Present Day, Nashville
Amber came back to herself when the waitress asked her if she needed more coffee. Amber shook her head and picked up her check. Leaving a tip on the table, she gathered up her atlas and purse and went to pay her bill.
From several tables away Derek Stevenson watched as Amber paid for her breakfast and left the restaurant. He quickly paid his own bill and followed her to the parking lot. She had been lost in thought and had not noticed him watching her.
Derek worked for the FBI and had followed Amber since she left New Orleans. She did not look like a serial killer, but the bodies were definitely piling up wherever she went. He had studied her while she was eating. Her long, blond hair framed her face and brushed back over her shoulders and down her back like a waterfall. She had beautiful green eyes that seemed to be watching everything and everyone when she wasn’t lost in thought. He did not miss the play of emotions across her face as she sat daydreaming during her breakfast. At one point, he felt the urge to somehow wipe the sadness from her eyes. He shook himself. She was a criminal, on the run. He had to bring her in.
Derek climbed into his car and prepared for several more hours of following Amber. He would watch and observe until he saw some sign of the killer they were after. He watched her back out of the parking space and pull onto the road that would lead back to the interstate. Keeping a slow pace and staying far enough back, Derek made sure she would not see him.
Following her was not easy. She had obviously done this before. He had almost lost her twice already. She took the interstate part of the way then pulled off on random back roads. She would go one direction then another. It was as if she was trying to be sure no one was following her, which was odd since he was sure no one else was.
He had finally had to put a tracking device on her car when she stopped for the night at the hotel. Not sure if she would actually stay all night, Derek didn’t get any sleep himself. He was used to going for days at a time with no sleep when tracking a suspect and this time would be no different. Except this time the suspect did not act like a criminal. She acted as though she were being chased by an unseen enemy. He would have to think on that later.
Unaware of being followed, Amber continued to stick to her plan. She left Nashville and headed east to the coast of South Carolina. She decided to spend a couple of days on the ocean. She would take her time getting to Washington. She followed the interstate for an hour then found a back road through some little country towns. Again her thoughts turned to running from Middleburg, Florida.
Cleveland, Mississippi, Two Years Earlier
Amber decided to go to Mississippi when she left Florida. She prayed Josh would recover fully and vowed she would not get close to anyone else. She would find a job where she did not have to communicate with people. She did not know how, but she would cut herself off from becoming friends with anyone else who could get hurt.
She drove until she needed gas again and found she was in the small town of Cleveland, Mississippi. After filing up, she drove around and decided she would stay for a while. Amber found a hotel and checked in. She found a local paper and began the job search. Maybe a third shift job in the emergency room would keep her too busy to communicate with anyone.
As luck would have it, there was an opening in the emergency room of the local hospital. She would apply and see if she could get the third shift. She would not make friends and she would keep to herself.
Amber settled into her new routine at the local hospital, found her an apartment, and stayed to herself. After a couple of weeks she called Olivia to update her.
Olivia was knee deep in wedding plans and sounded blissfully happy. The date was just a few months away and she really wanted Amber to be there. Amber assured Olivia she wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Amber did not like living in Cleveland or the hospital she worked in. It was dirty and outdated. She felt stuck in a backwoods town and it was easy not to make friends as everyone treated her like an outsider who had no business settling in their town. She considered moving again but if her stalker didn’t know where she was, she would need stay for now.
Amber continued to keep in touch with Olivia and get updates on the wedding. They talked almost every day now. Amber would go in for her shift at the hospital, come home and sleep, then call Olivia when she knew she would be home. She wished she could be there, helping her pick out her dress, looking at flowers. She even wished she was wearing one of the ridiculous bridesmaids dresses Olivia had picked out.
The girls laughed and cried together as the date of the wedding crept closer. Amber had already taken time off work and had her things packed and ready to go. She had reservations at a hotel in Atlanta. She would not stay too close to Alma. She could not risk being recognized by anyone who might know her. She was wearing a wig and makeup she wouldn’t normally wear and the wedding would be outside so she would be able to wear sunglasses to hide part of her face.
The only person Amber talked to in Cleveland was the local convenience store clerk where she often gassed up her car. It was the only time, other than when she talked with Olivia, when she would laugh or smile. The man would often tell her some funny joke as she was paying for her purchases. She did not even know his name.
One evening, just a couple of weeks before the wedding, she called Olivia. When her friend answered the phone, Amber instantly sensed something was wrong. She could hear it in Olivia's voice.
