A Heart's Desire

Chapter 14

Let's get too it

Kellan was not sure what woke him up, but when he opened his eyes, the first thing that caught his attention were the red and blue lights flashing against the crème colored walls of their hotel room. Hastily, he grabbed the Glock, springing to his feet, simultaneously shaking Eva. "Get up," he hissed.

Eva woke with a start and was instantly filled with a terror. Within five seconds, she had somehow managed to get dressed and was behind Kellan as he peered out the window beside the door. Two shadowy figures were making their way door to door, knocking. "How did they know where we were?" Kellan was trapped, recognizing Sullivan under the door lights, and the little woman behind him was about to be caught in the crossfire if he didn't figure something out soon.

Eva wondered too and then face-palmed. "Oh my god," she whispered.

Kellan turned to her to see her rummaging around in her backpack before pulling out a cell-phone. She held it up and Kellan cursed before grabbing it and smashing it under his boot. "Eva what were you thinking?" he hissed.

"I turned it off," she defended, "I figured we would might need some help later down the road."

Without another word, Kellan grabbed her arm and pushed her toward the window to the right of the bed. "Open it," he demanded, one eye on the door, the other on Eva.

Eva knew now wasn't the time to defend her actions.  Kellan watched her slide the window open, and took the back-pack with their ammo in it and shouldered it ignoring his shoulder. There was no getting back to their car, and he cursed himself for leaving the shotgun in the trunk. They were down a weapon now. He pushed Eva roughly out the window. They were going to have to risk going out the back. From the looks of it, he didn't think Sullivan had brought extensive backup. They had a chance if they could get into the woods. It would take Sullivan a minute to find Kellan's alias and put the pieces together. And when that happened they needed to be long gone. She looked around nervously before turning back to watch Kellan clumsily climb out the window. He pushed her into a slow run towards the trees.

"What about my car?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder at the fading lights of the motel behind them, "We need it."

"No way we could get passed them to get it," answered Kellan, "Now go."

Eva did as told, running easily toward the dark tree-line. Night was rapidly approaching, and all he could hope for was that Sullivan hadn't brought dogs. They pushed on into a clumsy run, Eva easily matching Kellan's stride. In all honesty, they needed to move faster but with his leg still healing they were forced to move at a slower pace. Finally when Eva sensed he was on the verge of collapse, she stopped, panting for breathe and asking for a break. He refused. They had to keep moving or they were going to be caught.

Eva lost track of time. The sun was rising in the east to their left when Kellan finally stopped at the edge of a corn field. His rough guess was they had traveled about five miles. They needed transportation quickly before Sullivan set up roadblocks. Granted with all the back-roads, he could easily out-maneuver the man, but from past experience working with the man, he knew Sullivan wouldn't give up easily. They needed to get out of state. A farmhouse up ahead caught his eye. Farmhouses meant people which meant transportation. Eva pushed him in front of her to gain access to the back-pack where their water bottle was. She was beyond thirsty.

"We need a car, or a truck, or a damn lawn mower," Kellan said, one hand rubbing his shoulder, "I'll take anything at this point. We have got to move faster."

Eva glanced up at him, pushing her sweaty hair off her forehead. It was humid and sticky. He looked down at her, seeing the exhaustion in her gaze.

"Let's go get one then," she answered.

"It's not that simple," he replied.

When they finally reached the farmhouse, a simple flat bed truck sat outside. It was rusty and looked like it had seen its fair share of use. But that was good, it meant it would blend in, and that Kellan could hot-wire it. The two ran toward it, Eva jumping in the passenger seat and watching as Kellan yanked two wires out from under the steering wheel and desperately tried to get the truck started.

"Come on, come on," he muttered.

Eva kept one eye on the front door, expecting someone to run out any second with a shot gun. No one came and after two tries, the truck engine turned over and Kellan slammed the truck in reverse. Gravel flew as they sped out of the driveway and onto the county road. Eva breathed a sigh of relief as the farmhouse faded from view. She turned to Kellan as he rolled the windows down when he realized the air condition wasn't working.

They rode in silence for several minutes. The blazing hot sun bore down on them making Eva wish for a bath, or a pool, or anything involving cold water. She eyed Kellan out of the corner of her eye. He looked about as miserable, exhausted, and sweaty as she felt.

"I'm sorry."

"You didn't know," his voice was quiet, barely loud enough to be heard over the beat-up engine. "I should've told you."

Eva jumped as his fist slammed into the steering wheel. Averting her eyes, she twisted her hands in her lap, wishing she hadn't been so stupid.

.....
I think we are all feeling some second hand embarrassment right now. Poor Eva. Rookie mistake am I right? I'm finally back guys. I'm almost done with college for this year, and maybe forever. I'm taking this next semester off because let's be honest, the world hasn't been the easiest here lately and I need a break. Between school and work, and my grandmother being ill, I have been too busy to even respond to comments. I'm terribly sorry, I wasn't ignoring you guys on purpose I promise. Just personal life got in the way.

Please vote and comment.  Let's blow this book up.

Sincerely,
Scarlett McLeod