smiled at me, “So are you going to have to believe in Santa again this year?”

“What do you mean, I’ve always believed in Santa, he leaves me presents every year...” I gave her a look of disbelief and I knew I had her going. “Do you... Mean... Santa’s not real...?”

She looked like she felt terrible and was about to cry when I smiled and said, “My mom is though!”

She laughed at me and said, “I’m going to get you back for that one!”

Mom came back dressed not long after that and I was definitely overdressed compared to everyone else. I was a cute little girl though, so I knew it was allowed!

MADISON LOOKED OVER at Ashley in her car seat and felt really bad that she was leaving the next day. She had to though... Until she saw Allie herself she wasn’t going to really believe that she was going to be okay. ‘I wish I could at least talk to her over the phone...’ she thought. Her mom had said they had her fairly drugged right then though since they had to operate on her leg. ‘At least she’s alive!’ she thought.

Dinner that night was supposed to have been a celebration of a great time they’d had, but instead she couldn’t help but feel bad about leaving and about Allie. She tried to put a smile on as they walked from the car and into the restaurant. Madison intentionally beat Amber around the car to unbuckle Ashley and held her hand as they went into the restaurant.

She did smile a bit as the others waiting for a seat smiled at Ashley. No two ways about it, she was a very cute and adorable little girl! “Excuse me, that dress is gorgeous, where did you get it?” A lady with two daughters that looked a little bit older than Ashley was supposed to be asked.
“I made it,” Ashley answered her.

“With some help?” She asked in a leading way towards Madison.

Madison shook her head, “Not much, she did all of the cutting and sewing and figured out the embroidery she wanted to use. About the only thing she didn’t do was loading the dress into the embroidery hoop.”

The lady looked appraisingly at Ashley, “How old are you?”

“Eight,” she said with the cutest smile.

“Wow, I would have never guessed an eight year old could make something like that...” She looked down at her own daughters, “My ten and eleven year old here certainly couldn’t...”

“They could if they had the right teacher,” Aunt Gloria came up behind Madison and said. “Madison here is a genius on her own, and she’s the one who’s been teaching Ashley how to sew.”

“That is amazing!” She said.

In the meantime her daughters started talking to them about how they did it. The oldest one asked if she could touch the dress and Ashley nodded. Madison was sure that Ashley, as the tactile person she was, understood how nice it was to touch fabric, She also touched a bit of the embroidery in disbelief. Not long after that they heard, “Kaitlyn, party of six?”

“That’s us,” Madison said and they said goodbye.

I SMILED AS I followed the waitress back through the outdoor pavilion. It was a very large and nice Mexican restaurant and the pavilion outside was nothing short of gorgeous! You could see the Sandia Mountains in the distance. They were beautiful and were just beginning to turn red as the sun began to set.

“I love your dress,” the waitress told me as she came around for our drink orders.

“Thanks!” I said with a smile.

“What would you like to drink Princess?” She asked.

I smiled, “Iced tea please?”

“Certainly sweetheart,” she said to me.

There was small talk made around the table for the few minutes before she returned with our drinks, and chips and salsa. “What do you want to eat?” Mom asked me as she left to give us a few minutes.

“I don’t know...” I answered. I’d been in New Mexico now for a few weeks but I still felt like the menu was gibberish. Now give me an Italian menu in Italian and I would be fine!

“Want to split something?” She suggested.

“What?”

“The stuffed sopapilla?” She suggested.

I looked down at the menu and saw that it had one of those fried elephant ear type things with chile, meat, cheese, and veggie stuff on top. “What kind of meat?” I asked her.

“Beef?”

“Can we get the lettuce and stuff on the side?”

“Sure!” She told me with a smile.

The waitress was back soon after and asked what I wanted, I look at Mom expectantly though. “My sister and I are going to split the stuffed Sopapilla with green chile and beef... If you can put the garnish on the side and bring two plates I would appreciate it!”

“Sure thing!” the lady said.

Not long after we were immersed in conversation and I tried to stay in a good mood. I mean... It wasn’t Madison’s fault that her friend got hurt. I was sure that going home was definitely the right thing for her to do though. It also meant less risk for us since we wouldn’t have to take her back home. I had been a bit worried about Mom being anywhere near her hometown and Grandpa and Grandma... I just had a feeling that it was dangerous.

The food eventually arrived and Mom said, “Maybe we should have split this three ways?!?”

She carefully cut the dish in half and gave me mine. I took a bite and felt my eyes water a bit. “That’s hot!” I said while reaching for my glass of iced tea.

The waitress wasn’t far away and refilled my glass with a smile. Mom looked at her and rolled her eyes, “She’s not a fan of spicy food yet.”

“Give her a couple years, she’ll be begging for it anytime she can. I swear my daughter, she’s going to college in Texas, comes home during the summers and it’s all she wants to eat!”

“You can’t find it anywhere else, can you?” Gloria added knowingly.

For my part I just thought they were all nuts. Now give me a good fresh made pasta and meat sauce...

I kept eating my dinner like a good girl and went through four glasses of iced tea before I was finished. Contrary to mom’s statement about how big the dish was though I was still a little bit hungry. Mark asked conveniently for a dessert menu then.

I smiled at him and he winked at me. “You want to split a dessert Ashley?”

“Sure!” I told him.

“They have this one that’s kind of like tiramisu, I bet you’ll like it!”

I looked at Mom for permission and she nodded. “Okay!”

He passed the menu over to me and I read about the dessert. It had the mascarpone cheese and coffee mixed with liquor like tiramisu, but it was using some weird New Mexican cookie instead of the ladyfingers. I shrugged and thought it might be okay.

‘Okay’ ended up being an understatement! I loved tiramisu, but this had a cinnamon in the cookies, called biscochitos, that tasted really good! I only had a quarter of it though, as the dessert was huge. Madison made her brother share some with her too, and mom even took a bite.

