Miranda [Watty Awards 2013]

Chapter 16

  We were not followed, or at least not that I could see.

            Who was around to follow us, anyway? Charlie is dead. Vinny is dead. Their commander Kimberly is dead. Unless there was another pawn in this game that I never knew about, we were safe. At least for now.

            I pushed my feelings aside. There was time to mourn the loss of my innocence later. Right now, my priorities were in this car speeding down the highway. Jack and Lacy. I had to keep them safe, protect them like I couldn’t protect myself.

            We hadn’t even stopped to get anything; we just left. It did not take a lot of convincing to get Jack to drive us to an airport in Oxford. It was the only one I could call last minute tickets for. As of right now, we were going to flee to Madrid. I didn’t know about Jack, but Spanish was the only other language I knew aside from English, and I was not willing to go to the United States. Not until I knew where Grim was.

            “Lexi?”

            “Yes, Lacy?”

            “Where are we going?”

            I took a deep breath. “Spain.”

            “Oh.” She stared at her feet, then at me. I could see her big blue eyes from the side mirror. “When do I get to see my mommy again?”

            Jack’s back stiffened up, knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. He longed to say something, I could tell, but he did not know the whole story. I did not intend for him to, but maybe it was better to just tell him everything he wanted to know up front. It was a bit too late for him to be scared away.

            “I don’t know,” I said. Something stabbed at my heart. “We’re going to go on vacation. She’s going to be working a lot, so she needs to be alone right now.”

            She frowned, but that was the best answer that I could give. Soon enough she drifted back off to sleep, not wanting to play with any of her toys, not wanting to stare out the window any longer. It was starting to get dark out. She needed to rest, stay on a schedule, or something like that. I was not a real mother. I’d just have to learn as I go.

            I sat my hands in my lap and stared at them, waiting for the first question. I knew that now that Jack understood that all of this was really happening, he’d have much more in depth questions for me. I would answer him truthfully, even though I did not want to.

            “Alexa?”

            I braced myself. “Yes?”

            “What happened to her mother?”

            It might not have been the first thing I would’ve asked in a situation like this, but it was a logical one nonetheless. I sighed, letting out a huff of air, preparing myself to go through the event once again.

            “She died.”

            “How?”

            “She was shot.”

            “And . . . and you just happened to be there to take over her role as a mother?”

            It felt like a slap to the face, even though I know he didn’t mean it that way. “Not exactly.”

            He opened his mouth, then closed it, deciding what to say next. “Can you explain it?”

            “I can.”