Page 31 of Blade

Luis had hurt Sage bad. All because she was protecting me. I wasn’t sure how she was even staying on the back of my bike through the terrain we traveled.

Though it felt like we’d been halfway across the country, we’d barely made it halfway across the state. We traveled at night as much as we could. I’d done my best to clean her up. I treated her wounds and cleaned off the blood at the first gas station westopped at in the middle of the swamps in Florida, but she was exhausted so I couldn’t ride like I would’ve wanted to.

We headed toward Georgia. I really didn’t have a plan or a destination in mind. All I had was about eleven grand in cash left from what I’d been saving since I first started working for Luis. I’d given a chunk to Ricardo’s family to escape, and left two grand for my mom, wishing I could’ve given her more.

I figured we’d jump around a bit to make our trail harder to follow, then go to California and lose ourselves there.

Just before sunup, we stopped at a rundown motel just across the Georgia border where we both showered. “Lock the door. Don’t even make a peep unless you hear me say ‘I have cookies.’ Okay?”

Sage nodded, but remained quiet.

Satisfied she’d be safe for a bit, I left to get food and while I waited for it, I saw an old payphone by the bathrooms. Who knew shit like that still existed?

I glanced at it several times before I got up, stuffed some quarters in it and listened to the ringing as I waited for her to answer. At least I hoped she would since she wouldn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?” sounded in my ear and I almost hung up. After all, I was only checking to see if she was okay. Except I couldn’t help myself.

“Mom?”

A sob was quickly muffled. “Finley, where are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m safe. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay? No, I’m not okay. My son is missing. No note, no calls, his phone going straight to voicemail… how could you possibly think I was okay? Where are you?” Her voice cracked and so did my heart.

“I can’t tell you where I am. If anyone asks you can honestly say you have no clue.”

“Are you in trouble, Finley?”

“Kind of…”

She gasped.

“I’ll be okay. I just needed to get away for a while. Once things blow over, I’ll be back,” I lied. I knew I’d never be going back to Florida again.

“Does this have to do with Manny? I knew he was bad news. No kid his age should have that much money. What’s going on?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with Manny.” More lies. Though it wasn’t directly related to Manny himself, it was sure as hell his father.

“Lee!” The waitress called out the name I’d given her, setting a white paper bag on the counter.

“I gotta go.” I paused. I had no idea when I’d be able to speak to her again. “I love you mom. Check in the Pringles can in the cupboard.”

“What? No! Finley!”

But I cut her off by hanging up the old black receiver.

I grabbed the bag, leaving a tip on the counter. When I walked out of the small, ancient diner near the motel someone across the highway lit a cigarette. He was leaning against a black truck. For a moment, I thought he was watching me and the hairs on my arms stood up. Then a woman walked out of the salon, locked the door and rushed into his arms. He swung her around and I breathed a sigh of relief.

After that I hurried back to the room, announced myself and I heard Sage unlock the chain. We ate without talking. Then I told her, “We’ll take turns keeping watch. I’ll go first, you sleep.”

Barely able to keep her eyes open, she nodded before she crashed. I didn’t wake her up until the sun was starting to go down. She needed rest to heal.

“Fin, why didn’t you wake me up?” She was mad, but it didn’t matter, I knew I would be okay. I had enough adrenaline coursing through my veins that I would be good until we got farther away from Luis’s extensive reach.

“I just need an hour or two,” I told her as I flopped face down on the bed. “Wake me up in no more than two hours. We need to get somewhere I can get a job for a bit.”

She sat on the bed with her back to the headboard, knees to her chest, and her thin arms wrapped around her legs. “Okay,” she replied in a small voice.