December 11, 2017
5:00 am

TexInn Motel New Boston

 906 North Mccoy Blvd, New Boston, TX 75570 

727 miles to the border

I barely slept, waking in the middle of the night to a hungry baby.  Justin mumbled something about helping me as I pulled myself from his one armed embrace, but I ignored him, and he passed right out again.  I wouldn't have been able to get back to sleep anyway.  As it was, I had already woken up one too many times, sick with worry about what the new day held for us.

I’ve spent the last few hours going over our inventory, separating what we absolutely need from what we can do without, and consolidated what we’re bringing with us into one medium sized duffle bag and a backpack.  I know we need to be prepared to run before or after crossing the border, and there’s no way we would make it with five bags to carry.  I sacrificed half our clothing supply so we could pack the hot water kettle and all the first aid supplies, plus enough fabric from the flat sheet to create a clean sling for Justin if we need it.  I have half the supply of diapers and wipes, enough to last another few days, and eight cans of soy formula.  The backpack is where I packed all the bottles of water I could, and then most of the granola bars and trail mix.  I’m leaving the junk food behind, because it will do us no good if we’re on foot.  

Of course there’s my supply of cash, and all the paperwork I had to create to get us safely across the border.  I carefully concealed all of it inside a black garbage bag and buried it inside a false compartment in the bottom of the backpack.  In all, I have almost fifty grand with me.
I haven’t talked to Justin about money, but hasn’t questioned me about it either.  He knows I have it…a lot of it, so I guess that’s why he’s not worried.  I know Hannah has all of his, so when I decided to do this, I knew I had to make sure there was no way the Feds or Hannah could gain access to my money.  It was all we were going to have, possibly for years, and I spent a long time securing it, and making certain it would be accessible as soon as we needed to use it.

I created an offshore account under my new alias, Ashley Greenberg, with a bank that I knew was reputable as well as discreet, and within twenty four hours, emptied all of my checking and savings accounts into it.  In all, there’s almost one hundred million dollars, money combined from my salaries over the last few years, and the divorce.  I sold the convertible within hours of making a plan with Justin too, and that’s where all the cash came from. 

I’m praying nothing goes wrong, because if we disappear into Mexico broke, there’s no telling what will happen to us.

Mack starts to whine, and I immediately go and lift her into my arms.  Something starts to hurt inside when I hear her cry now.  I know I'm in too deep, too close to her, would be an absolute wreck if she was taken away from me because I feel like she's mine now.  I try not to think about Hannah's reaction to this...that when Mack is old enough I'm the one she'll call mommy.  Hannah may be a lot of things, but she still gave birth to that baby.

I shake off the guilt.  She wants to kill us.

The bathroom door creaks open, and I glance back at Justin, fresh from the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist.  He had more energy this morning, and despite my protests, he went ahead and took a shower without my help, taking care to keep his wound covered and away from the spray of the water.

"She okay?"  His tone if full of concern.

"Yeah, just wants to be held I guess."

A hint of a smile pulls at the corner of his mouth, but it's gone quickly.  "What about you?"

I shrug.  "I'm hanging in.  How do you feel?"

"The shower helped."  He walks across the room and sits down beside me on the bed, giving Mack's forehead a light kiss before he goes to give me one on the lips.  "My shoulder is starting to bother me a little bit."

I make him turn slightly so I can peek underneath the bandages.  It's healed slightly since last night, but not by much.  I don't say anything, just change the bandages and rub the area all over with alcohol and antibiotic ointment from the first aid kit.  "It doesn't look as bad."

"But it's still bad."

I lick my lips as he turns back to me.  "You'll have to get it looked at by a doctor at some point."

He nods in understanding, but if the information bothers him, he's not letting it show.  "Can you help me get dressed?"

I say nothing, just spring into action, placing Mack gently onto the bed so I can help Justin get his shirt on and his pants buckled properly.  I've already packed us up, so there's nothing else to do now but leave...carry out the plan Justin and I talked about last night, and hope we survive it, that we make it.

That we can just...go on living, together.

Justin tucks the gun into the front of his pants and shrugs the backpack on, wincing slightly because of the new weight on his bad shoulder.  "Ready?"

I pull the duffle across my chest and take Mack into my arms, trying my best not to stare at the gun.  "Yeah."

