The Rules for Breaking (6 page)

“How will you know which one it is, sir?” Agent Parker asks.

“I’ll run the order for three safe house locations through the normal channels, but make sure each agent in question is told a specific yet different location of where our informant is being kept. If they check, they’ll see my name on the order. I’ve got some off-the-books guys who can watch these spots and they can let me know the minute someone shows up.”

She nods. “Yes, sir.”

This is moving so fast.

“What about Mom? Is she okay where she is?” I ask. A wave of longing washes through me, taking me by surprise. How can I still be so mad at her and want to throw my arms around her at the same time?

Dad’s face drops and Teeny bites her bottom lip.

“Richard,” Agent Williams says to Dad, “this is your call. I don’t have any reason to believe she’s in danger, but if you want to move her, I can see about moving her.”

“I want her kept safe, but she
needs
to stay where she is. Moving her will ruin all the progress she’s made. When this is over, my wife will be coming home. Healthy.” We’re all shocked by the passion in Dad’s voice. “Surely, you’ve got some extra ‘off-the-books’ guys to watch her. Keep her safe but don’t tell her what’s going on. This would destroy her.”

Agent Williams nods and says, “I’ll notify the hospital and have one of my guys inside at all times.”

Teeny breaks for a second then pulls herself together. She’s struggling to be strong. “Can I talk to Mom before we leave?” she asks.

Dad nods. “I think that’s a good idea. We’ll
all
check on her.”

All means me. I haven’t spoken to Mom since she entered rehab, but I think I would never forgive myself if I didn’t speak to her now.

For privacy, we go to Dad’s room to make the call. It’s hard for me to be in his room because it is so clearly his and not theirs. The bedding doesn’t match the drapes and there are no pictures on the wall or dresser. Even at the beginning of our time in protection, Mom always took special care with her room. It’s so obvious Mom has never set foot in this house or slept in that bed. We moved here after she went to rehab and there’s not a trace of her anywhere. That makes her absence that much stronger.

It takes a few minutes to get her on the phone.

“Hi, honey! How are you?” Dad’s voice sounds too animated and if she is truly getting better, she will pick up on that in a second.

“I know, we just wanted to talk to you. How are you?”

He’s silent for a few moments and I get nervous about my turn.

When Dad tells her bye, he holds the phone out to Teeny and she jumps at the chance to talk to her.

“Hey, Mama!”

Teeny rattles on, talking about school and her friends and every little detail of her life before the disastrous turn a few days ago. And she makes it sound so easy.

I stare at the receiver when Teeny holds it in front of me. It takes a second or two before I reach for it.

Bringing it to my ear, I don’t say anything at first, just listen to the hum of the distance between us.

“Anna, are you there?” She sounds anxious.

“Yes, Mom. I’m here.”

“Oh, sweetie! It’s so good to hear your voice! I’ve missed you so much! How are you? Please, tell me everything that’s been going on.”

Her voice is so clear and she sounds so happy to be talking to me. I don’t realize tears are streaming down my face until they start dripping off my chin. Dad ushers Teeny out of the room and shuts the door. I curl up on Dad’s bed, the phone cradled against my ear.

“I’m good. I’ve made some really nice friends and I’m doing well in school. Ethan and I are still together.”

She sniffles and I know she’s crying, too. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry about everything. I’m sorry that I was drunk all the time. I’m sorry you were the one who had to make sure we had food. I’m so sorry you had to see me like you did. No child should ever have to do what you did for me.”

Mom sobs softly in the phone.

“Mom.” God, what do I say to this? My eyes fill with tears.

Before I can think of something to say, she continues, “But mostly, I’m so proud of you and the young woman you’ve turned into. And I’m so honored to be your mother and I can’t wait to throw my arms around you. I promise I’ll make things up to you.”

I’m bawling now, not even trying to hide it.

“I love you, Mom. And I’m so happy you’re doing better. I can’t wait for you to come home.” And I mean it. Really mean it.

“I know; me, too. And it won’t be long. I’m learning some really good skills here about how to handle things when I feel overwhelmed. I’m getting strong, just like you.”

This crushes me because I don’t feel strong at all. Ethan tells me I’m strong, too, but it’s not true. I feel helpless and out of control and scared about everything.

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too. Now tell me about Ethan.”

