Firecracker (On Hold)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ariya's P.O.V.

I'm tucked behind a building in town so I can see when D's contact turns up. There's been a lot of people coming and going, more than I'd expect for such a small town. This leads me to believe Justin has spread the word that I'm on the run. Why couldn't he just keep it to himself? It's not like I'm dangerous or anything. This would be where I fake an innocent look, which probably doesn't work if I'm completely honest.

I'm tired and thirsty now. I need to get some sleep, but I can't do that until I'm safe. I also can't run the risk of missing my ride out of here. I play mental games with myself to try and stay awake and alert until I can leave this awful place.

The sun has gone completely now and the moon is quite high, meaning it's probably close to midnight. Surely they must be near by now? He knows how urgent it is. No, he'll come through for me. He always does. I have no real idea what the time is and there's no where I can go to find out. Not without being seen and I'm definitely not risking that again. The town is still busy and the diner is open. I'm not sure if that's normal. I wouldn't have thought a small place like this would have customers all night, but maybe I'm wrong. Just as I'm thinking about this, a shiny black SUV pulls up in front of the diner. That's one of D's men. I don't know how I know, but I do. I watch the Latino guy get out of the driver's side and I'm just about to come out of hiding when I see the bandana hanging from his pants pocket. It stops me dead in my tracks. The bandana is red.

Shiitake mushrooms with a side of frogs!

It's not green like D said it would be. He's sending me a message, he has to be. He doesn't miss details like this. He doesn't get important things wrong, otherwise he would have been caught a long time ago.

I don't wait around to find out what's going on. I make a move and jog out of town. I need to find somewhere to rest and think without worrying about getting caught. I have to find somewhere to hide.

My jog slows into a walk after what feels like an hour and I stumble on a small forest. It looks like I'm at the base of some mountains. I suppose this is as good a place as any to hide for now. I locate a sturdy tree and climb as high up as I can without the branches being too small to take my weight. I take my pants off and tie myself to the tree in case I fall asleep. I don't want to fall out in my sleep. In a sad way, I feel more comfortable now than I have since I arrived here. Being outdoors, with no one else around me is where I'm the most at ease. Ok, so I'm hiding from a Marine or ex Marine, whatever, which I'll agree is not the most ideal situation. However, I doubt he's going to come looking up in trees for me, so I should be safe for now. I need to come up with a plan though.

Now I'm relatively safe, it gives me a chance to think. Something is wrong. What if D got snatched up in New York? I didn't put him in danger, did I? His phone has always been untraceable, hasn't it? I can't allow myself to panic or freak out because my judgement will be cloudy if I do that. I have to stay calm and keep a level head. I don't want to get D in trouble though. He's been good to me and I don't want to be the reason he gets caught.

I know he's not exactly a saint (ok, so that's an understatement), and I don't make him get involved in the stuff he does, but I don't want it to be my fault he gets sent down. That won't be good for either of us. I don't have friends, but D is the closest thing to a friend I know. I will stay loyal to him because he's been loyal to me. I know I'm a liability for him. He knows I can fight, but he also knows I get myself into more trouble than I should. He had a massive fight set up for me before I got sent to this hole and by losing me, he lost a lot of money. This would be one of the reasons I don't take his money; just in case I'm pinched and can't turn up, at least it balances out my tab to some degree.