He stared at the sticky note with the FBI information. He wanted to know more about what was going on with her.
Penny prepared chicken nuggets and apple slices for Missy for supper. It wasn’t as nutritious a meal as she would have preferred but Missy enjoyed it and cleared her plate for a change. Her appetite hadn’t been the best since the incident so Penny had tried to cater to what she would eat. It was bad enough that the girl had retreated into a shell and wasn’t speaking. She couldn’t handle Missy not eating too.
She watched her daughter on the floor, coloring a picture, and her heart ached to go back to their lives before that day at the bank, before they’d been caught up in a robbery. She would never forgive herself for being in that place at the wrong time. Ever since, she’d spent hours trying to figure out what she’d done wrong, how she could make sure something like that never happened again. Of course she hadn’t been able to find any solutions. There was nothing she could have done. She hadn’t known about the robbery or what would happen. But now she had to live with its aftermath—and so did her daughter. Missy had watched it all unfold, her childhood innocence lost in the blink of eye.
All the bank robbers had been wearing masks but from her vantage point, Missy had been able to see two of their faces without them realizing it. She’d picked them out from their mug shots to the police, showing incredible courage despite struggling with her own fears. Afterward, when everyone realized Missy could identify the men who’d robbed the bank, the threatening notes and harassing phone calls had begun.
Penny had hoped that making it clear that her daughter was not testifying would mean that the threats would end, but they’d only escalated until their FBI protection detail had been murdered in the hotel where they were hiding. After that, Penny had made the decision to slip past their guards and disappear. She’d gotten into her car and driven from Lexington, not even knowing where she was heading but determined to get out of town as fast as possible, away from the men who were targeting them—and also from the police and FBI trying to bully her daughter into testifying no matter the cost. That had been two months ago. Sixty-seven days of peace from the threats and harassment.
She’d done what she had to do to keep her daughter safe.
She only wished she’d been able to get Missy the emotional help she needed.
She sighed. No use fretting over that. There was nothing she could do to change the situation. They’d had no choice but to run. She was determined to get Missy counseling just as soon as it was safe enough to go out in public again. If today had proved anything to her, it was that laying low for now was their safest option.
She helped Missy clean up her colors and papers before bedtime. The current drawing she was working on showed images of people lying on the ground, blood spatter everywhere and an angry man with a gun. Penny shuddered and folded it. Another one for the collection. Missy’s drawings since that day at the bank had gotten darker and darker.
She put Missy to bed, kissed her good-night, then walked back into the small living room of their rental. She fell onto the couch and let the tears flow. She needed the release. They were in way over their heads already. Piling the stress of the incident today on top of that was almost too much to comprehend. Part of her had been so fearful that they’d been discovered that she’d wanted to keep driving away from Jessup the moment she’d left the grocery store, but she’d calmed down and convinced herself that it had been nothing more than what the chief had said. A reckless driver who hadn’t been paying attention.
She clung to that notion. Carelessness, she could deal with. The thought of it being deliberate malice—the same cruelty that had dogged their footsteps before—was more than she could take.
God, I can’t do this anymore. I need to keep Missy safe but I’m afraid.
She hadn’t meant to invoke God’s name in her anguished cry. God used to be her comfort and her guide, but ever since she’d found herself a single mom, God had seemed so distant. Her husband, Devon, had been killed in a bar fight. He and another man had fought over money and drugs, and the fight had turned lethal. She’d been aware of Devon’s issues and she’d done her best to help him pay the bills and be supportive, but the lying and the late nights and the drinking had all taken their toll. He’d proved to her that not everyone was who they seemed. If she couldn’t even trust her own husband, then who could she trust? In the time since then, she’d learned to rely solely on herself. That attitude had given her independence...but it had also left her lonely. And now, when she really needed someone on her and Missy’s side, she had no one to turn to.
Especially not God, who seemed to have turned His back on them.
She got up and dragged herself to her bed, shut off the light and did her best to get some sleep. Being always on guard was exhausting.
