Without a Trace

Chapter Four

"Willow."  I stare out the car window in a daze, not answering him.  "Willow, talk to me."  

"What?" I say quietly, my voice cracking.  

"Are you okay?" Haden asks.  

"No." I whisper.  He looks over at me, probably looking at my injuries.  

"We have to have somebody look at you.  You probably have a concussion."  He's right, I probably do.  My head hurts, I feel nauseous and tired.  

"I'm fine."  I say, not wanting to go to a doctor or anything.  All I want to do is go to bed.  Haden doesn't argue with me, instead he pulls over.  I look at him in confusion.  

"You're not fine." he says, and something on his face makes me afraid to argue with him.  "That wasn't your fault Willow.  None of it was."

"She's dead because I went to see her.  I didn't tell Zane where Emma went.  How is this not my fault?"

"How could you know that this would happen?  You can't do this to yourself."  I feel tears roll down my cheeks.

"I'm scared, Haden."  I say quietly.  "What did Emma get herself into?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out, okay?" he reassures me, and I manage to crack a small smile at his optimism.   "We're gonna get through this.  Now, where to next?" 

"I was thinking some sort of convenience store." I reply.  "I think I need some ice packs."  Haden laughs.

"Yeah that's probably a good idea."

I sit in the passenger seat of the car, waiting for Haden to come back from inside the convenience store.  We decided that I probably shouldn't go inside because the bruise on my forehead from where I was hit with the gun would probably attract attention.  Finally, he comes out holding a couple of plastic bags full of items.  He gets in the car and hands me one of the bags.

"Here are your ice packs." he says.  I take out one of them and press it against the bruise on my forehead and the other against the bruises on my stomach from when he kicked me.  

"What's in the other bag?" I ask. eyeing the bag he has in his hand.

"Snacks." he says, grinning.  "The most important part of being on the run." I laugh.

"We're on the run now?" He nods.

"Zane will be looking for us.  I don't think that we should stay in town.  Besides, Emma went to California, so we should start there." I stare at him.

"You're coming with me?" I say in disbelief.  "You'd go all the way to California with me?"  

"Well, yeah.  Somebody has to make sure you don't do anything stupid."  

"Thank you." I say smiling at him.  

"No problem."

Hayden and I decide to stay at a motel for the night.  

"One king bed?"  The man at the front desk asks.  

"Two queens!" we say quickly at the same time.  We look at each other, and then burst into laughter.  The man raises his eyebrow at us, but hands us the key to our room.  When we reach our room, I collapse onto one of the beds, exhausted.  I look at the clock.  It says 10:34 PM.  Then I realize that I haven't told my mom where I've been all day.  

"Shit!" I exclaim, taking out my phone.  I guess having a gun pointed at your face makes you forget to do these kind of things.  Or it's the concussion that I most likely have.  I call my house.

"Willow, where on Earth are you?  I've been worried sick."  My mom answers.

"Sorry Mom!" I apologize, wincing.  "I fell asleep at Hayden's and forgot to call you."

"When are you gonna be home?"  Crap.  How do you tell your mother you're running from a creep named Zane who has something to do with your missing sister?  The answer is you don't.  You lie.

"I'm actually going away for a few days." I reply.  "Hayden and I are going to stay with a few of his friends in New York."    

"Okay." She sounds hesitant to believe me, but doesn't say anything.  I'm relieved.  "Be safe."

"I will. Love you!"

"Love you too.  Have fun!"  I hang up and stare at the phone with guilt.  I don't like lying to my mom.  I've never been a rebellious child, so I've never had to lie much.  Now she thinks I'm going to New York when I'm actually going across the country.  I look over at Hayden, who is sitting on his bed eating a granola bar.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask him.  "It's dangerous.  I don't want you to get hurt because of me."  

"I think it's too late to back out now, Willow.  Besides, it sounds fun.  How many guys can say they've been on the run?  Girls would definitely love it."  He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and I throw a pillow at him, laughing.

"Grow up."  He just winks at me and I roll my eyes.  I wince in pain from laughing so hard.  My stab wound still hurts and the bruises on my stomach aren't making it any better.  Haden looks at me with concern.

"What's wrong?" he asks, seeing the pain on my face. 

"Nothing." I answer, trying not to grimace.  "Stomach just hurts."

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Haden suggests.  "We can figure out what's next tomorrow."  I nod and get under the covers.  I'm asleep less than a minute after my head hits the pillow.

I wake up the next morning to the phone in our room ringing.  I look at it confused because nobody should know that we're here, so who would be calling it?  I answer it.

"Hello?" I say groggily.  

"If you keep looking into this, you'll end up with more than just bruises."  I immediately recognize the caller's voice- Zane.

"How did you get this number?" I demand.

"You're not as good at hiding as you think you are."  He hangs up.  How could he have known we're here?  We used cash and gave fake names when we checked in, so he shouldn't have been able to trace us here.  I look at Haden, who had woken up from the phone ringing as well.

"Who was it?" he asks, seeing the look of alarm on my face.

"We need to go." I tell him, getting up and starting to pack our things.  "He knows we're here."  

"What?!" he exclaims.  "How?"  

"I have no idea, we just need to go before he comes here." 

When we're all packed, we check out and walk out to the car in the parking lot.  Before I get in, I stare at the car and realize how we were found.  

"We're so stupid."  Haden looks at me in confusion.  "You don't use a car that they know about when you're on the run."  Then his face lights up.

"You don't by any chance know how to hot wire a car, do you?"  

"No!" I answer.  "And we're not gonna learn!  Let's just use this for now until we find another option."  We get into the car and start driving.  

"Uh, Willow?  Where exactly are we going?"  Haden asks driving after a couple of minutes, and I realize that I have no idea.  I'm about to tell him this when I notice a black SUV that's been behind us for a few minutes now.  

We're being followed.