“Hey girl. How’s the blushing bride to be,” asked Amber, putting an extra smile in her voice.
“I’m good, but my groom to be has run off again,” Olivia responded.
“What do you mean, ran off,” asked Amber.
“His aunt has taken a turn for the worse and he went to be with her again. He assures me he will be home in time for the wedding but I’m worried,” said Olivia.
Amber thought a minute before replying. “Olivia, do you love this man with all your heart?”
“Yes,” whispered Olivia.
“Then you have got to trust him. This is a good thing he is doing for an elderly lady with no family but him. I know it is bad timing, but she needs him, and if he loves you the way you love him he will move heaven and earth to be there on your wedding day.”
“You’re right, Amber. And I do trust him. It's just that there is still so much to do and I'm just a jittery, nervous mess. I'll get over it before the wedding gets here,” said Olivia.
“No you won’t,” laughed Amber. But I will be there for you as soon as I can.
Olivia talked some more about her fiancé's aunt. She told Amber about the couple of times she had been to visit the dear lady. She had liked her instantly. She and Patrick had tried to talk his aunt into coming to live with them, but the lady refused to leave her home of fifty years.
"I hope for Patrick's sake she pulls out of this. That lady means the world to him. He is never the same when he comes home from a visit with her," Olivia said.
The girls talked for another hour before hanging up and Amber got ready for her shift at the hospital. After leaving her apartment, she pulled into the convenience store, gassed up her car, and grabbed a drink and snack for the late hours at the hospital. She laughed and shook her head as the attendant told his daily make the customers smile joke. They were always so corny she couldn't help but laugh.
Later that evening an ambulance came screaming into the emergency room with a burn victim. As the paramedics unloaded the patient onto the hospital bed, Amber began an IV in his hand. She listened as the paramedic filled them in on what happened.
“He was found at the local gas station. One of the pumps blew up and caught the building on fire. The guy was trapped in one of the store rooms before the firefighters were able to pull him out,” said the paramedic.
Amber lost her train of thought. She dropped the needle she was holding as she took a closer look. It was the same man who told her jokes when she checked out.
Was the fire an accident or purposefully set? Her hand started to shake. Amber ran to the bathroom and began throwing up her dinner.
Was he back? Had her stalker found her again? If so, why would he go after that poor man? He was no one. Just a clerk in a convenience store.
Telling no one, Amber left the hospital and jumped into her car. She went straight to her apartment and sure enough, there was a note taped to her door. She yanked the paper down and hands shaking began to read.
You can run my pretty, but you cannot hide from me.
I will find you where ever you go and I will kill any man
who dares to flirt with you.
Amber crumpled up the paper and ran into her apartment. She began packing immediately and within an hour she was on the road again. This time she decided to go on to Atlanta and stay until after the wedding. Then she would decide what to do from there.
He laughed as he watched her crumble the note he left for her. Such temper, such spirit; one day he would break that spirit. The last kill had been the easiest. Spilt gasoline on the ground and a lit cigarette took care of the gas station attendant easily. Of course, locking the store room door ensured the man would be unable to escape the inferno he had created. He was still smiling an hour later when she pulled out of the apartment building. He could tell by the way she was driving that she was running again. She was making it easy for him to follow this time. Well, he would see where she led him.
Amber cried as she watched her best friend walk down the aisle to the man waiting at the altar. Strange, she did not remember Patrick Green. He was a small man standing only five foot eight inches tall. He had mousy brown hair and light brown eyes. He wasn’t the type of man to stand out in a crowd with his shy personality and his less than attractive features. Nevertheless, she could see why Olivia was in love with him. Patrick doted on Olivia. He was the perfect gentleman. He opened the door for her, pulled out her chair, and even ordered for her. He made her feel like a queen. Amber was not crazy about the man Olivia had fallen for but she was happy for her friend.
When Amber got to Atlanta, she called Olivia to let her know she was in town. They made plans to meet for dinner a few days later and Olivia hoped Patrick would be home in time to meet Amber before the wedding.
As it turned out, Patrick made it home the next day and Olivia was ecstatic. She was excited for Amber and Patrick to meet. Olivia was so in love and happy, Amber kept her true feelings about Patrick to herself. He made Olivia happy and that was all that mattered.
Now Olivia was glowing as she married the man standing next to her. In a few hours they would leave for their honeymoon and Amber would be alone and on the run once more. Amber closed her eyes and listened as her best friend promised to love and obey the man of her dreams.
♥ Chapter 4 ♥