A smile spreads across my face. “He’s so nice, Mom. And cute. And fun. And he really likes me and I really like him. Like more than I’ve ever liked anyone and I haven’t known him that long. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

She laughs and the sound is music to my ears. She sounds normal. Better than normal.

“No, that’s not weird. Dad told me what happened in Arizona. You and Ethan have been through a lot together and I think it’s very normal to have intensified feelings after something like that.”

It’s so good to talk to her about this, especially when Dad thinks we should spend less time together.

“Are you being careful?”

Oh my God. Is she asking me about sex?

“Ummm…Mom, I…”

“You don’t have to tell me. I’m not in the position to demand anything from you.”

And this makes me suddenly so sad.

“Well, I can’t wait to see you and Teeny and Dad,” she says in a happier tone. “And go with your heart, Anna. Your instincts are good. And sometimes you just know when you’ve found the right boy for you. That’s how I felt about your dad. Couldn’t keep my hands off of him!”

“Mom!”

She laughs again. “And I still feel that way about him today. He’s a good man and he wants nothing more than to protect his family. We’re all so lucky to have him.”

“I love you, Mom. So much.”

“I love you, too. Kiss Teeny for me and I’ll see you soon.”

I end the call and head back to the family room, drying my face on my shirt as I walk down the hall.

Dad winks and smiles when I enter the room and I smile back. Talking to Mom was just what I needed.

Agent Williams and Agent Parker leave with Ethan so they can speak with his family while we pack up some belongings to last us while we’re gone. Dad calls work to tell them we’re off to Scottsdale to tie up a few loose ends.

I call Catherine with the same story. She knows I’m full of crap but goes along anyway.

It shouldn’t be this easy to leave everything behind.

Rules for disappearing
by Witness Protection prisoner #18A7R04M:

Do not join clubs, dance line, or any other really fun organized group at school….

New rule by Anna Boyd:

Okay, maybe that’s not such a bad rule after all…even if the bitchy cheerleader isn’t that bitchy anymore—that doesn’t mean you
want
to be best friends.

Williams is finding that it’s a little harder to get things done when he can’t (or won’t) use the resources normally available to him.

Because we’re off the books on this, there is some debate on how to get us to Arkansas. Agent Williams is dying to go after this Daniel Sanders guy but doesn’t trust us to leave town by ourselves.

We wait for Ethan at the farm. The Landry’s farm is outside of town in a remote area. The land around here is flat, nothing but crop fields, with very few trees. If someone was following us, it would be very hard for them to remain unseen.

Ethan, Emma, and their parents pull up next to us.

What in the hell? I thought it would just be Ethan going with us to Arkansas.

The men shake hands while Ethan heads to where Teeny and I are sitting in Agent Williams’s Suburban. Emma and her mom haven’t gotten out of the vehicle.

I open the door and I know I look confused.

“The whole family is coming with us.” Ethan rolls his eyes and says, “Dad said he’s been meaning to work on our camp and this is a perfect time to do that and wouldn’t it be nice to hang out there as a family.”

Right.

“I really think the fact that Thomas was in your driveway, going through your truck, freaked your mom and dad out and he wants to get y’all out of town, too.”

Emma and I have been getting along lately, but I don’t know if we can survive being holed up together in some remote backwoods hunting camp.

Agent Williams finally decides that he and Agent Parker will follow us to the state line, make sure no one’s tailing us, then let us continue on our way alone.

As we load our bags into the back cargo area of Ethan’s dad’s SUV, it’s kind of embarrassing how much space I’m taking up with my bag. I refused to leave all my stuff behind, so instead of packing a lot of clothes, I grabbed every memento I’ve saved over the past couple of months in Natchitoches. No matter how many times Agent Williams says we’ll be back, I have a hard time believing him.

Mr. Landry and Ethan throw several guns and plenty of ammo in the back of their SUV, including the small one I fired, and just like that we’re off.

We’re crammed in this SUV like sardines. Dad and Mr. Landry are up front, dissecting the last few days. Emma and her mom have the two captain seats in the middle and Ethan, Teeny, and I are squished into the back row.

“At least we’re not in that stupid van this time,” Teeny says. “I felt like we were convicts or something riding around in that thing.”

“Ben was supposed to pick me up after lunch to go to a movie,” Emma says to no one in general.

Mrs. Landry pats her arm. “That’s why you sent him that text, sweetie.”

“He’ll never believe I’m going to the camp willingly.”