Dinner ended that night and I enjoyed watching the sun turn the mountain completely red before we left. Madison helped me into the car seat harness and I couldn’t help but feel sad that would probably be the last time. She talked to me the entire way home and I didn’t fall asleep for once. Back home she helped me out of the seat and I gave her a big hug, “Thank you for everything while you’ve been here, you’ve been so much fun!”

She returned the hug and picked me up, “So have you!” She didn’t let me down and instead shifted me to her hip like she had done a few times. “Come on, you can help me pack!”

With very little effort on her part she carried me upstairs to her room and I watched on as she packed her suitcases and tried to deal with the extra stuff she had picked up on the trip. She had the outfits and stuff from American Girl, the clothes and extra dresses from our trip to Disney World, along with a handful of other knickknacks and gifts she’d acquired there and around the time in Albuquerque. We both had a bit of a cry when Mom insisted I needed to take my bath and read for the hour.

I really didn’t want to, but I didn’t have a choice, she was insistent. “You’ll get a chance to say goodbye tomorrow after breakfast,” she insisted to me. I took my bubble bath and sat for a while, feeling very lonely already. I saw the markers sitting at the edge of the tub and smiled.

‘I’m going to miss you Madison,’ I wrote on the wall, ‘Love, your new sister Ashley.’ It didn’t say nearly enough, but I hoped when she took her shower in the morning she would understand I would miss her a lot!

Mom came in and smiled when she saw my writing. She unnecessarily insisted on washing my hair for me and massaged my scalp more than normal as she washed it thoroughly. I felt a bit calmer afterwards and put on my princess nightgown that had been freshly washed that day.

She brought me the stack of books and I chose one of the ones that was about Belle and was a mystery book. I devoured it like the other book and finished just as Mom came in. I gave her an innocent look and she shook her head. “We’re going to have to somehow find you some sweeter books that are longer!”

I giggled.

Madison came in right then and said, “May I read Goodnight Moon book to you once more?”

I stood up and hugged her, “Please?”

I looked at Mom as much as her and she nodded.

Madison came over to the bed with the book and I sat and enjoyed her sing the story. It was sooo pretty and relaxing. I managed to force myself to stay awake up until the very end when she and Mom both kissed me goodnight and I turned over to cuddle Kari more tightly.

I felt the tears go down my cheek as I thought about Madison leaving in the morning.

MEGAN WAS UNSURPRISED to find that Ashley woke up just two hours later with a nightmare. She guessed it was going to happen with the shock of Madison not staying like they’d planned. Madison woke up too and offered to keep watch the rest of the night. She almost turned her down but nodded instead. She pulled the covers over the two of them after they had Ashley calmed down and closed the door.

Megan looked at the clock in her room and saw that it was three by that point. With just another couple hours of sleep to come she sighed and lay down. She just couldn’t sleep though and finally gave up, put a bathrobe on, and went downstairs to make a cup of tea. “Well hello there,” she was startled by Kaitlyn’s voice coming from the table.

“Oh my God, you startled me,” she whispered back.

Kaitlyn giggled, “Sorry, I couldn’t think of a better way either...”

She smiled back, “Shouldn’t you be sleeping... You have like an eight-hour drive tomorrow... I mean today...”

“I should be... But I heard you guys and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

With that Megan nodded and went for a cup, a tea bag, and finally the kettle, which was still hot. With the cup poured she walked over to the table and sat across from Kaitlyn. Neither spoke for a long time, before she said, “I’m really glad we were able to have this time together Kate.”

“Me too,” she said back to her, “I’ve felt so awful for all of these years when I think about what happened.” She paused, “I mean I know we sort of made up during college, but...”

“It wasn’t the same,” Megan finished.

She nodded.

Megan sighed, “The sad part is you got your brain together and married a decent guy, I’m the one who ended up with the scumbag!”

Kaitlyn reached over and squeezed her best friends hand, “You did, but you also got away from him. You’ve always been stronger than anyone I’ve ever known Megan, I know you’ll be fine.”

Megan shook her head and felt a few tears leak out, “I’m not so sure of that. I keep wondering if I’m being stupid staying here. The other day when I did the concealed handgun permit I had to be fingerprinted... Mom and Dad always made sure I was never ever fingerprinted for anything! I kept that up for all of these years, so I know I shouldn’t have any on file anywhere, but I worry that it may lead to the connection of my real identity...”

“You can always claim it must be an error Megan. The documents you have about your identity are so rock solid that nobody is going to be able to prove otherwise short of a DNA test.”

“That could be ordered,” she reminded her.

“By a court, and that’s not going to happen, is it?” She reminded her.

She shook her head, “Probably not.”

“So use this chance, stay around here and help Gloria out with her new project. You’ll get to use your degree and keep healing... There’s not a better place to do so than up here in the mountains. Why do you think I always come back and bring the kids with me?”

Megan smiled, “Because Aunt Gloria would hunt you down and drag you back here?”

They both laughed and Kaitlyn said, “Well... Besides that!”

The two women talked away the hours until daylight broke and Megan went to take care of the milking with Gloria. She had glared a bit at both of them for being up all night, but couldn’t fault them. Megan was surprised to see Madison and Mark still do their chores instead of packing the car, but had a feeling they felt like they should. Consetta, Hank, and Annie joined all six of them for the breakfast that she made to get them on the road.

I LOOKED UP at Madison as she stood in front of me and held my arms up like a little kid to hug her. She picked me up and hugged me tight, “You take care of yourself Princess, and I’ll expect you to be ready to play dolls with me when I come back for Thanksgiving!”

I smiled at her, “Okay, but don’t you go growing up and deciding you don’t want to play with me anymore!”

She tickled my side and said, “I may be growing taller, but I refuse to grow up!”

I giggled and she sat me down. I gave Mark a hug and he said, “Maybe one of these days we’ll be able to go down and scare the beaver in return?”

