Dead to the World
Evangeline
Did you ever want to disappear from the world? Have this identity die so another can be born? Like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
I wish my story was that poetic. I wish I could disappear and not have a care in the world. But I can never let my guard down. Not when I know so much. Not when... they... can find me.
Three years dead. Three years going from state to state, always finding a new identity. Never let anyone in, and shit... do not trust anyone.
It’s worked. It’s always worked... until now.
Today
“Ruby... Ruby... RUBY! Are you fucking deaf?!”
I jolt from where I’m standing behind the diner counter, lost in my past demons again. Was that person staring at me? Should I leave again?
God help me.
“I hear you, Rob. I was just—”
“Just what? Making my food go cold? Get off your ass and take this plate to Table 2!”
I hate customer service, but I need the cash to travel to Maine. I hear Maine is beautiful. I want to see it before I start heading to Canada. If I can get out of the country, just maybe... I can finally be safe.
Taking the plate, I walk it over to Table 2, where an overweight trucker is sitting.
Fuck, he smells too.
Why am I always stuck with the shitty night-shift assholes?
Right. Because I can’t afford people seeing me during the day. More people, easier discovery.
“Enjoy, sir.”
I set down his plate and walk away, but a greasy hand wraps itself around my wrist instead.
“What, no beautiful conversation from a beautiful girl?”
I rip my hand from his grasp, delivering the best fuck you look I can.
“I’m a woman, for one. And for two, you smell like ass, so be thankful you got the food.”
“Why, you little—”
He stands like his overweight ass is going to do anything.
“Sit your ass down, Dick, or you’ll have to find somewhere else to lay low while your wife is at home waiting to beat your ass.”
I turn around and see my beautiful African American boss.
Out of all the places I’ve been forced to work temporarily, this one is worth it because of her. She’s like the mom I never had.
Too bad I’ll be leaving soon.
Three months here is becoming too long.
I walk over to where Tasha is standing.
“I could have dealt with him, you know.”
“I know, honey, but he’s been harassing my staff long enough. And if he’s not careful, I will chop his balls off and send them with him back home to his wife.”
“Who would ever marry that thing?”
“Someone who’s either constantly on drugs or always drinking.”
A laugh escapes us both. She always makes these night shifts a little easier.
“Honey, why don’t you head home for the night? You look exhausted from working two jobs.”
Right. I almost forgot.
I work the afternoon shift at this town’s library. It’s easier for me to keep a low profile when I’m lost between bookshelves for hours.
“But I need the hours, Tasha. And hours equal money.”
“Honey, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it this time.”
What she means is she’ll pay the difference out of her own pocket.
I can’t let her do that. She’s too kind.
“Tasha, I can’t accept that. You have a family at home. It’s not right.”
“Hush now. My kids have moved out, and my husband gets a beautiful check from his retirement. It’s what I want, and I will not take no for an answer. Now head on out.”
“Tasha—”
“Go on! Git!”
There’s no use talking to her when she’s set on something. The day someone can get Tasha to let up on her stubbornness is the day pigs will literally grow wings and fly.
So I grab my things, give Tasha a kiss on the cheek, and start my walk home.
I know walking in the dark when you’re hiding from people is stupid. But the motel I’ve been staying in isn’t that far, and I can’t have anything someone can tie me to.
So walking and bus rides it is.
Sometimes, on these long, dark walks, I get flashes.
Flashes of my life before...
Of my father.
I miss him, even when I realize I didn’t truly know him. I thought I did. I thought I knew exactly who the person was that I called Dad.
What an idiot I was.
My father had spent his entire career protecting secrets for people who were never supposed to exist. I used to believe he was one of the good ones. A man who served his country and came home every night knowing he’d done the right thing.
Then I discovered what he’d found.
An organization buried so deeply inside the government that even the people hunting it didn’t know who they were working for. Men with money, power, and connections in places no one would think to look.
My father had found evidence of them.
And before he disappeared, he made sure I found it too.
That was when they came for me.
I survived the first attempt on my life by sheer luck. The second taught me something I should have understood from the beginning:
They weren’t trying to scare me.
They were trying to erase me.
So I let them.
I became a dead woman.
I left behind everyone I loved, everything I knew, and the life I’d spent years building. For three years, I had existed in the shadows, moving whenever I felt too visible and trusting no one long enough to become careless.
I thought I had finally outrun them.
Then someone found me.
And if they had found me once, it meant they could find me again.
The only question was whether I would survive long enough to discover who had betrayed my father—
and why they were so terrified of what he left behind.
So here I am, in a dark, small town, staying just long enough to get the money I need to keep going.
But I will keep going, and I will find out what I can along the way.
These people did not get rid of me, and I will find my father again.
Somehow.
Arriving at the worst motel I’ve ever stayed at should make me shiver like it always has. But I’m too tired to care, and I need to think about my next move—and how exactly I want to execute it.
I close the door behind me and apply the double locks.
Throwing my bag onto the bed, I look at the map of the country spread out across it.
I take the chair next to my bed and push it underneath the ceiling light. Standing on it, I move the loose wood panel next to the light and grab my stash of money.
All the money I’ve been collecting over the past few months.
Adding it to the tips I got today...
I’m almost there.
One more week and I’m gone.
I hate the thought of leaving Tasha behind, and all the kind things she’s done for me.
But I can never stay in one place for too long.
Not when I know they’re out there.
Everywhere.
