Authors: Kelly Abell
“
Sounds perfect. Can you remember how to get there?”
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No, but I can look it up in the phone book about as well as anyone.”
Jack chuckled and pulled over in another gas station parking lot. Caroline slid out of the car and went to the phone booth on the corner. She pulled the heavy phone book out of its black binding and flopped it on the silver shelf with at thump. Jack slid his window down and watched as she thumbed through the Auto section of the yellow pages.
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Here it is!” she cried triumphantly, pulling the page out of the book. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning, grinning from ear to ear. “I was afraid the place had gone out of business.” She climbed back into the Pathfinder. “He wasn’t the most reputable of dealers you know,” she said conspiratorially.
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No doubt.” Jack pulled out of the parking lot and turned in the direction Caroline suggested.
Within an hour they were back on the highway in a 1993 dark blue Ford Taurus station wagon. The Pathfinder was stored and no questions were asked. Of course, Jack offering to pay double what the car was worth, kept the questions to a minimum. He’d surveyed the engine and checked the oil and tires. It seemed trustworthy enough and they were now headed south on Interstate 75 straight to Florida.
They continued through the night, not wanting to stop. Since they changed cars Jack didn’t notice anyone suspicious following them. That was quite a relief to Caroline and she actually managed to sleep a few hours while Jack drove. When Jack got tired they stopped in a small roadside diner, ate, and Caroline drove until they reached the Hillsborough County line.
By 9:00 the next morning Jack pulled off Interstate 4 onto Alexander Street. It led them straight through the heart of town called Plant City. His first stop was the Post Office. He went in while Caroline waited in the car. When he came back out he carried a large manila envelope in his hand.
He opened the car door and got in. “These are our new ID’s,” he said. He handed her a Florida state driver’s license and a social security card. He also gave her a credit card and bank account checkbook. She looked at the picture on the driver’s license. It was certainly her face but the long blond hair took her by surprise.
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Where did you get these, Jack? This is me, but my hair is short, not long. And this name, Jane Reynolds? Do I look like a Jane to you?” She leaned over to look at his picture and name. “Kevin Reynolds? Are you supposed to be my husband?”
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I am for now. I thought that would make things easier while we are living together. This is a small town and people are funny about people shacking up together who aren’t married. This is a bedroom community that very few people leave. We want as few questions as possible. Do you mind?”
She thought for a minute. Did she mind? What choice did she have? None really. She needed his protection and was in no position to question how he chose to protect her. “No, I don’t mind.” She leaned over to look at his picture. “You have hair. Did someone mess yours up?”
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No, I wanted them to look as if we have had them for a while. If the pictures are aged the licenses seem more authentic. That is why I asked Hutch to give you long hair. It still looks like you but now you’ve changed your hairstyle, a perfectly natural thing to have done.”
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Jack, who made these for you?”
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A friend. He has a security company and has access to a lot of contacts. Through him, you can get things that you wouldn’t normally be able to get other places.”
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Do you trust him?”
This time it was Jack’s turn to be silent for a moment. “Not completely. I had him mail these to a P. O. Box in Washington, D.C., and then I asked someone else that I do trust to mail them here. There was a time when I trusted Hutch with my life, but things are pretty messed up. Let’s just say I trust him as much as I trust anyone right now. He can help us. I will keep as much from him as I can in order to keep us safe and anonymous, but I’m going to need help decoding these files and Hutch is the best cryptologist I know.”
Caroline nodded. “Okay.” She would have to be satisfied with that explanation. What other choice did she have? Her very life was in his hands.
He took a left onto John Moore Parkway and they headed east away from town. After passing several new subdivisions Caroline commented on how they had taken beautiful farmland and turned it into so many developments. It seemed a shame to her that all that beautiful land had been gobbled up by greedy developers.
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I’m surprised at how rural parts of Florida really are. I guess I expected more concrete and high rises like the coast. It is beautiful out here. Why are there so many pastures and so few cows?”
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It has to do with real estate. There is a law in Florida called the Green Belt law. As long as someone keeps a few head of livestock on some land, they are exempt from paying taxes on the full land value. I would wager some developer owns this land and will eventually put more houses on it.”
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Figures,” Caroline mused. “They just can’t leave well enough alone.”
Jack chuckled. “I never would have figured you for a tree hugger, Caroline.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know that I would say I’m a tree hugger. I just can’t stand to see all this beautiful land covered up with houses. It seems a shame to ruin it.”
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Yeah, these developers are crying all the way to the bank.”
She chuckled this time. “I bet. By the way, how far out in the country is this place?”
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About another 2 miles or so. We will take a left off the main road up here and then take a dirt road in about a half-mile. It’s pretty far off the beaten path. I’m glad you aren’t addicted to television because unless you have satellite you don’t get much out here.”
Caroline rolled her eyes. “I don’t imagine you do.”
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Listen, Caroline, when we get there I have no idea what shape the place will be in. No one has lived there in years. Hopefully it will still be livable. If not, I will do what it takes to fix it up. I’m not too bad with a hammer.”
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Ooh this must be my lucky day,” she said sarcastically. “He’s an assassin and he’s good with a hammer. Do you cook too?”
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Not very well, how about you?”
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I can manage my way around a kitchen,” she paused as they pulled up to a dilapidated farmhouse. “Or whatever it is you use in this place.”