I just laughed and went finally to Kaitlyn. She picked me up like Madison had and hugged me, kissed me on the forehead, and said, “You make sure you take care of your Mom for me,” quietly.

I nodded.

“And, you make sure you keep having fun. No getting depressed because Madison is gone!” she told me sternly.

I shook my head in the lie that I wouldn’t. The truth was that I knew I was going to be really sad. I didn’t doubt that one bit! “I’ll try,” was as good as I could promise and she smiled at me.

“You’ll be fine,” she told me.

I watched her give Mom a hug and then they were in the car driving away. “Come on sweetie, let’s get you dressed for church.”

I wanted to glare at Mom, but I just nodded and went upstairs. We found a pretty sleeved sundress that I changed into and took Gloria’s car to church. I found Emma in our Sunday School room already and she said, “Hey Ashley!”

“Hi Emma,” I said.

She talked for several minutes about the trip to Cliff’s they had taken the other night before she picked up on my mood, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

I shrugged, “My cousin went home today... She was supposed to be spending two more weeks here, but went home.”

“Hey, weren’t you supposed to go home this week too?” She said, thinking through the time we’d been hanging out a few weeks ago.

“Yeah...” I said and felt some tears leak through my eyes.

“Why are you still here then? Not that I’m complaining, you’re like cool!”

I shook my head, “Not really... My sister and I are going to live here for a while... My... My... Parents died a couple weeks ago,” I told her. I was crying a few minutes later as much because I hated lying to this girl that was the closest thing I had to a friend now that Madison was gone. Mom must have warned my teacher Ms. Susan about my emotional state today, because she came over and hugged me.

After awhile I was better again and washed my face in the nearby bathroom. I came back in and sat next to Emma and listened to the lesson for the day. It ended up being the story of Joseph and his being sold into slavery by his brothers. By the end of the story when he met up with his brothers again I really could relate to being separated from family. I didn’t miss Dad most of the time, but at the same time he was my daddy... I could still remember a time when he was actually nice.

Well, at least to me.

Mom still refused to talk about any details, but I knew now that Dad had his hands directly in a lot of bad things. There was no doubt in my mind that he really was a killer. Emma walked with me back to the chapel and asked, “How come you didn’t say anything about your parents last week...?”

I shook my head, “I didn’t want to talk about it...”

She gave me a hug and said, “I’m sorry... Maybe we can play together sometime this week?”

I smiled at her, “I’d like that!”

The church service felt like it went forever that day and my voice for the singing felt raw and miserable. Mom and Aunt Gloria must have understood my mood because we didn’t stick around long. Back home at the ranch we ate some leftover shredded beef nachos from Friday and I excused myself after a while. I walked around the ranch for a little bit before making my way to the horse corral where I saw Beauty munching on the green grass that grew there thanks to irrigation.

As if I had said come here, even though I hadn’t, she wandered over to the fence and leaned her head over it. I scratched her head and said, “I guess I still have you at least!”

She whinnied as if she was obviously all I needed.

RAY LOOKED AT the man sitting across from him at the table. Juan Sanchez was basically the third ranking person in his cartel and was there to discuss arrangements.

“How much can you handle material wise?” He asked with a heavily laden accent.

“We were moving three tons of material each week through Vermont without any issues.”

Juan whistled, “You want to move that much here?” He thought, “the cabrons around here are pretty smart... You might want to start smaller and see if you can get this working or not.”

Ray flushed, he didn’t like having this Mexican tell him how to do business. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Well, be that as it may be... I’m thinking we can only get a ton a week under the border to you. The federales have been getting smarter over the years and we only have certain times we can be sure they won’t find our tunnels on infrared scanners...”

“They can see that?” Ray asked in surprise.

Juan looked at the amateur in front of him as that for the first time, “Of course señor! The government doesn’t use that satellite often, but they developed it decades ago to see missiles underground. They let the Soviets know what they could do by publishing a picture of the underwater streams of Egypt.”

“No shit?” He said. “Fuck!”

“Si, but it’s not a problem for us. We’ll start with the ton of product?”

“Yes, mainly cocaine please.”

“Right, you’ve got a heroine source up north?”

Ray nodded, “Solid one too.”

“What else would you want then?”

“Arms,” he said simply.

The two men talked business for several hours before they concluded with Ray giving him a briefcase that would pay for the first shipment. Nothing so simple as cash, this contained certificates and a list of account numbers of Cayman Island accounts. No reason to risk cash being lost!

Ray left the meeting place and thought to what he still had left to do. Tomorrow he was going to go visit the two Albuquerque stores that were going to be the first link in the chain. He was supposed to meet with Juan and Carp again on Tuesday for lunch before the first shipment came in on Wednesday. With luck he would be free to go on up to Colorado and deal with Megan’s parents by Sunday.

I ATE DINNER quietly after Mom had taken me for an hour-long trail ride. She had found me talking softly with Beauty and I think she knew I needed it. After a while I had felt better, but I still was sad to see them go! I ended up playing quietly on the floor in my room until my bath that night. I did finally smile a little bit as I saw that Madison had colored a pretty mural on the wall that morning and said she’d miss me too. I cried a little before I read one of the other Disney books leading to my bedtime. I noticed that Mom didn’t have me start reading until nine-thirty that night and it wasn’t until ten-thirty she came in... Of course I had finished the book five minutes before that.

I lay in bed for a long time that night thinking about all that had happened to us. The idea that we might be safe just didn’t seem to feel right. I didn’t know what to do though...

‘Well the one good thing about Madison being gone is that at least she won’t be a target…’

Unsurprisingly I woke up with nightmares several times that night.

Chapter 22: Encounters

MONDAY MORNING I found myself being shaken awake by Mom again. I felt bad because I knew she hadn’t slept much that night - neither had I though. Chores were done quickly, I showered, let Mom braid my hair into two pigtails, and then headed downstairs to help Consetta. I was wearing a cute romper that I knew would be comfortable more than anything. Consetta gave me the hug that I needed and had me help her pile biscuits onto a plate. She had made sausage gravy to go with them and scrambled eggs too.

