Chapter 4

Karina

“I’ll send someone for you in two days,” Raoul says, draping my coat over my body, his gaze on mine. Then, he turns back to his desk and picks up the intercom receiver. I suppose that is my cue to leave. Awkwardly, I gather the coat closer to myself, making the buckle up even tighter. I bend to pick the discarded dress up.

“Leave it.” He says dryly. “It will be burnt up later.”

I bite my lip and turn, headed for the door. “And, Karina?” he says in a deceptively soft voice, making my steps falter to a stop.

“You know what will happen if you run away, don’t you?”

“Where were you?” Raine asks the moment I walk in through the door. She tries to sound flippant, but her voice has a bit of fear in it. She thought I had left.

I flash her a reassuring smile, tightening my coat around myself self-consciously. She doesn't need to know what I just agreed to do. I will keep her safe as long as I can. That's the least I can do.

She is lounged in front of the TV, scrolling through N*****x. Thankfully, the subscription had been renewed before Mum had maxed my credit card out and disappeared from our lives. She is wearing a large rock band tee and a pair of shorts. I wonder if they were gifted by a boyfriend, or if she is a fan of rock music. It hurts that I don't know anything about my seventeen-year-old sister.

“I worked late,” I say, making a beeline for the bathroom.

“Are we going to die?” She asks so bluntly it almost breaks me. I swallow and smile.

“No,” I say defiantly. Not just to reassure her, but to reassure myself too. “I’ll make sure of it.”

I look through my phone. I have a text from the landlord, telling me that my rent is almost due. I have an account with the bank that I pay my rent from so that's not much of a problem. I crash on the sofa beside Raine, drowning out the sounds of the TV.

I wake up at midnight with an idea.

A brilliant, deadly idea.

It could save our lives if successful, but kill us both if it fails.

My savings for my rent are more than enough to pay for train tickets to Green Lake, a small town in Idaho where a distant aunt of ours lives. Aunt Shirley was mostly deaf when last I had seen her and a bit strict. Green Lake is a dot on the map. That would give me enough time to think. Get authorities involved. Run some more. Get Raine a new identity and away from me.

I hug myself, my heart beating fiercely. It’s deadly and impulsive, but the best my mind can come up with.

I get into action the next day, getting as much cash as I can from different ATMs during my lunch break at work. I have only a day to work and I have to be quick if I want to live. Later that night, I pack up as little essentials as Raine and I need into two old but serviceable backpacks for us both.

“We’re going to run away from our problems a bit,” I say to Raine as we sit opposite each other at the table. Her face is pale with fear, but she nods.

“We can’t afford to pay our debts off right now, so we’ll go live with Aunt Shirley for a bit.” I continue. “If you decide that you would rather not be on the run, I’ll get you a ticket to go anywhere you want and I’ll...” I take a deep breath. “I’ll hold things back here and get you back when it's all over.”

Her eyes tear up and she swipes at her face impatiently. “Yeah, right. Like I'll let you stay here.”

I smile, despite myself. Maybe we needed this to fix our relationship. It’s a bit terrible that our dad had to die our mum had to abandon us and we had to have a million dollars in debt to get closer to each other, but I wouldn't give that up for anything. I take an airplane ticket out of my pocket and place it on the table in front of her.

“There’s no going back.”

“I need to pee,” Raine says, her voice almost pained. I look around, paranoid. No black suits, no conspicuous men. I can’t see Raoul anywhere. My heart beats in a pounding rhythm and for the umpteenth time, I wonder if I’m doing the wrong thing. If I’m being selfish. If I’m putting Raine in danger.

“Can you hold it in?” I plead, looking around. “Till we board the plane?”

Our flight leaves in an hour and I know it's a bit cruel to tell her to hold it in that long, but I want to have my eyes on her as long as I can.

“I’ll be quick.” She promises, shrugging her backpack off and handing it to me. “I have my phone. Just don't move.”

With that, she disappears through the crowd of people, adding to my anxiety. I feel almost dizzy with worry and fear. God, what I’d give for this to be over. I close my eyes, my pulse pounding in my ears. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I have escaped Raoul. I look around. No black suits. Nothing. I sit quietly, watching for Raine.

Raine isn’t back from the bathroom yet. I tap my feet, waiting. Please let her be safe, I pray. Please let her board the plane.

“This is a dumb idea. Even for you.” A dry voice says beside me.

My breath hitches, and a cold feeling of dread washed over me. He is wearing a grey sweater over a pair of black slacks, looking like every other person trying to board the plane. He has a pair of dark glasses over his eyes.

“Be quiet and come with me.” Raoul’s voice is a velvet-coated threat, low enough that only I can hear it, but the steel underneath sends ice skating down my spine. His presence is suffocating.

“How did you find me?” I ask. That’s not important to me, but getting away is. I’m trying to buy myself enough time to think of a way to stay safe. I glance at the bathroom, unsure if I want Raine to come out or stay in for longer.

“Your escape plan is humorously basic.” He says calmly, taking his glasses off. ”The chase made it a bit more interesting. It’s very rare for people to try to evade me, even with an offensively basic trick like this.”

His eyes are blazing. His devil-may-care attitude does not fool me. He would probably bury me on the spot if we didn’t have an audience.

I want to scream. There is a silent warning in his eyes, more deadly than the one he gave me in his office. No one would help me and he would kill anyone who even tried.

“Your sister is beautiful. It would be a shame if she killed herself in an airport bathroom.” He says.

“No,” I say, my voice a bare whisper. “Not her. She’s so young...”

“You have two choices, Karina.” He cut in, a bored look on his face. “You walk out of here with me or run out when the place goes up in flames.”