25 Chapter 22 – Hess – Iteration 144 (1/2)
It took close to an hour of awkward silence for Quebec to regain her equilibrium. Zack used the time to reflect on his failures. When Quebec informed him they were leaving for New York that night and started a shower, he found the pen that had failed to pick his lock and wrote a quick letter.
The hours I have spent with you have been the best of my life. I wish I was Hess, but I'm not. Maybe he is still out there somewhere, lost in a rainforest or trapped in the arctic. I need to leave now. If I stay with you, I will only cause you more pain. Remember your promise to stay away from the others.
Zack took the car keys and slipped out of the room. In the parking lot, the key fob identified her rental car for him. He had her Prius on the road before anyone could exit the hotel. Zack forced his mind to stillness as he drove past familiar sights. It wasn't until he parked at the gas station where he had worked the past five years that his stomach began to churn.
His manager Kelly scowled at him the moment he entered the store. ”The hell have you been?”
Zack ignored her, depending on the line of customers at the register to keep her occupied. He punched the digits to Lacey's cell phone number into the store's phone and listened to it ring. When it picked up on the fourth ring, just before the voicemail would kick in, there was only breathing on the other side.
”Do you still have Lacey?”
Erik's voice replied. ”She's been whining about that hand of hers.”
”Are you still willing to release her in exchange for me?”
”Deal's still on, lover-boy.”
”Then come pick me up. I'm at the gas station.”
”No tricks?”
”No tricks. I'm turning myself in.” He hung up the receiver and went outside to sit at the employee's break pavilion. His hands shook as he sat on the picnic table. Lacey wants to live and I don't. Maybe this will make up for the love I could never give her.
Kelly stormed out of the store before Erik arrived. ”You better be quitting, because I don't need the trouble you cause. You miss your shift. You don't even call. You don't even answer when I call.”
”I quit, Kelly.”
”Thank God,” she said. ”Now get the hell off company property. Check's in the mail.”
”Just waiting on my ride. This will be the last time you have to see my face.”
Kelly started back towards the store. ”There's something wrong with you.”
The truck he had driven only that morning pulled up before the pavilion. Erik waved him over, eyes steady as an eagle's. ”Hop in, Hess.” A quiet expectation had replaced the levity.
Zack circled the truck and climbed into the passenger seat. ”All by yourself?”
”The others don't have the stomach for this. I think next Iteration I'll be hunting you solo.” She glanced towards him often as she drove. ”I prefer it that way. Might take longer to find you, but I won't have to deal with their rules.”