I filled my plate at breakfast that morning and was happier when Mom joined me. The conversations all flew around me and I just ignored them... I wasn’t sure what I was going to do all day without Madison. Hank solved that for me though, “Ashley, your sister is letting me get you setup on her iPad for that hunters safety course. Would you like to get that done this morning?”

“Umm... I guess,” I said.

So with that I spent an hour going through the online course and was done quickly. At the end when it gave you a card to print out. I had to send that to Gloria’s e-mail so she could print it out. Just before noon I went and helped Consetta out with the simple lunch of macaroni and cheese.

Hank took Mom and I shooting that afternoon like normal and I shot very well on both the new rifle and the larger handgun Mom had been using. I didn’t think anything of the fact that we were shooting more than an average person would be able to... I just knew that I was getting good enough to hit the target when I wanted to!

“Why don’t we run into town real quick and get Ashley’s and your small game and fishing licenses?”

“Okay, let me tell Gloria where we’re going,” Mom told him. The three of us were soon off to a nearby general store that was halfway to town and filled out the forms. Mom had the printed copy of my hunter’s safety certificate and everything was taken care of without any issues.

I could legally hunt small animals, something I wasn’t planning on doing!

Hank pointed out though that I could also go fishing this way, and I could maybe see myself doing that if we went on the camping trip Mom brought up. She was planning on it being the two of us plus Collin, and Annie and her husband. I was looking forward to getting away from the ranch for a bit… It felt so empty during the day since Madison left!

When we returned from the store Hank had me sign-up for the draw for an elk tag or a deer tag online. If I got either of them he would be taking me hunting he told me. I tried to get out of it, but he wouldn’t hear of it. By the time I finished my riding lesson with Gloria I felt sort of grateful looking back on it – but I was still really squeamish about shooting a live animal!

Mom and I tried the routine again that night and I hoped against hope that I would be able to get a good night of sleep again. I had actually started reading an hour earlier out of one book and ended up finishing two by bedtime. Mom told me a story, tucked me in, and we both hoped for the best.

MEGAN LOOKED IN on Ashley one last time before going downstairs to the living room where Gloria was sitting up, reading a novel of her own. “How is she doing?” Gloria asked while marking her place and closing her book.

“Okay I think...” she said, “well, as okay as she can be right now.”

Gloria nodded, “I really wish Madison had been able to stay two more weeks, her nightmares might have been okay by then.”

Megan nodded, “I know, it’s hard for her...”

“So you’re going to go do this camping trip for sure Friday?”

Megan nodded, “We’re going to go up to the high meadow and then keep going around the old trail Saturday and come back Sunday.”

“Does Ashley have hiking boots yet?”

Megan shook her head, “I bought a pair a couple weeks ago, but we hadn’t made it that far for her.”

“Rain gear?”

She shook her head again, “I really need to take her in to get all of that. I actually have most of that in my stuff, the only thing we really need is a tent beyond Ashley’s needs...”

“You can borrow one of mine. I have a couple dozen and just bought two new ones last fall that were on sale.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Why don’t I take Ashley in to town and go shopping with her tomorrow?” Gloria suggested, “We’ll go see a movie or something and have an Auntie day out.”

Megan looked at her for a moment and nodded, “I’m sure Ashley would enjoy that.”

“Great!” Gloria said with a stretch as she stood up, “I’ll take her after breakfast, we’ll get lunch out too and be back for dinner.”

“Maybe I can make spaghetti for her while you’re out...” Megan thought to herself.

“That sounds like a great idea!”

The two of them started making their way upstairs and Megan checked in on her daughter. It was close to midnight already and she’d slept ninety minutes or so already without waking. Hoping it was a good sign she went into her room, closed the door, and lay down on the bed.

AGENT KLINE FINALLY gave up on sleep for the moment and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. The day had been a total bust for him in trying to figure out the next piece of the puzzle with Megan Franchino and her sons’ disappearance. She had changed her appearance... He now had pictures of her like that, but without the information beyond that he was still stuck with her in Dallas.

‘I know she left Dallas, no way in Hell she would have stuck around there after going through such extremes to throw off her trail.’

He knew that the longer she tried to stay off the grid the harder it would be for her to keep her head down. Eventually since Tony was going to need to be enrolled in school... Or whatever she was calling him or her. That little bit of subterfuge was brilliant he thought, but he wasn’t sure about how good it was going to be for the kid long term.

‘She probably doesn’t give a rats ass as long as he’s alive...’ he admitted to himself.

Ultimately he wanted to get the Franchino family behind bars where they belonged, but for now he really just wanted this lady to be safe. You had to admire someone who had gone to such lengths to run away from a family that would never let anyone walk away. He feared dearly for the day that her husband found her... The price would be blood, he was sure of that.

‘If I find her... What do I do?’ he asked himself and thought on the answer for a long time before he finally climbed back into bed next to his wife. He knew how far he would go to protect one of his kids and he was easily certain Megan Franchino was of the same mind.

I WOKE UP to Mom nudging me and looked a little surprised. “Did I...?”

“You slept through the night again,” she said with a smile.

I hugged her tightly and cried a bit before she sent me on my way to do my chores. Even George seemed to be behaving that morning and I was in a good mood again as I went up to the house. “Ashley,” I heard from behind me as I walked by Gloria’s office.

“Yes Aunt Gloria?” I asked.

“Your sister told me you’re talking about going on a camping trip this weekend. If you’re going to go we probably should get you some gear for it... Would you like to go with me into town to go shopping today?”

I hugged her, “I’d love to!”

“We’ll leave after breakfast then. You might want to put some jeans on and a t-shirt like you’ll wear on the trip. That’ll make it easier to make sure things fit you well.”

I smiled, “Okay!”