She mumbles to herself and digs through her bag. Her mom gives her a wide berth.

Teeny curls up on my other side to read and Ethan seems lost in thought as he stares out of the window.

Agent Williams left us about an hour back and, admittedly, I’ve been scanning the road behind us ever since.

Everything that has happened over the past week or so has stumped me. I can’t figure out why Thomas would give me my journal back then break into our house. Is there something else we’re missing? Did he only want me to have it back if I didn’t tell anyone about it?

The hardest part of trying to figure Thomas out is trying to reconcile the difference in how he was when I thought he was an agent and what I learned about him in Arizona. How did I completely fall for the “nice agent routine” when in real life he is a cold-blooded killer?

We’ve driven for four hours and Emma has bitched the entire time. We’ve heard about every event in the next week she was scheduled to attend (five to be exact), every TV show she’ll miss (she almost flung herself from the SUV when she found out we wouldn’t have cable), every person who will tear through Natchitoches looking for her (around twenty, but she says that’s a conservative estimate), and how many items she forgot to pack since Ethan rushed her (current count is seventeen but it’s expected to rise).

Teeny and I passed notes most of the trip on what would be the best way to evict her from the car. Teeny won hands down with the idea of Emma turning into vaporized mist then being sucked out of the sunroof.

“Pleeeeeease tell me we’ll be there soon. I’m dying to get out of this car.”

She’s asked this about twenty times. Mr. Landry doesn’t bother to answer her anymore. And this is what I was worried about—I can handle Emma in small doses, but I’m not sure I can stand being around her for several days.

We turn off an old highway and hit a gravel road. There is nothing around us: no houses, no farms, no gas stations. At every turn, Mr. Landry glances in the rearview mirror. There is no one within sight. We drive on this bumpy road in the middle of nowhere for miles until it dead-ends into the bottom end of a tall levee. Mr. Landry pauses a moment but then throws the Suburban in four-wheel drive and keeps on going. We’re nearly vertical for a few tense seconds until the SUV plops on top of the levee, then we’re driving faster than what feels safe.

The levee is significantly higher than the gravel road we just left. It’s bare dirt on top, barely wide enough for our vehicle, then it slopes down dramatically on either side, which makes it feel like we’re flying. Even with the aerial view, I can’t see any other signs of life for miles.

Well, human life, that is. Ethan pokes Teeny and me to show us a mama deer and a baby deer just inside the woods at the bottom of the hill. Teeny scrambles across me to get to the window for a better view.

The levee makes a sharp turn and we’re barreling through a tunnel of trees. Even in February, the trees are thick with leaves and it’s instantly dark outside. As soon as we’re back in full sunlight, we stop in front of a huge body of water.

Mr. Landry throws the truck in park. “We’re here.”

Here. I look around.

Nothing.

“Surely there will be a structure of some sort we’ll be sleeping in.” Emma sounds a bit panicked, but I get why she’s asking. There is nothing but a tunnel of trees behind us and a body of water ahead of us. And it’s close to dark.

Ethan can’t help but laugh. “Of course. We just have to barge across.”

And then I spot the barge partly concealed by a bank of trees. What in the world? He said something about a barge, but surely he didn’t mean that.

The whole barge/SUV thing concerns me. The barge looks a hundred years old, and there’s a little tugboat attached to it that isn’t any bigger than a Volkswagen bug. The river is wide and the current looks pretty strong. And if this is the only way to get over to that little island right there, I guess Ethan wasn’t kidding when he said this would be a hard spot to find.

It doesn’t take long before we’re all piling out of the SUV, hoping to get a better look at it.

Mr. Landry jumps in the little tugboat that’s attached to the side of the barge and a loud boom fills the air when he cranks it up.

Ethan comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“How does this work, exactly?” I ask.

Ethan leans his chin on my shoulder. “Well, he’ll push that barge around with the tugboat and line it up in front of the car. We’ll drive on it and ride it across to the other side…why are you shaking your head?”

“There’s no way I’m getting on that thing. What if it flips over? And then we’re trapped in the car and sink to the bottom of the river.”

Ethan chuckles in my ear and says, “We can ride on the barge, next to the car. We don’t have to be in it.” He squeezes me and whispers, “Anna, stop worrying about everything. We’ll hang out here for a few days, then head back home after Thomas is caught.”

I don’t say anything—just wish I could feel as confident about this plan as he does.