Always Running (MATURE CONTENT)

CHAPTER 21

Nessa rummaged through the office some more looking for money. She needed to get as much cash as possible. She couldn't ask her guards because they would tell Lucas right away and that would make her escape much more difficult. The office had nothing that was useful for her. She made her way to the second floor to her own room and closed the door and locked it. She walked to the connecting door and opened it and walked inside Lucas' room. She looked in every pants' pocket, every suit jacket pocket, and every drawer. When she was finished, she had about five hundred dollars in cash, two gold chains, two gold bracelets and two pairs of gold cuff links and the cell phone Lucas had bought her which she would pawn for a few hundred dollars. Her bag was packed and ready to go. She would have to keep to the back roads and find a small town where she could keep being Nessa. Lucas knew too much about her and how she operated and would find her in no time. She took all the jeans and sweaters and fluffy socks that she managed to fit in her bag. Her laptop and scanner would have to be left behind. She would have no use for them now. It didn't matter who she became, she didn't just have Justin after her now, she would soon have Lucas after her as well. She had to make it into Canada or at least into a podunk mountain town where Lucas wouldn't think to look for her.

"Darling." Lilian knocked at the door. "Would you like to have some dinner with me?"

Nessa couldn't fake her emotions. She had always worn them on her sleeve, it was one of her many, many flaws.

"I'm not hungry, thank you. I just want to rest for a while, okay!" Nessa called out pulling her black jeans on. She had put her purple sweater on already and she braided her hair back in a French braid. She put her boots on and put the money she had taken from Lucas in her left sock. She had the money she had saved in a pouch tied to her waist underneath a white bandage for added security. She had to get out quick. She was sure that Lilian would call Lucas to report on her behavior as she had done already. She opened her window and inspected her surroundings. She could make the jump without hurting herself. She made sure there were no guards roaming around and she dropped her bag. She crawled out of the window and slowly hung herself. She pushed off the wall enough, so she could fall freely without hitting her body before she landed. Her bag helped to break the fall. She got the wind knocked out of her and she quickly recovered. She slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder and began to make her way through the estate she didn't know very well.

After she ran about a mile she found a storm drain which was too small for her to fit through. She kept going until she reached the end of the estate and decided that she would scale the wall. Since it was made out of stones she had enough space between the rocks to grab on to. She climbed slowly and once she was at the top of the wall she dropped her bag and then she dropped herself on the bag again. She ran as fast as her legs would allow. She was winded when she reached the entrance of the city. She knew that bus two-fifty-one would take her to the other end of the city but she couldn't risk it. She had to take as many buses as she could to throw her trail off.

FIVE. After taking five buses, she had finally made it to the other side of the city. She walked to the train station and bought two tickets going the opposite direction then she walked to the bus terminal and bought the cheapest tickets going east, west, and north. Lucas would check and would assume that she was heading south when in fact she would be heading north. Nessa made her way back to the train station and made sure plenty of people saw her hanging around. She slipped to the bathrooms and changed her purple sweater for a black one. She loosened the braid and pined her hair, so it looked like it was shoulder length. She waited for the rush of boarding people and walked out of the bathroom and boarded the train giving her ticket to the ticket master. She hurried down the train and headed to the last wagon. She waited a few seconds making sure no one was paying attention to her and dropped her ticket by a seat before she got off.

RUNNING. She was running again, this time from a man she never thought she would have to run from. She was running from a man she had felt safe with.

STUPID. She had been so stupid and so blind to think that she could actually have a normal life. Broken women like her never got that chance. She had been a fool to think that she could have a second chance with Lucas.

Nessa walked as fast as her legs would carry her. She headed west and when she was far enough away from Harbor City she would begin to make her way north. She had thought she could make it to Canada, but she didn't have a passport and she didn't want to risk crossing over illegally. A Mounty would find her and take her right back to Lucas with her luck. That man had a wider reach than Justin and that was terrifying. Her life just got harder, there was no doubt about it.

She had been walking for a good two hours when the cell phone Lucas had bought her finally rang.

"Hello?"

"What's going on, Nessa? Where are you?"

Well, that took less time than she had thought it would. "What do you mean? I'm in my room resting." She kept her voice calm.

"Really? You sure about that?" He was agitated.

"Well, Mac, I'm not sure actually, I thought I was resting in my room, but I find myself outside and I also thought you were a good man, but it turns out you and Justin have a lot in common. You lying bastard!" Nessa hung up before he had a chance to say another word. She turned the phone off making it impossible to be traced. Her original plan had been to sell the phone, but the moment the pawn shop turned it on to check that it worked her location would be pinged to the nearest tower and Lucas would be notified. Instead, she dropped it on the ground and stomped on it as hard as she could with the heel of her boot. Satisfied with pieces of the device strewn all over the ground, Nessa began to make her way north.

"Nessa, Nessa!" Lucas screamed into the phone and growled when he heard the line go dead.

"Boss, what's wrong?" Felix, one of Lucas' men asked.

"We need to get back now. Nessa is in the wind again." Lucas stepped away from the man who was tied to a chair. He rolled his sleeves down and put his suit jacket on again.

"It seems our friend found out more than she should have." Lucas grabbed the man by his hair and yanked his head back. "Too bad you won't be able to warn your boss I'm coming for him."

"I didn't know, I swear. I only met Olivia once or twice. Please, please." The man begged, but Lucas didn't care. Men like him, that turned a blind eye to the crimes that were being committed against women were filth in his book.

Lucas let go of the man and grimaced. "Take care of him and make sure there's no trace that leads back to me."

Lucas walked out of the warehouse and made his way to his car. Once inside he dialed Ron's number.

"Mac, I—"

"Nessa's in the wind again," he said and cut Ron off.

"Yeah I know. I got notified a few minutes after she jumped the wall."

Lucas let a myriad of not so colorful words fill the car. "Why the fuck is she still in the wind?"

"She's good, Mac. I have men going all directions she bought tickets for. A woman says that she thought she saw someone that looked like Nessa boarding the train headed to Utah. I have men on their way to intercept the train."

More curses left Lucas' mouth. She was gone again, and he was not home to go after her. "Check the cell phone towers, check the tracker in her bag and let me know as soon as you have her location."

"You got it boss."

Lucas felt like ripping heads off, starting with her personal guards. Useless motherfuckers! He would have their heads when he had Nessa back at home with him where she belonged. 

Oh no! Poor Nessa! Tell me what you think will happen? I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  Thank you for reading!