I hugged her again and then skipped upstairs to my room. I took my shower, found a pair of denim jeans with some butterflies embroidered on them, and another Disney Princess shirt we had bought at Disney World. The scary thing was I could wear shirts from that trip for two weeks without wearing the same one twice! Mom had gone really overboard there!!! But, I liked them, so I certainly didn’t mind!

Mom came in and did my hair into the two loose pigtails that I asked her to do, and then put some cute bows on them. I found my princess tennis shoes and looked in the mirror. I blushed a bit as I knew that I definitely looked a bit juvenile for eight... But I looked cute and I was fine with that today! I skipped down to breakfast and found it was already out. I found some cantaloupe cut up that looked good and had some eggs with it.

I must have looked like I was in a better mood that day because the hands talked to me more than they had in a couple weeks. Collin asked me, “So are you excited to go camping this weekend?”

I nodded, “We’re riding, right?”

He nodded, “Best way to do it!”

“Well then of course I’m excited,” I said with a smile. He was really growing on me. I thought maybe he was growing on Mom too actually. I found myself wondering if maybe they might be able to get together... But there was definitely going to be a danger in that for both of them. As far as I knew Collin didn’t know about us yet.

Soon after breakfast Gloria said, “Ashley, why don’t you use the restroom and then we’ll go?”

I sighed and said, “Okay,” and went to the downstairs bathroom. I was happy with just having done that but suddenly decided I felt like I was missing something. I ran upstairs and grabbed Kaitlyn to take her with me. On a whim I grabbed Saige too and brought both dolls downstairs where Gloria was waiting.

“Did I say those two could come?” She asked me, “This is an us day,” she said with a smile and I giggled.

“Please, they begged to come!”

“Oh all right,” she said. “Come on you three. Just what I wanted to have this morning, three giggly girls in the car!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her silliness all the way through her helping me with the car seat harness. I occupied myself all the way to town by playing with the two of them. Saige was playing the tour guide and pointing out all of the things in her home area to us. She did a pretty good job too!

“Why don’t you just bring one in with you,” Gloria told me as she undid my seatbelt. I felt bad, but if I was just choosing one I had to choose Kaitlyn. I sat Saige down in my seat with my apologies.

Aunt Gloria held my right hand and I held Kaitlyn with my left arm as we went inside REI. “What all do I need?” I asked her.

“Well, first let’s find you a decent pair of shoes. While those are cute, we need you to have something that will support your ankles more.”

She led me back to the back and we found the limited number of kid’s shoes they had. “How about these?” I asked while holding up a pair of leather shoes that had pink on the inside and accents on the little nylon taps to grab the laces.

“Those are cute, and they’ll do a good job with your ankles,” she told me. She caught the eye of the sales associate, “Can you measure my niece so we can figure out what size she needs here?”

“Sure thing,” he said.

Without asking me Gloria reached down and undid the Velcro on my right foot and I blushed a bit. He brought out a measuring tool and said, “She’s right at a kids eight and a half, but a nine might be better since she’ll grow into it. Also, if she’s hiking that will also give her room for thicker socks.”

“Sounds great, can you find us a nine in this?”

“Give me just a second,” he said. He was back in a few minutes and I was sitting down letting him put the shoe on. I walked around in it for a moment and then let Aunt Gloria do the thumb check before I took off the shoe and he handed her the box.

“Thank you,” I said politely.

“You’re very welcome,” he said with a smile.

Gloria led me over to the kid’s section and started looking through windbreaker jackets. We picked out one that had purple on the hood and sleeves, and a bright green on the lower part of it. It was pretty obnoxious, but Gloria said that was good if I ever needed to be found. I kind of raised my eyebrows at her on that but didn’t say anything. She proceeded to pick out a lightweight child-sized backpack for me, along with some other essentials to go into it for just in case. Things like a space blanket, a first aid kit, fire starter kit, and a compass.

I didn’t have the slightest clue how to use any of that, but I went along with it. She also had me choose a sleeping bag from a few that she picked out. I settled one that had bright purple on the outside and bright green on the inside one. It matched the jacket and I was surprised by how light it was. “That should be all we need to get you here Ashley,” she said.

The bill at the front register shocked me a bit. I couldn’t believe all of that had added up so high. “You need to pay a little bit more for quality,” Gloria told me as we walked out. “I have no doubt that all of this stuff will work for you for a few years... I don’t see you going off and reaching Madison’s height and the sleeping bag is actually big enough for your Mom...”

I giggled at that. “Wait, doesn’t she need a bag?”

“She still has one in the camping supplies room,” she told me.

“Oh.”

“I just don’t have any stuff in great shape for little girls anymore, Madison didn’t stay little long enough for me to buy her anything!”

I laughed at that and she helped me into the car seat. I apologized to Saige for not taking her inside and cuddled her close while Gloria drove. “Where to now?” I asked.

“Another sporting good store,” she told me.

“Why?”

“Well Hank has been telling me about this young lady he’s been teaching to shoot and she’s supposed to be really good. I thought maybe she would like her own rifle?”

“That’s too expensive...” I tried to argue.

“Let me be the judge of that Ashley. Would you like your own?”

“I guess...” I said, trying to reconcile my image as a cute innocent eight-year-old girl and that of the one holding a rifle shooting things.

“Then let’s get you one. I talked with Hank and I think I know what you should have.”

I just went along with her as we went to the gun area in the store. Gloria waived at the guy at the counter and said, “Hey Chuck, how are you doing?”

“Doing great Gloria, what can I do for you today?”

“Chuck this is my niece Ashley, she’s been learning to shoot and I want to go ahead and get her a rifle of her own.”

“She looks really young... Are you sure?” He asked her.

“I’ve seen the targets myself...” she said and I turned red, “she’s shooting ridiculously well for an eighteen year old, let alone an eight year old. We’re going to try and get a tag for her to go deer hunting this fall and I’d like to get her started on something bigger than what she’s shooting with now.”

“What has she been using...?”

“A .223 that my head ranch hand has.”

