Chapter Four
Dean
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“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” I hissed to her as she led me through the crowd.
“That store,” she replied, and she pointed to the kitschy building ahead of us, stuffed with rainbow umbrellas and blow-up pool noodles.
“Why?”
“You need to get some new clothes on you if you’re going to get out of here without attracting too much attention,” she pointed out. I stared at her for a moment – it was clear she knew what she was doing. This wasn’t the first time she or someone she knew had been on the run. But how the fuck did she know how to keep me safe? And why in the name of holy hell had she decided to get involved with a mess as big as the one I happened to be in?
As soon as I crashed into her, I’d noticed something different about her. Maybe it was just her striking good looks – she had dark hair, and full lips that curled up into a smile as soon as she worked out I needed her help. What had she been doing at the hotel? Why had she taken us to the airport? She had stolen that van as though it had been nothing. It was clearly far from her first time doing so, but what did that even mean? Should I have sent in a tip about her, too? Shit, I didn’t have time – the Vogons were still after me, and I couldn’t risk doing anything to let them know where I was. I couldn’t slow down, I couldn’t stop, I needed to keep moving. I needed to make a run for it while I could.
So, I followed her. To anyone else, we would have looked like a normal couple about to head out on a vacation who were simply going to grab a pair of sunglasses or sun lotion before we hopped on the plane, but I was sure it wouldn’t take long for my pursuers to start looking for me here. I stood out, I knew I did, with the bloody handprint barely hidden under my sleeve. I was surprised she hadn’t said anything about it – but maybe it just didn’t bother her. Maybe she didn’t care.
Maybe she had seen worse.
We arrived outside the store, and she paused for a moment to browse the sunglasses on a large rack; I couldn’t believe she was being so nonchalant, but then, she had no clue of the kind of people who were after me right. After us, most likely. She had put herself into the middle of something she didn’t understand, but she didn’t seem to care. Maybe she was one of those danger junkies, women who got off on being around men who pulled in a slipstream of chaos around them. Though she seemed perfectly capable of bringing that chaos into her own life.
A car slowed on the other side of the street, and my eyes darted up to see who it was. Shit! One of the cars that had followed us out of the city was right there in front of me, and I could see a couple of the guys inside peering out to get a better look. I dove into the store and ducked behind a row of ugly-ass shirts, hoping I could stay out of their line of sight. My mind flashed to Ian, in that car, the look on his face when he had told me to run. Was he still alive? I had no idea. I tried not to linger on it.
At the front of the store, the woman who had driven me out here was trying on a pair of sunglasses, looking at herself in the mirror hung by the door and pouting at her reflection. How could she be so calm? She looked as though she had done this a million times before. Perhaps if she knew how serious it was, she would have been more panicked, but honestly, the way she was strutting around, I wasn’t sure of that.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I looked over to see the woman behind the cash register peering at me with some concern. I quickly began to leaf through the horrible shirts, hoping I could deflect her curiosity. I knew I must look crazy right now, and I just didn’t want to leave enough of an impression on anyone here that they would remember me after I left.
Slowly, she sauntered into the store, taking her time, clearly in no rush. At least she wouldn’t have looked suspicious to any of the people searching for me; she was acting as though she had nothing to worry about, and I had no damn clue how she was able to stay so calm.
She made her way over to me, and held up two pairs of sunglasses.
“Which ones do you think look better on me?” she asked. “These ones, or these ones?”
I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the back of the store, where I was sure nobody could hear the two of us.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded. I needed to know what her game was. What if she was working for the Vogons, and she was just here to keep me busy until they could send someone to get me? What if she was part of the plan?
“I’m getting you out of whatever mess you were in,” she replied calmly, and she held up the sunglasses again. “Come on, which pair?”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Arianna,” she replied without missing a beat. “You?”
I hesitated before I answered. I knew I should have been careful about who I gave that information to, but she had already gotten me out of a serious mess. I could share something with her, surely.
“Dean,” I replied simply. I wasn’t giving away anything else. She nodded.
“All right, Dean, tell me what sunglasses you like better, and then we can pick out a new outfit for you,” she told me.
“What do you mean?” I asked. My brain was still operating on such a rush of panic and adrenalin I couldn’t think straight.
“If you’re going to get away from whoever’s chasing you,” she explained, slowly, like I might need a little patronizing, “you’re going to need to look different, right?”
“Right,” I muttered. I had to accept this girl was actually helping me. I didn’t need to think about why, or work out what her motivations were for doing it – I just needed to go along with it for now, call it an act of God or whatever it was, and hope for the best.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked her. It was a futile question, I was sure of it, but I at least had to try and find out why she was helping me. She shrugged.
“Because I want to,” she replied. I pointed to the larger pair of sunglasses she was holding, with mirrored lenses and gold frames.