Page 4 of Secrets Bared
Down she ran, through the foyer to grab her purse, then through the kitchen, past the laundry room. It had been such a nice little house when they got married, but it became her prison. Sean, always insistent on the best security, had installed a video doorbell on the front door. But the fenced-in yard was secure enough for him to skip the extra expense of adding one to the back door. Maggie fled through that back door like a shot, not caring to lock it behind her for once.
Panting, she ran past the last bits of snow clinging to the lawn, to the fence where their property butted onto the woods. First, she hefted her suitcase over the cliché white pickets that she’d once loved. Then she pulled herself over.
Grunting as she fell on her ample ass, she decided that Sean might be right that she’d been putting on weight again. And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing right this second. Now she had to get to Jessica’s house on the other side of the woods.
She’d met the other woman through one of the online support groups that her midwife set her up with. When they realized they lived so close, Jessica became her lifeline and her escape plan. Jessica escaped her own bad situation years before, so she knew what Maggie would need. And she was on Alex’s list to call as part of the plan.
Dragging a wheeled suitcase through the woods was harder than Maggie had anticipated. She couldn’t tell how much time passed before she saw the familiar porch through the trees. Her heart still raced, as if Sean were on her trail even now, despite the fact that she doubted his boss would let him go early. Harris always struck her as a stickler for protocol, and once Sean’s department caught wind of whatelseAlex was filing today, they would keep him in line. She hoped.
But Sean could just as easily have claimed something was wrong with her and left for a “family emergency.” And he’d be raging.
Stick to the plan.
Jessica waited on the back porch for her with keys clutched in one hand and a small thermal bag in the other. She met her halfway across her yard and wrapped Maggie in an embrace. “You've got this.”
Her voice trembled with tears she didn’t dare release. “Thank you so much.”
“If you can, reach out and let me know you’re safe, okay?”
“I will.” Maggie took a deep breath. She hadn’t had a best friend in so long, and now she wasn’t sure she’d ever talk to her again.
“Take these. Mom’s car is in the driveway. The deed and registration are in the glove box. It’s still on my insurance for the next six months.” Maggie nodded, trying not to let Jessica’s kindness overwhelm her. Jess followed her to the old blue sedanparked in her driveway and helped her lift the suitcase into the backseat.
She passed Maggie the lunch bag as she opened the driver’s door. “Some food for your trip.” Maggie’s heart warmed at the gesture. Hopefully, her appetite would return at some point. The two women embraced one last time. “Be safe, Maggie.”
“You, too.” While Sean didn’t know about Jessica, she didn’t know if he could track her online activity, and Maggie wouldn’t put it past her husband to retaliate against anyone who helped her.
With a wave, Maggie backed out of Jessica’s driveway and headed for the open highway. This route led away from Sean’s precinct, and the chances of him being on it right now were slim to none. Soon, she would be far from the city where she grew up, where she met Sean, where her mother made it clear she would never be enough. Her hometown no longer felt like home.
Twodayslater,shepassed a sign that said, “Welcome to Pennsylvania.” Maggie was starting to feel like maybe she was far enough away from Sean. She’d been so careful to go the speed limit, to give no reason for a cop to pull her over. Her heart rate was starting to settle, and frankly, she was getting tired of sleeping at roadside motels.
Needing a restroom, she took the exit for the welcome center, which turned out to be a large white building that resembled a house on steroids with dark green trim. An American flag and what she assumed was the state flag flew in the breeze. The noise of the highway was much louder from outside the car, and she could smell something delicious and fried. According to thesign, there was a Roy Rogers in here, a chain she hadn’t heard of before.
The ladies’ room was huge, its stainless-steel stalls immaculate. She did her business and then walked around what was almost a food court. It had a convenience store, that Roy Rogers, a Starbucks, and a pizza counter. Along the wall outside the bathrooms, hung a huge map of Pennsylvania. Smaller road maps stood in a rack beneath it. Maggie considered her options. Did she have to keep going? This seemed far enough away that Sean wouldn’t find her, and she was tired of driving. She hadn’t made a plan so there would be nothing for Sean to discover. But where the hell should she go?
She grabbed a map and bought a bottle of water at the 7-11, then headed back to her car. It wasn’t quite dinner time yet; she could put some more miles behind her before finding a place to stop for the night.
When her stomach started growling a couple of hours later, she pulled onto an exit following a sign advertising food and lodging. She found a motel easily enough, and this one was even a chain. But of course, she ran into an issue when she tried to rent a room at the front desk.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the young clerk said. “We need a card for incidentals.”
“Look, Ben,” she told the young man, feeling far older than her thirty-three years, “the courts froze my accounts because I’m going through a divorce right now. I cannot give you a card, it will deny.”
Ben bit his lip and furrowed his brow. “Let me talk to my manager.” He disappeared behind a door and then returned with an older woman, her hair graying, and her demeanor no-nonsense.
“You’re paying cash?” she asked.
“Yes.”
The manager sighed and started typing on the computer. “We need a cash deposit of a hundred dollars that we will return to you at checkout. How long are you staying?”
“Just one night.”
Ben leaned over his manager’s shoulder at her insistence. She pointed a few things out on the screen and muttered about how to put the transaction in the system. “Name?”
“Maggie Watson. And I’d like the room unlisted, please.”
“Got it. Let me see your ID.” Maggie fished it out of her purse and bit her lip. Thank goodness she’d kept her maiden name along with her married name. It had been a hassle at the time, but it would let her fly under the radar with two last names.
