The Waitress

3 - Outcast

The whole time she was thinking about all the ways she could possibly disappear in Australia, Kaely hadn't noticed until it was too late that she had a low tank, by which point her car had actually shut down on her. She had only just managed to pull over the side of the road before it stopped moving completely, and when that happened, she lost it.

She hunched her shoulders over the wheel and she cried, her forehead resting against the backs of her hands. She was a mess; her shoulder was throbbing, her head was imitating this feeling and her life had somehow crumbled downhill in under twenty four hours. How was all of even possible at the same time?

Kaely leaned back, wiping the tears angrily from under her eyes. It was dark, but the streetlights were on, revealing a building she had parked next to. She had no idea where she was, and she had no idea on how to find out, either.

Then she remembered the piece of paper that the nurse – Stacey – had given her. Jared's phone number.

Now, she would have been apprehensive about calling him altogether, seeing as how it was his fault the FBI were after her, but he had asked for her to call him as soon as she was awake. Surely he wanted to explain to her what the hell was going on? Or at least help her disappear?

Rather reluctantly, she dug out her phone from her bag and pressed the numbers in the order they appeared on the paper with shaky fingers, pressing the call button and holding the phone to her ear. It rang out a few times, and then it was picked up.

"Kaely?" a voice asked, and she recognised it immediately as Jared's. He was hesitant.

"You need to tell me what the hell is going on, do you understand?" she demanded immediately, sniffling back the tears as best she could. "Who are you? Why do the FBI want you so bad they're willing to shoot me to get to you?"

"Are they forcing you to speak?" he asked instead of replying. "Are they threatening you?" Kaely closed her eyes to fight back a growl.

"No, you've made certain I'm going to be alone the rest of my life," she snapped. "I'm definitely alone. I- I just got out of the hospital."

"Good, that's good," he replied, clearly relieved. "I just- wait, what's wrong? Are you crying?

"Yes I'm crying!" she exclaimed. "I had to jump out of a hospital window to avoid getting shot in the face! They think I'm working with you!" She realised she was shouting now, and calmed herself mentally. Just breathe. She came back to the phone after complying. "You got me into this mess. You can at least point me in the direction of a post office; I'm going to need my passport renewed at this stage."

"You're not safe," Jared said eventually. "You can't go off on your own anymore, they'll be after you."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Kaely exclaimed, feeling the tears coming back. "I gave you coffee and a book, and now they think I'm dangerous enough to shoot on sight! They're going to kill me, aren't they?"

"They won't touch you I promise," Jared told her, his voice calm and soothing. "Hey, stop crying, alright? Calm down and tell me where you are. We're coming to get you."

"I don't know you," she warned. "I don't know why they want you, and I don't know why. So give me one good reason for telling you where I am."

"Alright, how's this?" he shot back. "If you stay where you are, they will find you. They might kill you, they might arrest you. They might torture you. If you tell me where you are, I can get you out of all of that, and we will keep you safe. I swear."

The tears began to slow as she bit her lip, thinking about it. He was right. At least they'd saved her life; if she told them where she was, they might be able to give her the answers she wanted. So, finally, she sighed in defeat and ducked her head to try and see where she was. "It's dark; I'm next to a shop, I think. 'Adelaide Panel Repairs'."