“She’s handling that well?”

“Well that and doing pretty well with the .45 Glock he’s let her try too... She’s a natural cowgirl is all I can say - she rides just as well!”

I was totally turning red at this point and was glad I had left Kaitlyn in the car because I could kind of hide into Gloria’s side. She stroked the side of my neck and smiled down at me. “I’m not that good, am I?”

She nodded, “You most definitely are.”

“Has she completed the hunters safety course yet?”

“Yes, do you need to see her card?”

“No, I’m selling this to you. Make sure you keep it locked up... I think you can probably trust her but I don’t trust any kid under sixteen with a gun on their own.”

Gloria nodded and he pulled three rifles down off the rack and I was allowed to hold all three. One was a lot lighter than the others, “This one seems easier to hold,” I said aloud.

“It’s a lot lighter,” Chuck said. “The only downside with that is it does kick a bit more up.”

“I wish I could try them first...”

He laughed, “She is your niece, isn’t she?”

“Yes she is,” she smiled at me, “Can we go try them on the range?”

“Sure, do you want a scope for them too?”

“Please,” I said.

He led us out a back door and along a corridor before I discovered they had an indoor shooting range that was much longer than I would have expected. It was a lot closer than I’d been shooting with Hank the last week, but that would be okay. He loaded all three rifles for me and attached a scope to each and quickly sighted them in quickly and expertly.

“Okay, go ahead,” he said and passed me the first one that was loaded with three rounds.

I remembered all of the instructions Hank would give me and took my time. A few moments later he pressed a button to return the target and we saw that my group was a little low, but all three were within half an inch of each other.

Chuck whistled, “You weren’t exaggerating Gloria, this girl needs to start competing!”

Gloria laughed, “Maybe some day... For now let’s just stick with teaching her. She’s only been shooting a couple weeks now.”

He raised his eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He sent a new target downrange and passed me the next rifle. I shot three rounds again and liked the fact that this one felt steadier... I hated it wasn’t the lighter one, but I had all three shots straight through the bull’s-eye.

“I see a lot of people come through here, but not many can do that on their first time shooting with a new gun!” He said with a smile.

I took the last rifle and tried it. This was the lighter one that I really wanted to like, but it had so little weight in the bore it kicked every time off of the spot I targeted. It was a four-inch grouping instead and I knew I didn’t like this one.

“So which one?” He asked. I think he already knew the answer though as he had been cleaning it and had a case ready to go for it. He checked it out to Gloria who had a number of forms to fill out before we were allowed to leave with the gun. I carried it outside much to the amusement of a few customers.

“That was kind of fun,” I told her as she buckled me into the seat.

She laughed, “Yes it was, you certainly knocked the smirk off of Chuck!”

“I take it he’s a friend of yours?”

“Yeah, I’ve known him for a long time. My husband Kenneth and he used to be really good friends.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling bad about bringing her husband back to mind.

“Hey, don’t feel bad about bringing up my husband,” she said as she got into the drivers seat, “We had forty-five glorious years together before he passed away. He’s in a better place now,” she reassured me.

I smiled back and wondered if I could have been able to move on like that. “Pasta for lunch?” She suggested, “Olive Garden?”

“Sure,” I said. It was better than Mexican food at any rate.

Gloria pulled into the parking lot a short while later and helped me out of my seat. I decided to bring Saige in since I’d left her outside at REI. “Bring both of them,” Gloria told me with a smile.

“Okay!” I said, happy to keep from having to pick one or the other. Gloria checked in at the hostess station and we sat down to wait for a table. I was holding both Kaitlyn and Saige in the lobby smiling when I felt my blood turn cold.

Dad was walking straight towards us.

AGENT KLINE DECIDED to run the new search a bit differently. He decided to work on the guess that Megan had in fact run to New Mexico and was settling down there. In theory that meant registering her Honda Civic there with the state. He decided to do a search of cars registered between June 18th and June 26th. He sighed as there were fifty Blue Honda Civics that were registered during that timeframe.

He was just about to start sorting them by owner when there was a knock on his door. Jake was there, he motioned for him to come in after covering a few things. “Hey Jake, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to let you know that our agents watching Raimondo sent us this picture of him meeting Juan Sanchez last night.”

“Holy shit, they really are trying to start that one up... DEA in on this yet?”

“Probably, but keeping their heads down. Do you want me to call Wayne over there?”

He thought for a moment and then shook his head, “When we get ready to bust let’s do that... For now this is just really good circumstantial evidence.”

Jake nodded, “Yeah... Do we try and take them down there?”

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to honestly catch them at it. With it being early in their plans I bet they’ll be at their most paranoid. Plus... It’s tough to mobilize there. They have SWAT teams, but getting enough to make a bust like this would be tough.”

“Get DEA and the military involved maybe?”

“DEA maybe, national guard would probably be risky though.”

Jake nodded, “I don’t like this at all.”

“Neither do I.”

“Any luck on finding his wife?”

“Not so far...”

“You don’t think he killed her already?”

“No, I’m pretty sure he’s still looking for her - he wouldn’t do that if he knew she was dead. She probably would have just disappeared like our agents up in Vermont.”

“Scary fucker isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is. Look, if I decide to head out there I think I’m going to take a couple of HRT teams with me... I don’t think the locals will be able to mobilize enough people soon enough and discreet enough.”

“And taking two HRT teams out there will be discreet?” Jake asked questioningly.

“Good question!” He laughed, “Maybe, we’ll just have to see.”

The conversation continued for a few more minutes before Jake left and Agent Kline looked at his notes again. That was followed by setting a timer on his watch to help him make sure he got to a chair meeting in an hour.

I STARED AT my dad walking towards us and felt my heart race. I forced myself to look down at my dolls though and pretend with them just loud enough to sound like a little girl playing. If he came over there I knew it would be too dangerous for him in the restaurant... And maybe he would recognize me.

