FUGITIVE

CHAPTER 10

Anton calls me in a few hours. I'm parked right outside the outskirts of the town.

"Okay. So, do you know where exactly you are?", he asks me.

"Yes. It's a small town called Albarracín. It's about 290 miles west from Barcelona. I'm right outside the city. I've been driving around all day, just in case."

"Alright. I'm going to ask my man to meet you in some crowded place. Someplace you won't attract any attention. A restaurant, maybe?", he asks.

"No. Restaurants won't work. Some guy handing a bag of shady things to a woman? It will definitely look suspicious. And restaurants won't be too crowded. It needs to be more public. What about a park?", I suggest. "It's the perfect place. It's a family town, so there will definitely be kids running around. Nobody will pay attention to me."

"Okay. Park it is. You know any?"

"Hold on."

A quick google search shows me three parks. The one nearest to me looks perfect. Its near a cathedral and is kind of like the town square. There's bound to be a crowd into which I can easily blend in.

"There's one called Plaza del Aseo. I think it should work. I'll send you the map with the routes."

"Okay. It's settled then. I'll arrange for somebody to meet you there in about 2 hours", he says.

"Wait", I call out. "How will I know who he is?"

"I'll text you the details of what he's wearing. Code word will be Velvet Thunder."

I laugh and cut the call. Leave it to Anton to lighten up a situation like this one.

~

I drive around waiting for the one-hour mark so I can start driving into the city. I don't want to arrive early and sit there watching people like a creep. In about 45 minutes, I receive a text message from Anton.

Anton      14:45

Green shirt, black jeans. Blue cap. Black duffel bag. Stay safe.

Me        14:45

Okay.

I start driving so I can reach there and have something to eat before I officially start "searching" for Luca. In the past few days, I have lost so much weight, I can hardly recognize myself. My eyes have sunk into their sockets, I have dark circles and my clothes are hanging off my shoulders. My stomach is constantly on fire from lack of food and my legs hurt from driving all day. I hardly drink any water and it's likely I'll pass out if I don't get some food and water in my system soon.

I reach Plaza del Aseo and park near the cathedral. I walk towards a small restaurant and sit outside. After ordering some food, I quickly text Anton asking him for their status.

Anton 15:38

20 mins ETA

This gives me enough time to finish eating, get my stuff and get the hell out of here.  I wolf down my food and wait to spot the guy.

Around 15 minutes later, I spot a man dressed just how Anton described him, standing in the centre of the square. Just as I start walking towards him, another man dressed identically, carrying a similar looking duffel bag, walks into the park. I come to a startling pause.

What are the chances that two men, dressed exactly the same, carrying the exact same bag, walk in here at the same time, just as I'm expecting one of them?

I immediately call Anton and explain the situation to him.

"Did you tell anyone else about this?", I ask him.

"No. They may have tapped my call. I'll do one thing. I'll text my guy. Whoever looks at his phone first is our guy. Keep a lookout."

I watch both of them carefully as the guy who entered first looks down at his phone and then looks at me. He nods his head, mouths something to me and leaves the bag near a bench.

I turn my head towards the other man, who is now looking all around the park, slowly walk towards the bench, grab the bag and quickly walk towards my truck.

As I start the engine of my truck, I look at my rear-view mirror and notice a black van, just like the one I saw last night, parked behind me. There's a man, wearing black shades, staring at me through the window. As I start driving, he starts his van. I drive behind the cathedral and join the main road. I keep looking at my rear-view mirror and the van keeps following me. I start picking up my speed to try and lose the tail, but he keeps up with me. I start driving through the city, deterring from my initial plan. I try and lose him by driving through as much traffic as possible but somehow, he still keeps up with me.

Suddenly an idea strikes me.  As I drive by, I notice a few motels and drive into one. He parks a few spots away from me and waits. I grab all my things lying all over the seats, throw it into my tote, grab the duffel and open it. I find a small note, which reads "velvet thunder" and I breath a sigh of relief. I grab a small bundle of cash, pocketing it.

I carry my tote and the duffel bag over my shoulder and walk into the motel. I get a room and watch as the man from the truck, walks over to the reception, probably to get a room for himself.

I call Anton.

"I'm pretty sure somebody tapped your phone because mine is burner and there's no way they got a trace on it", I say, all in one breath. "There's someone following me and I have an idea to lose the tail."

"How did they know you were contacting me?", Anton asks me. "If they can't hack your phone, how did they find me?"

I slap my forehead as I realize the biggest mistake I made.

"Shit. The text I sent you with the routes? I sent it from the phone I took from the attacker. They must have gotten your number from that. They would have obviously put a tracker on the guy who tried to kill me and when it pinged, they must have gotten your number and my location."

Anton sighs. "Okay. What is this idea you have?", he asks me with exhaustion in his voice.

As I tell him my idea, his voice gets a little stronger.

"Okay. I can do that. How far is this motel from the park?"

"I think I drove about 20 minutes into the city."

"Okay. I'll give you a call back."

As Anton cuts the call, I start looking through the duffel bag. Everything I asked for is in there, including a little food and two bottles of water. If this plan works out as I hope it would, I'll be out of the city before the guy who followed me even knows I'm gone.