Anne stepped into the entrance of the old house where she rented a room. She was sweaty, tired and exhilarated. She had just won over ten thousand dollars on a long shot bet on a Thoroughbred horse at the Tampa Bay Downs. She'd made the bet because she had a vision of the favourite stumbling, then falling on the track. Sad for the horse, good for the longshot nag Anne had wagered on to win.
She climbed the stairs to the second floor. The light bulb in the hallway was out again. She moved slowly in the dark toward her door. A noise made her freeze. She didn't sense any danger, but with her purse crammed with cash, she was naturally cautious.
"Anne?" The voice in the dark was all too familiar.
"Darn it, Blinky. You almost gave me a heart attack." She was at her door. She felt for the lock, sliding the key in by feel alone. Light leaked into the hallway from her room.
"You might as well come in." She threw her purse on a shabby chair. Griffin followed her inside, then closed the door.
It had been a couple months since Anne realized that one of her neighbors in the house was none other than Griffin. She had caught a glimpse of his familiar form peaking out of one of the doors. She had confronted him angrily. Instead of backing down, he matter-of-factly admitted he had followed her when she escaped at the airport. He didn't trust the suits any more than she did. Weirdly, Griffen was now her wingman...watching out for her while she collected her winnings at the track and following her back and forth to work. His even tempered, quiet personality was the perfect foil to her prickly impatience. He seemed to like hanging out with her and didn't mind the nickname she'd given him.
One night they were almost mugged coming home from the track, Griffin was so scared, he started to blink in and out. Anne had shocked the would-be mugger when she began to laugh hysterically. From then on Griffin had been "Blinky".
So, for better or worse they were now a team.
Many nights they sat in her small studio apartment making plans on how to make more money, discussing when they should leave and deciding the best way to contact Ethan.
Anne had decided they had enough money saved to start making their way to Canada....with a short stop on the way.
Their latest foray was into the criminal world to secure passports. Gone were the days when any American could cross into Canada with a driver's license and a good story about going fishing.
A regular at the track had put Anne in touch with a guy he knew, who knew a guy. Anne met Louie in a dark parking lot. He had the clichéd bent nose, slicked hair and twitchy mannerisms of a TV mafioso. But her Louie was in reality a 16 year old dishwasher at the local IHOP restaurant. He claimed his uncle, Pauli (of course), could get them 'the goods'. Anne hoped so, she'd already advanced him 400 dollars. She was meeting him Saturday to pick up the passports for her and her 'brother' and pay the $600 balance she owed. Griffin, of course, would be attending the meeting invisible.
Rufus was planning his escape...again.
Six times in six months, every one a failure. He felt in his bones that this time was the charm, mostly because it was the first time he was willing to resort to using his physical powers. Freedom, here I come.
He looked at the bed, the dummy was in place. He had secretly cut off locks of his own hair every few days in the washroom, hiding the curls in his sock. He had proclaimed a love of gum early on, so each time his collection of hair got big enough, he would stick it all together in a wad of well-chewed pink Bubblicious. Now the wads stuck out from under the covers. With a critical eye, Rufus decided it could pass. He would hide behind the door and when the night staff...always short-handed on weekends...came in to check on him, he would shock the guy like a taser, steal his keys and slip out, locking the orderly in the room. Then he would rescue Lucy and off they would go. Where? He had no idea, but anywhere was better than this prison.
And that's what it was...a prison. A prison with 1000 thread count sheets, Netflix, and all you could eat food and snacks. Still, they were guarded at all times and not allowed to leave the grounds. That made it a prison.
He had only seen Georgie a couple times in the six months since they were brought here. Both times Georgie was off in the distance and gave a weak wave. It was always hard to tell if Georgie was his normal miserable self or extra miserable because of their captivity. Rufus thought maybe Georgie was housed in another building, maybe with Anne and Griffen, neither of which he had seen since they left the airport in Georgia.
The speaker in his room announced 'lights out'. Rufus took up his position behind the door.
Anne pushed her flourscent pink shades on top of her head and looked around the storage container. The entire scene had a Goodfellas feel. Standing beside her, Louie twitched back and forth on the balls of his feet. His uncle, Pauli, was obviously a Scarface fan. He wore a black silk shirt and white pants. His hair was even darker and slicker than his nephew, if that was possible. Pauli was counting the money aloud, a toothpick bobbing in the corner of his mouth. He had no idea that Griffen stood directly behind him, a tazer at the ready.
"Well, little lady, it looks like it's all here." His smile was smarmy as heck.
Anne held out her hand for the passports. "Exactly as we agreed."
"Hey, not so fast. Louie here tells me you got a gift for betting the horses. I could use some of that luck."
Anne narrowed her eyes. Griffin was on the balls of his feet ready to stun somebody..anybody. Anne just hoped he didn't taze himself by accident. "Yeah, and I could use the passports I paid for."
Pauli reached into his pants pocket and pulled out two blue passports.
"How about we trade? Do some business together?" He pronounced it busyness. The toothpick bobbed.
Anne considered her options. While neither Louie nor his uncle knew her real name, they had seen the big, black SUV she was now driving and even though she was leaving Florida tonight, she had no idea if these wannabe gangsters had connections elsewhere. Better to pretend to go along.
"What did you have in mind?"
Pauli smiled and spit the toothpick out. It landed on her shoe. Ewww. She flicked it off.
" I give you the passports and you give me the name of a winner at Jai Alai in Orlando tonight. A test you might say." He gave her his best smile. Double ewww.