Silent Run

call them, I will find a way to run again. That’s a promise."
    His eyes narrowed. “I won’t let you do that."
    â€œYou can’t watch me twenty-four hours a day."
    â€œSarah --"
    â€œNo, Jake. No cops. You’re going to have to trust me on this."
    â€œThat’s asking a lot, after what you did to me."
    â€œI’m still asking."
    She saw the indecision flicker in his eyes, but finally he nodded. “All right. We’ll play it your way for the time being."
    â€œThank you. I guess we can go.” She took a step closer to the bed and covered the older woman’s hand with her own. “Get better, Mrs. Murphy. I need you to be alive.” It was an odd thing to say, she thought, but deep in her heart she knew that this woman was important to her.
    â€œWe need to find a mall or a computer store,” Jake said as they left the hospital. “I want to buy a cheap laptop with Internet access. Then we can do some groundwork. We have more information now, and clues to follow, including Amanda and your other friends."
    â€œWhat do you want to find out about Amanda?"
    â€œI don’t know, but like you I don’t have a good feeling about her. It could be that she’s just a cagey ex-foster kid like you and plays her cards close to her chest, or maybe there’s still something she’s not telling us."
    â€œYou don’t think she has Caitlyn somewhere?"
    â€œNo, I don’t, but I want to make sure she’s the good friend and neighbor you thought she was, and not someone working for the bad guys."
    â€œWhoever they are,” Sarah said.
    â€œWhoever they are,” he echoed.

Chapter Seventeen

    After picking up a laptop at the computer store, they found a small motel and checked into a room on the second floor. Their front door opened onto an exterior hallway with a view of the parking lot. They wouldn’t be caught in another ambush if anyone tried to set fire to this place. Although Sarah sincerely hoped that no one knew where they were. They were miles away from her apartment in a different city, and Jake had taken a circuitous route, making sure that no one was following them. Hopefully they were safe for the moment.
    The room had two queen-size beds and the basic hotel furnishings. Sarah set her duffel bag on one of the beds, suddenly very aware of the fact that she and Jake would be spending the night together. They’d done the same last night, but she’d been in a hospital bed with a guard outside. Now it was just the two of them. She knew why Jake hadn’t requested two rooms. It was safer for them to stick together. Safer in one way anyway... But the night loomed long in front of her.
    When they were running she didn’t have to think about their relationship. There was noise and chaos and clues to distract her. Now there was only silence.
    â€œWhat can I do to help?” she asked.
    Jake set the computer box on the table. “Nothing yet. I need to set this up."
    â€œMaybe I’ll just stretch out for a minute then."
    â€œYeah, take a rest."
    She sat down on the bed and kicked off her shoes, then leaned back against the pillows. It felt good to let the tension out of her tight muscles. She closed her eyes, almost afraid to sleep, because her dreams were as scary as her reality, but she had to face her fears. She couldn’t keep running. She simply had to stop and let the terror catch up to her. Then she would deal with it. She would beat it, she told herself firmly. She was a survivor, a scrapper. She knew more about herself now, and while her time in foster care was still hazy and vague, she remembered the nights of loneliness, the uncertainty of the next day, the bad people who wanted to do bad things, and the knowledge that she was taking care of herself from here on out, because there was no one else to do it for her.
    But Jake had wanted to take care of her. He’d told her that he’d asked her to marry him. He was building a house for her. And she had screwed it all up.
    Maybe she was destined to live a rootless, homeless existence. But what about her child? Why had she dragged Caitlyn along with her?
    She knew the answer to that question, and it didn’t come from her head but from her heart -- because she couldn’t bear to leave her child behind. Growing up alone, without any family, she’d finally had someone who shared her blood, who was part of her. She couldn’t give her