The Bad Boys and the Fighter

15

ARIEL

My phone started ringing during breakfast. I stopped chewing my eggs and looked at Cole who was turning white.

Danny.

I swallowed and released the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"You're making this way too easy, darling," he scolded. "We already know everything there is to know about you. Especially, where you live. I figured that after the first call you'd stay inside and be paranoid, but nope. You went to a farmers market. A fucking farmers market!" He cried. "I'm getting off topic. Anyway, I am giving you eight days. You have eight days to make me find you."

"Why?" I wondered. "Why not kill me now?"

"You know I love a good challenge," he chuckled. "Now, I suggest you leave and take your boy toys with you. These things get. . .tricky, if you will, and I doubt you want to lose one of your friends, hm?"

I inhaled shakily. "Eight days."

"See you then."

"Fuck," Cole breathed. "We need to call Snake."

"Using a different phone," I corrected. "They probably tapped into mine and yours."

"Jeremiah!" Cole yelled, and the sleepy teenager walked down the stairs.

"Jesus Christ, what?" He groaned.

"Phone. Now."

Jer jogged down the stairs and handed me his phone. He took a seat next to me as I dialed Snake's number.

"Did you lose her again?" his gruff voice on the other end of the line asked.

"Snake...it's me," I replied. "Danny called. Can you come over?"

He was silent for a moment before he replied, "I'll call Elijah."

"What exactly did Daniel say?" Jeremiah wondered.

"He said he was giving me eight days to hide from him," I answered.

"Eight days to hide?" Jeremiah asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

We waited for Snake and Elijah to show up, the three of us not bothering to speak.

"What did Daniel say?" Elijah asked.

"He's giving me eight days to escape him," I responded.

Snake laughed. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Thats what I said!" Jeremiah exclaimed.

I nodded. "He knows where I live. He probably knows everything about me. Daniel loves to be challenged, it keeps him on his toes. He wouldn't give me n eight day head start if he didn't think he could catch me."

"Can you put her in WITSEC?" Cole asked Elijah.

He shook his head. "She qualifies, technically, but if could take weeks for the request to be processed, and we don't have weeks. We have eight days. I can alert the Marshals and alert them of her situation, but they'll just be doing what we would except with a lot more red tape."

"So what can we do?" Snake asked.

"I can call his parole officer," Elijah responded. "Ariel's case worker, Amanda, probably has his number and it's most likely that Daniel has violated his parole terms, especially since he's in Boston and he was jailed in Virginia. No one's going to allow a convicted child rapist and gang leader out of state."

"What else can we do?" Jeremiah questioned.

Elijah chewed his lower lip. "Treat this like any WITSEC case. We'll forge passports, drivers licenses, birth certificates, and phone records. She'll need to change her hair color and wear colored contacts."

"How long will this be for?" I asked Elijah.

"Until we find him."

"When do we start...this?"

"Ten minutes. The three of you need to pack a bag," Elijah told Jermeiah, Cole, and I. "You're all going into hiding."

"What about Carlos and Tyler?" I asked. "Shouldn't they come too?"

"I can go get them," Snake offered. "I'll bring them back."

Elijah turned to me. "Now pack."

"I'm hungry," Tyler complained.

Elijah and the five of us were all crammed into a Toyota 4runner on our way to wherever Elijah was taking us. It was a "don't ask, don't tell" situation.

"You could literally die, and you're hungry?" Elijah asked from up front. "We're almost there, too!"

"When I get stressed, I eat ," Tyler insisted. "Isn't there any place we could stop?"

"Theres like two bags of food!" Carlos exclaimed.

"I don't want any of that. I want a hotdog."

"What are you, five?" Elijah scoffed.

"Ten, actually."

Carlos smacked the back of Tyler's head. "You're an idiot."

I looked at Cole, wondering if he was going to intervene before Tyler had the chance to hit Carlos back. "They're like puppies. Sometimes you've got to let them work their problems out."

"Excellent analogy, but given the situation we're in, I think it would be best if two thirteen year old girls don't go at each other in the back of a car," Jeremiah suggested.

Cole let out a sigh. "Fine." He turned around to face Tyler and Carlos. "Can the two of you please stop fighting? You're both being very annoying." He turned back around and Jeremiah rolled his eyes at him.

"That was your try?" Jeremiah scoffed before turning to face the cat-fighting teenage boys. "Stop it!" He yelled causing Tyler and Carlos to stop mid hit at his booming voice. "If you guy shit each other one more time, I swear to god I will punch you so hard you won't see straight for weeks!"

Immediately Tyler recoiled his hand and slunked back into his seat. "Don't test him. He'll actually do it."

Carlos eyed Tyler suspiciously but took his advice and slunk back into his own seat. Jeremiah turned back around and smiled at Cole. I looked up at him and snuggled closer into his chest. He was oddly comforting.

"We're almost there," Elijah stated.

"Thank god," Tyler groaned. "I'm starving."

Jeremiah spun around. "We literally just had this conversation ten seconds ago."

"Give it up, Jer," I said to him, "He has short term memory."

I looked up to see Tyler nod with agreement. "That is true, Jeremiah. It's not my fault."

Jeremiah scoffed. "Do you even know what short term memory is?"

Tyler was silent for a moment and I nodded. "A great example of short term memory."

Jeremiah waved his arms. "Jesus Christ."

Cole chuckled and kissed the top of my head. "Nice one, babe."

With one of the only sentences he's spoken during the entire car ride, my nerves settled and my heart beat stopped raging.