After what seemed like a million hours I watched his carefully shined shoes walk past me and through the door. I looked up and saw him walk over to a vehicle that brought a sickening thud to my stomach... It was the same one that had nearly rear-ended Mom and I the other day.

Gloria meanwhile looked at me concerned. “What’s wrong?” She whispered to me.

“That was my dad...”

“Are you sure?!?” She asked in quiet alarm.

I nodded, “I kind of grew up with him, hard to miss.”

“Did he recognize you?”

“I don’t think so...” I told her.

I felt her arms go around me but I refused to cry then. “Gloria party of two?”

“Do you want to leave?” She asked.

I shook my head, “He’s not in here, and we’re probably safest here even if he did know where we were.”

She nodded and we followed the waitress back and I slipped into the little girl role that had no cares in the world. “What are your dolls names?” She asked me as she put the coloring menu in front of me.

“She’s Kaitlyn and this is Saige,” I told her.

“They’re so pretty!” She told me with a smile. “What can I get you to drink...?” She asked.

If I was older I was pretty certain that the answer would have been alcohol of some sort after the encounter with Dad, but I said, “Iced tea please.”

Gloria looked more shaken than I did but she also ordered tea. The meal was quick as we just did soup and salad before getting in the car and driving back to Santa Fe. As soon as we were in the car she used the hands free feature in her car to dial the ranch house.

“Hello?” She heard over the speakers. “Consetta?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am, Gloria?”

“Yes, say, is Amber around?”

“She’s just down the hall talking to Collin, you want me to get her?”

“Yes, but tell her to take it in my office and transfer this to that line please.”

“Sure thing,” she said.

We waited and she drove through traffic until I heard, “Hello, Gloria?”

“Yes... Amber, we just ran into Ray.”

“What?!?!?!” Mom asked in alarm.

“Mom, he didn’t recognize me,” I told her, hoping that would get her back to her senses.

“He didn’t?”

“No... And he’s seen us once before too.” I told her.

“When?”

“Remember that car that honked at us the other day...?”

“Yeah...?”

“He’s driving that car.”

MEGAN HUNG UP the phone ten minutes later and tried to figure out what the hell she was going to do. She was beside herself with worry! The idea of her husband being in the state alone was enough to make her frantic, but the idea of him being within feet of her daughter was more than she could take. She found herself crying and almost didn’t notice when someone hugged her from behind.

“It’s okay,” she heard Collin say.

She looked up at him, “No, it’s definitely not okay...” she said.

“Well then, why don’t you tell me about it?” He said.

Megan looked at him for a moment and made a decision. She didn’t really know when in the last few weeks it had happened, but she was pretty sure she was falling for Collin more than any other guy she ever had in her life, including her husband. “Close the door,” she said and felt a calm reach through her body. She moved over to a seat that would look at him.

“Okay, so what’s going on?”

“Collin... Look, before I tell you please understand that the only reason I haven’t come clean with you before about this is that I fear for Ashley and my lives right now.”

He looked at her, but said, “Okay... Does Gloria know?”

Megan nodded, “Yes she does.”

“Then I’m okay with you hiding it from me, you didn’t know me.” He said with a smile.

‘Just like that he’s okay with my lies... Well for now,’ she added to herself.

“I appreciate that... Look, I’m sorry anyway...” she said. “What I’m about to tell you is something you have to keep to yourself, Hank, Annie, Consetta, Gloria, Kaitlyn, Mark, and Madison are the only people who know the full story.”

“Okay...”

“My name isn’t Amber Caffrey, it’s Megan Franchino... And I’m really thirty-seven years old and married to a monster.”

He looked at her incredulously, but didn’t say anything.

“Ashley is really my daughter... Who really was my son until we ran away a month ago.”

“Ashley is really a boy?” He asked a little surprised and unable to resist comment. She feared he might get violent, “She doesn’t seem like a boy at all.”

“That’s because I don’t honestly think she is a boy. This whole last month has been majorly screwed up, but we’ve seen a psychiatrist several times and she thinks that Ashley is transgendered.”

“Wow... She’s a bit young to decide that, isn’t it?”

Collin surprised her by the fact that he didn’t seem to be judging her... “Well, Ashley really just turned eleven last Wednesday.”

“Now, the boy thing I can hardly believe, but she’s really eleven?!?”

“Yeah, hard to believe huh? She didn’t stand a chance of being tall though. I’m four-ten with shoes on and her dad is only five-foot-one.”

“Whoa... But why all of this?”

“We’re running away from my husband Collin.”

“He’s the one that gave you both those bruises I remember seeing on you, isn’t he?”

She felt her mouth open, “You saw those?”

“You kept them pretty well covered but Ashley’s back showed a few times when she went swimming. So he beat you guys?”

“Well, that’s part of it. See... He’s family,” she said with putting the emphasis on the last word.

“Huh?”

“I am in New Mexico, aren’t I?” She said to no one in particular. “Collin the whole side of his family is mafia. His father is the head and he’s like second in charge.”

“Serious?”

“Serious. Believe me when I say I had no clue about any of this until well after we were married! He just kept getting more and more violent and I was finally able to get things together for us to leave our house in Ohio...”

I SAT UP in the car seat as Gloria unbuckled me and ran inside to find Mom. With both dolls in my arms I felt a little ridiculous as I opened the office door and found Mom talking to Collin. “Mommy!” I said, suddenly realizing my mistake.

She opened her arms for me none-the-less and I ended up in her lap crying for a few minutes. “I’m sorry it just came out...” I said a moment later.

“It’s okay Ashley, I just told him everything,” Mom said to me.

I looked at her, “Are you sure we can trust him?” I whispered.

She nodded, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Wait... Everything?” I asked.

“Everything,” Collin said, “and I think you are a beautiful princess even knowing that.”

I looked at him in surprise but I was happy to not be lying to him anymore. I now knew for certain that Mom ‘liked’ him.

“So what are you going to do now?” Collin asked. Gloria came in and closed the door right then.