Directly in front of her was a small clapboard farmhouse. It had two stories, or more realistically one and a half, and a wrap around porch. The porch was made of weathered gray boards and had definitely seen better days. The two bottom steps were completely disintegrated and the wood lay in tiny splinters on the bare sandy earth beneath the steps. Shutters, that at one time were painted black, were now faded with age, and hung at an awkward angle from the dormer on the roof. One swung precariously and looked as if it would fall to the ground at any minute. The tin roof was a washed out red and looked to be relatively sound although Caroline couldn’t imagine that it didn’t leak like a sieve.
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Home sweet home.” Jack said as he opened the car door.
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It’s, uh, nice.” Caroline stood by her car door, one foot out on the sandy ground, the other still on the car’s floorboard.
Jack turned to look at her and laughed aloud at the look on her face. She was wincing against the bright sunlight and her nose was scrunched up in a clear expression of disgust. “I told you it wasn’t the Ritz,” he finally managed once he could stop laughing.
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You were certainly right about that.” She smiled. She couldn’t have imagined a more humble beginning to the second phase of her life and she liked it. “You know what though?” she asked as she picked her way around the debris at the bottom of the steps and tried her weight on the next step up.
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What?”
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It’s got personality. It’s a little sad right now, but with some elbow grease and a little attention, it might just be perfect.”
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Elbow grease, huh?” Jack stepped up on the porch and immediately his foot dropped through a rotten board. He just managed to catch himself on the porch railing before he fell all the way through. “What it really needs is a bulldozer.” He stepped around the hole and unlocked the front door. “Let me check it out inside, Caroline. This might not have been a very good idea after all.”
She waited on the porch, standing in one spot, afraid to move too far in any one direction. While she waited she looked out over the yard. There were Grandfather Oak trees all over the property and their stately branches were covered with Spanish moss. It swung gracefully from the limbs in soft green strands. There were a few palm trees that grew low to the ground and a few exceptionally tall ones as well. That was something she would have to get used to. She certainly hadn’t seen any palm trees in Virginia.
She liked the area though. A warm winter breeze blew through her short hair and it smelled faintly of sea salt and dirt. She didn’t know how far away from the shoreline they were but just looking out over the trees she could see all sorts of water birds. Sea gulls cried loudly over head. She could see a few white egrets and brown herons coast by on their way to the nearest water source. She heard a rustle in the grass and looked off the porch to see a small turtle dragging its way across the sandy soil. The entire area seemed to be teaming with wild life of some sort.
She had never seen anything like this. Whenever she came to Florida she was in some resort in Orlando or one coast or the other. It was a pleasant surprise.
Jack returned and opened the screen door. It creaked loudly but held firmly to its hinges. “Looks like the floor in here is sound. It’s dusty and some of the windows are broken so we have some little visitors, but they should scurry on their way once we start moving in.”
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As long as they scurry and don’t slither I’ll be fine.” Caroline said, stepping gingerly across the porch, testing each board before she put her full weight on it.
She stepped into the small entrance hall of the house and looked around. The room to the right was a small parlor of sorts and sheet-covered furniture was scattered in no particular pattern about the room. There was a couch and two chairs, but she wouldn’t be able to tell what they looked like until they were uncovered.
The room to the left was a dining room and a small oval table, also covered with a sheet, commanded the attention at the center of the room. Four covered chairs sat in place around the table, and a small sideboard stood up against the far wall. Walking down a short hall past a narrow staircase she entered the kitchen. She was surprised at its size for it stretched back farther than either of the two front rooms. On the wall, hung plenty of honey oak colored cabinets and faux marble Formica counters stretched out beneath them. A white porcelain sink was filled with broken glass from the window above it that looked over an expansive back yard with a barn and hen house about 100 yards from the main house.
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Looks like the hurricane last year did some damage here. I’ll head into town and get some new windows tomorrow. Fortunately, it doesn’t get very cold here this time of year and the mosquitoes aren’t out in the winter so having them open shouldn’t cause too much of a problem.”
Caroline stepped into the kitchen and saw a pleasant little family room to the right of the kitchen. The walls here were painted a watered down yellow, the color of pale sunshine. There was more covered furniture and the floor was hardwood with an oval braided rug dappled with green, blue and yellow, covering the center of the room. It was charming, she thought. She could easily picture Jack’s grandparents spending evenings in here after a hard day’s work on the farm discussing current events and what was to be done about this year’s crop. She liked it. It needed work, yes, but she thought she would be very comfortable here for as long as she could stay.
She was jerked back to reality when she remembered why she was here. She was in hiding from her powerful husband and whoever else had a bull’s-eye on Jack’s back. She reminded herself not to get too caught up in this fantasy life she was about to embark upon. Reality could come crashing down at any minute.
She turned and saw Jack watching her from the doorway. He seemed pleased that she had gotten caught up in the place. He looks so at home here, she thought, his long muscular body leaning against the door frame. She smiled. “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us, Mr. Reynolds. Shall we get started?”
Chapter 30
Jack looked over at Caroline, who began to pull the dust covers from the furniture. She was covered in dust bunnies, little wads of silvery fluff that clung to her clothes and hair. He’d never seen a woman so delighted with furniture. Every time she pulled a dust cover from one of the pieces, she would almost squeal with delight.