We walk out of the safety of the dingy motel room, and out into the lot.  Justin takes my hand and guides me to the front of the building and stares across the street.  There's a McDonald's, and laundromat, and a gas station.  Justin decides that the McDonald's will be easier for carjacking, and I have no rebuttal.  None of this makes sense, so I just go with it.  We sit at one of the outdoor tables, and I prop Mack up on the top of it, forcing myself to smile at her so she'll stay happy.

It doesn't take long for our plan to take action.

"Them."

Justin points with his good arm as the Honda sedan pulls into a spot in front of the McDonald's entrance.  I can see a man and woman inside.  No kids.

Good.

I clutch Mack in my arms, as Justin shrugs the jacket I gave him over his injured shoulder as best he can.  This time he doesn't wince, but I know it's the adrenaline that's dulling his pain.  "C'mon."

I get to my feet and follow behind him.  He doesn't' have to give me instructions on what to say or how to act around these people.  I've done enough manipulating on our journey to know exactly what to do by this point.  I force my best smile as the woman begins to open the drivers side door.

"Excuse me ma'am...hi." I flash a brilliant smile for her as I rock Mack in my arms slightly.

I have no idea where Justin is.  Behind me? 

"Hi..."  She gives me a confused look.

"Sorry to bother you," I blurt out before can push past me.  "I was just wondering, would you know the way to the interstate?  I'm a little lost...I never really go anywhere, but my daughter needs to see grandma, you know?"

She stares at us for just moments, but then a look of sympathy takes over her expression, and I know we're in.  "Well I think I have a map you can borrow."

"Oh that would be great, thank you so much!"

She gets back into the car, where her husband is still seated, and she has him open the glove compartment.

I see Justin then, right where he said he'd be, at the passenger side.  He puts a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet as he pulls the gun from his pants, and points it into the open window. 

The lady opens her mouth to scream, but no sound comes.

"Just be quiet."  I hiss at her, sticking my head into the window. "We don't want to hurt you, we just need your car."

"Get out."  Justin says, waving the gun in the man's face.  

"Oh man, aren't you...oh my god, you are!" The man says to Justin.  "Hun...look it's that couple on the run from the tv!"

I'm so baffled that I nearly lose my focus.  

"What?" She shrieks.  "Chester, he has a gun in your face! I don't care who he is!"

"Can you guys just get out of the car?" Justin says, looking as dumbfounded as I feel.

"This is so cool!" Chester goes on, grinning from ear to ear as he glances between Justin and I. "Really, nothing ever happens in this town!"

"This is a carjacking," I remind him.

"No really, take the car."  He pulls the keys from the ignition as his wife sits paralyzed with fear, and plops the keys into Justin's hand.  "This is so cool...it's right out of America's Most Wanted.  I'm so excited!"

"They're taking our fucking car." Hillary says.  "How the hell can you be happy about this? I swear to god, I should divorce your ass right now!"
Justin and I exchange glances.

"We can get another car, Hun! When's the next time a national fugitive steals our car?  Think of the stories we'll be able to tell! I bet we'll get on CNN!"

I'm waiting for him to ask for a selfie with us.

"Can you just get out of the car now?"  Justin shoves the gun further into the window.

"You got it." He grins, and gets out, hands raised in the air, and Hillary follows suit. "Good luck, wherever you end up!  I won't call the cops for a couple of hours!"

"Thanks..."  I shake my head roughly and get into the car, handing Mack off to Justin.  We peel out before either of them can call attention to the situation, and within seconds we've left them in the dust.

"That was so fucking weird."

Justin laughs.  "That was amazing."

I look at him, and can't help but smile.  "In a million years, I never thought a carjacking we did would go down that way."

"It's because we're supposed to do this," Justin nods, cradling Mack in his arms and kissing her face.  "We're supposed to make it."

"Really? What about your shoulder?"

"It was a fluke."

I sigh.  "You could have died."

"But I didn't.  We're going to make it, all right? We have a good car now, a different car, and we'll get past the border.  I know we will."

I don't push back.  He's been through enough in the past twenty four hours without me adding more stress and negativity to the situation.  I won't tell him that I'm still afraid we might not get past the border patrol, or that Hannah's goons could be waiting for us just beyond the Mexican border.  It would just give him more doubt, make him question why he loves me, and I couldn't take that.  I couldn't take it if he didn't want to love me anymore.

That's why I'm here after all, because I can't stop loving him, no matter how hard I try.