Page 56 of You Found Me
“Hey, I need a name for Della’s new ID,” Spencer said as he walked into the room. He paused just inside the door and looked from Annie to Ward to Della. “Uh, I can come back?”
“No,” Ward and Annie said at the same time.
“Okay…” Spencer drew the word out. “Nice, uh, hair.”
Della tugged at a short curl near her eye. “Thanks.”
Spencer turned to Ward. “I have everything ready to go. Just need a name. So who would you like to be?”
Della looked in the mirror again. “I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to be an Arya. Or maybe Rylee. Yeah, Rylee…Rylee…”
She searched for a last name, but nothing came to mind.
“Not Rylee. Lucy,” Ward said. The corner of his lips twitched ever so slightly. “She’s Lucy Carmichael.”
Chapter Ten
Ward put the transformed Ms. Bellamy…Lucy…into the SUV in the garage and hit the road, followed by three other SUVs. They all took off in different directions at the first major intersection. Ward kept driving until he was sure they hadn’t been followed.
They stayed one night in a generic hotel, during which Ward made damn sure nobody even caught a glimpse of his protectee.
Then they took a mostly silent ride in a private jet staffed by people who knew the value of keeping their mouths shut.
That was all it took to make Della Bellamy disappear.
On paper, at least.
In reality?
Ward watched his protectee climb into the Ford truck that had been left for them in long-term parking at the West Chester airport.
Reality was a whole other slap in the face.
Annie knew what she was doing. He believed that. But for crying out loud, why red? Their client was even more visible than she’d been before.
She’d be noticed the second they drove into Wires Crossing.
First, because she was new, and new wasalwaysexciting in a small town.
Second, no matter how much she changed her hair or her clothes, her attitude couldn’t be erased. It was embedded in the way she reacted to people and in the way she carried herself. The woman walked like she expected the entire world to be watching.
“Wow, somebody had a good time in here.” Della wrinkled her nose as she buckled her seatbelt. “It smells like a Starborn bus during Burning Man. Pretty sure there’s been a sweaty naked man in here at some point. And beer. Do you think they used this truck to haul weed?”
He started the truck. It purred to life, as solid as promised. They’d bought it off the internet for more than it was worth, no questions asked. The worn-but-not-abused truck would fit right in where they were going. He put it in gear. “I don’t care, as long as it gets us from A to B.”
“Are you going to tell me where B is? Or are we just going to drive around aimlessly? I mean, I’m sure that’s a great way to stay off the grid, but if that’s what we’re doing, I’m going to need bathroom breaks and a Starbucks run or two. Or three.”
Ward pulled out of the airport parking lot and onto the access road. “I’m taking you to Wires Crossing, Pennsylvania. My hometown.”
She shuffled in her seat until she faced him. “You mean you actually have one?”
“Everybody has a hometown.”
She shook her head. “No, they don’t. I don’t.”
Ward pulled onto the interstate. He had a little over an hour to make sure she was ready to transition from celebrity to small-town girl. “Yes, you do. You’re from Thousand Oaks, California.”
“Right.” She huffed out a small sigh. “I’m not me anymore.”