Part 11
The moment the phone left her hand, Maya let out a ragged breath that sounded almost like a laugh, though it was quickly followed by more tears.
"It's gone," she whispered.
"Good riddance," I muttered, flooring the gas pedal as the service road finally opened up onto the smooth asphalt of Route 4.
I checked the mirrors again. Evan's SUV was still back there, but the distance between us had grown significantly. Without the GPS tracker, he was guessing our route based on pure instinct.
But he knew this town just as well as I did. He knew exactly where the police precinct was.
Instead of turning left toward the station, I turned right, heading deeper into the rural county lines.
"Dad, why are we going this way?" Maya asked, her voice tight with confusion. "The police station is back toward downtown."
"Evan expects us to go to the station," I explained, my mind working ahead of the game. "He’s probably already calling his high-priced corporate lawyers to meet him there. If we walk in while he’s standing in the lobby with a legal team, it becomes a mess of conflicting statements and corporate influence. We’re going to the County Sheriff's Department out in the district. The Sheriff is an old friend of mine from my days in the service. He doesn't care about Evan's money or his city connections."
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Maya looked out the window, watching the suburban houses give way to wide open fields and dense pine forests.
For the first time in years, the space around her was wide open. But the shadow behind us wasn't gone yet.
