(Do Not Read Back Up Copy)

Chapter III

Caleb

When we’d crashed into each other earlier that morning, ballpark, I would’ve guessed she couldn’t have weighed more than 115 pounds, but this was ridiculous. She’d panicked more than I’d hoped when I’d slipped her the sedative, but I didn’t have much of a choice if I wanted to make it out of Union without being caught.

I held her up against the telephone booth until the police passed, then pulled her up onto my back. Jesus, she was sloppy. Her arms were willowy and difficult to keep from swaying all over the place. Laying low would be tricky, but I could play it off. I’d have to. My brothers needed me to bring her back home without stirring up a storm in D.C.

I guess, I’d already broken my promises.

There were enough police looking for Hailey that at this point that I’d probably gotten myself into trouble. I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t a distraction. Everything she did was weird, and as time ran away from me, it got harder to handle a hostage like her. She was so different than I thought she’d be—quirky instead of cold, all kinds of awkward, and half of the pretentious prick her Dad was on the phone.

She’d made such a mess of what was supposed to be a simple objective for me, that at points, I felt like it would have been easier to let her go and steal some other politician’s baby. But Hailey was interesting, to say the least. I kind of wanted to keep her in one piece just so I could see what she would do when she came to. I thought about how angry she’d be about all this, and hoped I’d brought enough zip ties to keep her from running once she realized the situation I’d put her in.

She’d probably—

A cute little blonde passed in front of me. If she hadn’t been a security guard, and I hadn’t been on the run, I might have had fun with her.

She slipped into a guilty smile and I flashed one back, hoping she was oblivious enough to the news reports to keep the context between us flirtatious and innocent.

“Early morning for you two?”

She stopped me. There wasn’t any time for this.

 “Late night.”

I winked at her.

She blushed.

At points, my ability to fake charisma with girls convinced me that I could get away with murder given enough motivation.

“Where are you headed?” she asked.

“Hoping to get to Manassas ma’am, but we missed our train earlier so I’m trying to figure a way out of here without having to wake her up. That’ll be tough with all of the security checks around though.”

I leaned my head affectionately against Hailey’s. She bought it.

“There’s an exit to the Outdoor Market on First Street just up the hall. It’s not a main entry point for the station, so it should be clear. You know how spotty security is.”

I smiled at her, maybe a little too brightly.

“You’re a saint. Do you have a name?” I asked.

“It’s Gracie.”

“I won’t forget it,” I already had.

“Don’t worry about it darlin’! You can catch the bus to Manassas if you hurry. The station’s only a few blocks away from here.”

Her radio spit static. I took the hint, and started off towards the first street exit.

“Will do! Thanks babe.”

I hoped she’d forget my face and where I said I was going. I couldn’t afford to keep being careless like that. Leave it to a screw up.

Once I got outside, I carried Hailey four blocks to the Greyhound Station. They were the longest I’ve walked in a while.

The humidity sucked.

Really sucked.

I started sweating so badly I was making myself sick from the smell, and to make things worse, Hailey was waking up. God, I wish she hadn’t been so sloppy about it. Her head kept rolling across my shoulder, and every time I thought she’d cut it out, her lips would end up somewhere near my neck. She kept breathing on me, I kept thinking about when I’d kissed her.

To be honest, I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Maybe it was a guy instinct thing that kicked into high gear when I went for it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel crummy afterwards. I didn’t think I’d cut a girl’s lip open my first time trying this kind of thing. Sometimes, I really think I’m an idiot.

Truth is, I felt like a dirty bastard for doing all this. Hailey fought me like I was some kind of monster earlier, but I wasn’t. I knew I wasn’t because up until I pulled her in, I didn’t doubt that she trusted me; and, I needed her to.