chapter 2

Sighing, she pulled down a road and continued to drive. Monroe didn’t

know where she was. All she had was a map for Ohio, but that didn’t do her

any good because she wasn’t in Ohio anymore. She knew that for sure.

All she had was a burner phone and she hoped it still had a battery that

worked. Maybe she could look up where she was, but she didn’t know if

that was possible. It wasn’t anything fancy and she didn’t know if it had a

GPS signal to track where she was.

Monroe wasn’t good with technology. When she’d bought the phone,

she had asked the clerk for a prepaid phone that couldn’t be tracked and the

person had given her this flip phone, something she was familiar with.

Pulling over, Monroe put the car in park and grabbed the burner phone.

Crap. It was dead. Just her luck. Nothing was going in her favor right now.

She searched the small bag that held the charger cord, pulled it out to

inspect it, and realized she didn’t have the plug to put it in her car and

charge it.

Monroe sighed and leaned her head against the steering wheel.

Everything in her body ached as she leaned forward. The last time she’d

stopped at a gas station, she’d looked at pain meds, but couldn’t afford

them.

What was she going to do now? She didn’t have a lot of gas left in her

car and she didn’t think she had enough money to get more.

Maybe she could stop at a convenience store and ask if there were any

places hiring so she could earn some money. She needed to keep moving

but Monroe knew it would take a while to earn enough money to do that.

Not many places hired when a GED was all the person had, and they

didn’t pay well, either. Maybe she could get a job at a diner and they could

pay her cash under the table. It would probably be a sketchy diner, but she

would do it if it meant getting paid.

Monroe didn’t know how long she would have to run and stay hidden.

Would she have to do this for the rest of her life? She didn’t know if she could do that.

Pulling her hood down, she let out a sigh. It was hot in the car but she

didn’t want to turn it back on for the AC. It would waste gas she would

need once she decided to do next.

All Monroe wanted to do now was find a safe place where she could

rest and not have to worry about anything, but it didn’t seem like she was

ever going to be able to do that. It had only been three days, yet it felt like it

had been three years.

Exhaustion weighed her body down and she tried to relax in her car.

Stomach growling, she wrapped her arm gently around her stomach to stop

it. She hadn’t eaten in a while, and she didn’t know when she was going to

eat next.

Did she have enough money to get food and gas?

No.

She didn’t and she already knew that, but she wanted to pretend she had

to think about it. Give her something else to think about that wasn’t her

stomach growling or how thirsty she was.

Would she die of dehydration and starvation? How long did it take for

that to happen? Monroe hadn’t drunk or eaten anything in over a day, trying

to save money for gas. Like that did her much good. She probably could

have gotten a bottle of water or something to eat at the last gas station she’d

stopped at.

Monroe didn’t know how much gas ten dollars was going to get her in

this city. A strangled cry escaped her lips at the thought of the city. She had

no clue where she was and that worried her.

Everything was starting to crash down on her. The reality of escaping

him and driving to who knows where was settling in. Oh gosh. What was

she going to do? How was she going to earn money when she was on the

run? She wasn’t cut out for this type of life.

Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she tried to ground herself.

She needed to get a hold of herself. There was no time for panic attacks or

worrying about things. She needed to get moving.

Monroe forcibly relaxed her body and let her arms rest on her lap. She

needed to find a gas station, get gas, and ask if anywhere was hiring. Would

they hire her with all the bruises or turn her away?

A shiver ran through her body as she let out a shuddering breath. It was

so hot. She knew she shouldn’t have worn all this clothing, but she wanted

to cover up so no one saw the bruises and called the cops.

Before she could think about the answer, knocking on the window

pulled her from her thoughts. Turning her head, she stared at a figure

towering over her car. Heart rate picking up, it took her brain a couple of

seconds to realize it was a man and he didn’t look happy.

Her eyes quickly scanned his features and took in his short brown hair

and beard, dark jeans, and deep red button-down shirt before her reflexes

triggered and she scrambled as far away from the door as she could get.

Large men with muscles were bad news.

Opening her mouth, she let out an ear-piercing scream and shied even

more away from the window. Who was that? Could he have already found

her and sent someone after her? To keep her here until he arrived?

Her eyes went wide, and she stopped breathing as she stared at the man

on the other side of the window.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***