Run Away

Chapter 32

Two weeks earlier...

Ryan paced back and forth in the dingy motel unit where he was staying. The laptop he had stolen was set up in the corner on the small narrow desk. Lighting a cigarette, he took a puff and blew out in frustration. The bottle of whisky was empty on the side table; he would need to get more when he went out for dinner.

PING! The laptop sprang to life, alerting him to a notification. His heart leapt in excitement. For ten months, it had remained silent. Ten months, two weeks and five days to be exact. It had been the longest time, each hour feeling like a day, each day feeling like a week.

Jumping into action, Ryan rushed over to the desk. Opening the window with the notification he saw it; a new search. He held his breath while he clicked on the various links to find the information he needed. It wasn't a strong lead, but it was a lead all the same. The location was a town not far from where he was.

When he lost her the last time, Ryan created a website, writing his own articles about Rhiannon. When someone viewed his site, he would get a notification and their location. In his plan, Rhiannon would search herself and it would help him to find her. The police continued to hide her from him, keeping them apart. He had followed many leads to dead ends, but the site had remained quiet for the past four months.

Opening a search browser, Ryan typed in the town's name. It was a decent sized town, plenty of places for her to stay if she was there. He searched the town with Rhiannon's name. Nothing. He banged his fist on the desk, the laptop rattling. His head in his hands, he rubbed is face in frustration, trying to clear his head to think clearly. There had to be something. Why would someone in that town be searching her name?

With a new idea, Ryan typed in the town's name once more followed by 'new girl'. The first result was for the local high school, a student run blog for the school. Clicking on the link, there were various photos of teenagers at what looked like a party. Most of the girls were wearing bikinis, drinks in hands or dancing.

Scrolling through the pictures, Ryan stopped on one in particular, his stomach flipped with excitement. It was Rhiannon, except her hair was no longer the golden blonde he loved, she had dyed it dark brown. It didn't suit her, he thought, angry that she had destroyed her beauty.

Reading the comments below the photo of Rhiannon with some girls he did not recognise, Ryan tried to find out more.

"Evie Harrison, Harley Stanton, Paige Michaels and Rebecca Lewis."

"Evie is the new girl."

"Yeah, she's Owen Taylor's cousin."

"I think she's in my History class."

"She's very quiet and keeps to herself."

Ryan frowned at the comments about Rhiannon, or Evie as she was calling herself. Cousin? As far as he knew, she didn't have any family left. He had made sure of that, they wouldn't let Rhiannon and Ryan be together. Then she wouldn't feel guilty about running away with him and leaving their old lives behind as they started their new life together.

It was Rhiannon's father, he caused the drama between them. He was the one who kept her away from Ryan. It was his fault, the mother's too. They would get between them and their love for one another. Ryan had known it would be hard, but he had to remove them from the equation.

Then Rhiannon was sent away to live at her Aunt Sue's. When Ryan finally found her, Rhiannon wasn't at home. Sue wouldn't tell Ryan anything, no matter how much he tortured her. He watched from afar when the police arrived, but never saw Rhiannon. The news outlets all claimed Ryan had taken Rhiannon, that he murdered her. That was a lie. He would never hurt Rhiannon.