A noise pulled her awake. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep but it was still dark outside.
She jerked up in bed, straining to hear again whatever it was that had awakened her.
She pushed back the blanket and slipped into her shoes, which she kept ready and waiting beside the bed. She slipped her cell phone into her purse and slid the strap over her head. Being ready to move at the drop of a hat was a necessity she’d gotten used to.
Her heart kicked up a notch as she heard something else. It sounded like voices outside.
She darted from her bed and ran into her daughter’s room. She pulled back the blankets, thankful for once for Missy’s lack of speaking. She groaned and clung to Penny but she didn’t cry out. “Baby, we’ve got to go,” Penny whispered to her.
She walked to the bedroom door and opened it slightly to hear if they’d entered the house. The sound of footsteps on the wooden deck out back sent her heart racing.
There was no more waiting around. Someone was coming inside the house.
She opened Missy’s bedroom window and peeked through to make sure no one was in range to see them. When she was certain the coast was clear, she pushed it all the way open and crawled through with Missy in her arms just as she heard glass breaking at the back of the house.
She darted toward her car, digging for her keys which she always kept close at hand along with her phone. She climbed inside and started the engine, before roaring away. “Buckle yourself into your car seat,” she commanded her daughter who did as she asked.
Penny glanced in the rearview mirror and spotted two men running down her driveway.
Fear lit inside her. She hadn’t been imagining it. They’d found them. If she couldn’t outrun them now, they would overpower her until she and Missy were both dead.
She had no idea which direction she was driving but she hit the closest highway and floored it. She thought momentarily about calling the police. That might help to slow down the men after her, but it would also mean having to remain in town to explain what was going on. She wouldn’t put Missy at risk that way. Especially when she couldn’t count on those in authority to have her and her daughter’s best interests at heart. She wouldn’t allow another set of law enforcement officials to lecture her about how Missy’s testimony was all that mattered—not her peace of mind or her safety.
The memory of meeting Caleb struck her. He was the chief of police and seemed like a good man. But could she really trust him? Again, she had to think of Missy. She couldn’t stop for anyone, not when her daughter’s life depended on it.
Headlights in her rearview mirror told her that it was already too late. The men who’d broken into her house had followed her. It had to be them, given how fast they were driving. It would only be a matter of moments before their vehicle caught up with her.
That did it. She still wasn’t sure she could trust the police...but desperate times called for desperate measures. If calling in the authorities was the only way to protect her daughter from certain death right here and now, then she’d do exactly that. At this point, she’d take any help she could get.
She grabbed her phone and dialed 911. “Please help me,” she cried when the dispatcher answered. “Two men in a pickup truck are following me. I’m on Route 17 just past the abandoned gas station. They broke into my house. I think they’re going to hurt us. My six-year-old daughter is in the car with me.”
“Ma’am, hang on,” the dispatcher replied. “We have officers responding to your location. Can you see the men?”
“They’re right behind me, coming up fast.”
“Don’t stop. Just keep driving. My officers will find you.”
Suddenly, the truck pulled up beside her. She looked over and saw a man lean out the window with a rifle. Missy screamed from the back seat and she knew the police were not going to make it to her in time.
They were on their own.
She sped up and tried to avoid them but the truck managed to keep up with her. Her car didn’t have the power their pickup did. The guy fired just as she swerved, shooting out the back seat window.
“Missy!” she screamed, relieved to hear the girl cry out in response. She was frightened and crying but she was alive—for now.
The truck swerved into her lane, shoving the front end of her car. Penny lost control as the car skidded onto the shoulder, then flipped again and again down the steep embankment before sliding to a stop.
Pain riddled through her and her ears were still ringing from the gun blast. Her head hurt and her muscles ached but she managed to unbuckle herself and climb into the back seat to unbuckle Missy. The girl’s cheeks were red and wet and she had a few small cuts on her hands, but otherwise she seemed unhurt from the crash.