“I definitely think you still need to stay here,” she said to my surprise.

“But he’s here!?!?” Mom asked incredulously.

“Yes, but he didn’t recognize Ashley at all. He looked right at her and walked right past her. I looked in my rearview mirrors and never once saw him following us. I think it was just a coincidence.”

“But what if I run into him?”

“Well, that’s why we’re waiting for a concealed carry permit, right?” She asked.

Mom nodded.

“Roger fast tracked it, it’ll be in the mail tomorrow.”

“How...?”

“Don’t ask,” Gloria said. “Collin, are you okay with everything here?”

“With these two yes, if I ever see that sleazy bit of slime she’s running from though he won’t be around long.”

Gloria smiled, “Get in line.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Keep doing what you’re doing... I’ll talk to Hank about having all of the hands start carrying pistols at all times, that includes you Megan, and we’ll have you as safe here as you’d ever be anywhere else.”

Mom nodded. Hank came in right about then after knocking, “Everything okay boss?”

“No, it definitely isn’t. Her ex-husband is in Albuquerque and if it wasn’t for Ashley looking nothing like her old self we would have been in trouble...”

AGENT KLINE HEADED for the chair meeting not wanting to leave his case. He’d narrowed the vehicles down to five possibilities and was just getting ready to pull up driver’s license files when his timer reminded him he had to go.

“Hey Bob,” he was greeted in the conference room.

“Hey,” he said back.

The group of ten department heads, were all well seasoned veterans who hated meetings as much as he did. Their boss ran the meeting quick and efficiently though and they were done by five. He was just heading out when he heard, “Hey Bob, stick around for a moment.”

“What’s up boss?”

“How’s the Franchino case, did the trip help out at all?”

“Yeah, it did... I think I’ve almost found the wife. I just need another day and I think I’ll have her pinned down finally.”

“She’s kept you looking this whole time?”

“She’s kept all of us, including her husband, looking this whole time. I’m worried though... He’s in New Mexico right now and that’s where I think she is too.”

“You think he’s found her?”

“No... I think it’s probably coincidence, but I don’t like it either. With them setting up a new line of trafficking down there and everything I have kind of a bad feeling about it.”

“You want to head down there?”

“Day after tomorrow... With two HRT teams.”

He raised his eyebrows at him. “Why the hell do you need two HRT teams?”

“Gut feeling.”

“That’s a lot of money for a gut feeling.”

“Send them down to train at the counter-terrorism center in Artesia if they aren’t needed. It won’t be a total waste then.”

His boss considered it for a moment and then said, “Okay, I think we can make that one happen.”

“Thanks.”

“You be careful if you go down there... Your gut instincts have gotten you into a lot of trouble before!”

Bob smiled at him and then headed off to his office. He had just enough time to eliminate two more of the possibilities when he had to go home. He carefully locked everything up and left the office.

THAT AFTERNOON, AFTER some planning and talking to the ranch hands, Hank took me out for some more target practice. I shot over a hundred rounds through my new rifle and was pleased that I could accurately shoot as far as we could setup targets on the range. Hank had also brought another pistol like Mom’s and I shot five full clips with it too. He claimed I was as natural of a shooter as anyone he had ever seen.

When we returned to the house I smelled garlic and other smells that meant good food. Hank took my rifle to Gloria’s gun cabinet in her office to lock it up. While he did that I hurried back to the kitchen and discovered Mom was making spaghetti and meatballs with pasta from scratch. Consetta was watching her and learning from a master. I smiled, hugged both of them, and then went upstairs to change into something else. I washed my hands and face thoroughly and then picked out a sleeveless sundress to put on. I added some sandals to the mix and tried to fix my pigtails that had gotten lopsided while I was shooting.

What I did didn’t work so I decided to just pull out the ribbons. I brushed it really quickly and then just left it loose without anything in it. I made it downstairs and gave Mom another hug and asked, “Can I help with anything?”

“Yes you can, go sit down over there and be ready to eat in a moment,” she said.

I smiled and did as I was told. Collin and Consetta joined us for dinner that night and it was nice to have the company. Since everyone knew everything it was a bit freer of a conversation than we’d had downstairs for a while. Gloria said, “Oh Collin, Ashley should be pretty set for supplies now for the camping trip, but you might want to make sure. We went shopping today.” She added.

“Where are your new shoes?” Mom asked me.

“I don’t know, where is everything?” I asked Gloria.

“It’s still sitting in the entry way. We’ll grab your shoes to go upstairs, but most of it will just go in your backpack.”

Over the next hour while we ate Mom’s amazing spaghetti I learned more about where we were going and what we would be doing. I was a little unnerved to think about sleeping outside, but I was more amused by the fact that as a girl I was doing something that would never have happened when I was a boy. My dad for all of his attempts to make me ‘man up’ was a total city boy and way out of his element roughing it. Grandpa Tom had taken me to a campground a couple of times to sleep in a tent, but even he wasn’t much of a backpacking guy. The fact that this was something my mom would want to do, and be comfortable doing, still shocked me!

After dinner that night I felt better, but I was still really nervous. I stayed in whatever room that Mom was in that night. She finally went downstairs to watch a movie with me to try and get me calmed down. The idea of my dad had been distant... Just nightmares... But to come face-to-face with the nightmare today was just too much.

I did the required bedtime reading that night and was once again done when Mom came into my room. “Mommy... Can I sleep in your room tonight?”

She looked almost relieved at that request. “Sure honey, come on,” she said.

It took her a while to come to bed and I couldn’t sleep until then. Finally when she came into bed I hugged her and fell asleep feeling slightly safer.

I have company coming in today and won’t have a lot of privacy this week. I’m planning to still post on Thursday night, but it may be very late Thursday or early Friday. Hopefully next Sunday’s post (which is the last one) will be around the normal time.

What did you think? Comments and/or Kudos are always appreciated! Thanks for reading!