escapemypast

[escapemypast]

[escapemypast]

New Digs, New Job, New life

Temptation was everywhere I looked. This town was dangerous for someone like me, but I swore I was on the straight and narrow now. There was no fucking way I was risking exposing myself by taking even the tiniest of trinkets. No matter how sparkly and shiny they were. And gods were they sparkly and shiny. My finger danced invisibly, twitching with want, over the glass display case that was roped off from the general public. I swear I wasn’t trying to figure out an entry point, it’s not like it would have been worth it anyway. I knew the bars were hollow, that was the only way to make the display here look impressive. People thought a million bucks in gold should be massive, but in reality it was like 2 or 3 bricks that were heavy as hell. This was hundreds and hundreds of bars, each one probably weighing mere ounces and only worth a couple thousand bucks a pop. Definitely not worth the risk. Didn’t stop me from looking though. Not at that, not at the millions of dollars worth of art that the casinos displayed without a second thought, not the high end stores either. I couldn’t help it, I liked the shiny things. As long as I only looked though I was still keeping my end of the bargain. I let my eyes linger just a bit longer on the golden display and then turned back to the bar for another soft drink. I was supposed to be meeting someone here for a job even if a bar seemed like the least professional place for an interview. Who was I to argue. It’s not like I had an actual legitimate job in ages so maybe things have changed. I told the bartender I was supposed to be meeting someone and once I dropped the name he nodded towards a table along the wall. The guy was just taking his seat so I took a moment to study him. He was probably in his early 50’s if the salt and pepper hair and fine lines along his face were any indication. He had a beer belly and heavy jowls and beady black eyes. I knew the type and hoped like hell this was as legitimate as I was hoping it was because he sure as shit reminded me of the people who hired me before. Once he was settled and the bartender dropped off a clear drink for him, he gave me a slight nod and I walked over.

“Mr. Fury, My name is Orion Dror, I have an appointment.”

He motioned to the chair across from me and then proceeded to give me the strangest interview I’ve ever had. Again, not a lot of experience but I’ve seen movies and shit. This was nothing like that. Nothing like I prepared for. Especially when he paused at the name and raised a brow. Like he knew. He couldn’t. He shouldn’t. But it sure as fuck felt like he did. After the job was offered, I should have walked away. I knew that. It wasn’t illegal. Not really. It also wasn’t quiet legal either. At least I didn’t think so. The money was great though, so were the perks. A 1 and 1 at The Martin. Paid. Plus a nice paycheck to go with and it was mostly above board? Yeah, I didn’t hesitate like I should have. I accepted that shit with a handshake and a digital signature agreement. By the time I reached the first floor of the Circa, there was an envelope waiting for me with keys and paperwork. I guess I didn’t need to stay another night at the budget motel I’d been booked into. I snorted out a laugh and made my way to the ride share pick up and flipped through the info. A car was apparently included in the deal and waiting for me at the apartments in my designated spot. How this was arranged so quickly I had no fucking clue. The guy must have been desperate. Even if it was all in my name already, maybe it was that quick just to finalize everything. A car pulled up and after identifying the driver, I climbed in the back and then proceed to continue going over everything. Even though the apartments were basically across from the strip, traffic was a fuckin joke so a 3 mile trip took 20 minutes or so. He dropped me off and now that I had some cash coming in, I left him a decent tip for having to deal with the idiots that drove here and tried to figure out how to get inside the building. I had no clue where I was or where the apartment was in relation to where I was let out.  After thirty minutes of checking doors, I gave up and tried to find the lobby. From there I was kindly escorted to my new place, which I never would have found on my own. I stopped in the living room and jaw dropped at the view. I wasn’t on the top floor, more like halfway up but I could see the lights and glitter of the strip perfectly. Oh, no matter what I was actually doing, it would be worth it for the view and the car below.  The place was furnished way better than I would have done.  They had their own concierge service for delivery so dinner was a call away. After the call for food I explored the rest of the apartment, stopping dead in my tracks when I saw the framed portrait on the dresser. Fuck. I signed my life away and it was all for nothing. Shit. Well, it was too late to do anything about it now. He knew who I was. Obviously knew how to find me so what was the point in running again. He promised no thieving, I was just cleaning up, ok so it was cleaning up crime scenes and possibly before police showed but still how bad could it be?

[escapemypast]

New Beginnings

I stood on the side of the road surveying the scene. The old Bronco lay on its side, the front crunched into the fallen trees, the roof battered and smashed down from the impact of rolling down the mountainside before it came to a rest. The drivers side tire still spun lazily as the smoke began to thicken in that small crevice between the windshield and the hood.

10. A spark danced along the tree and front of the car. The timber dry and ready. 9. A pop before a lone flame began to lick its way between the hood and frame. 8. The hiss of coolant striking hot metal. 7. The soft tick of the dying engine. 6. The whistling wind and tree leaves rustling. 5. A crackle as the flame grew larger, climbing along the windshield. 4. Glass splintering as flames grow hotter. 3. Footsteps slowly moving across the asphalt to safety. 2. A whoosh of flames as they hit the accelerant. 1. Explosion. Deafening. A roar of fire engulfing the remains on the vehicle and the body inside.

I took a drag on my smoke, watching as the paper turned red before changing to ash, then turned my back, saying a silent goodbye to my past. Bryan Meadows would be just a memory. Hopefully it would stop the Nameless from trying to find me. I’d run out of ideas to get away, the bastards were just relentless though. I couldn’t keep this up anymore. I paused to put out my smoke, putting out the cherry then rolling the butt up and tucking it in my pocket with the rest. Couldn’t leave evidence behind. I stood on the opposite side of the road and looked back at the flames, mentally going over the checklist one more time. I was 99.9% certain I’d covered all the bases. The sound of a crackling tree got my feet moving once more as I ducked into the woods and ran to where I’d parked the car I’d jacked earlier. The plan was to drive to the next town, ditch the car, find another, wash, rinse, and repeat until I felt like I made it far enough to test the new identity to buy a junker. Then I was driving until I either felt safe or ran that thing into the ground and that would be my home for a while. As long as it was far away from east coast, I didn’t care where I landed.

When I was tired, I pulled into a rest stop, or the side of the road in a pinch, but I didn’t stay anywhere long, I couldn’t. I had to keep moving. I knew too much. Thankfully I had seen the end of my time coming and prepared. I had cash stashed, new ids were made, and a plan was formed. Nameless didn’t let people walk away. Not when you were as entangled as I managed to get myself. That was never the intention, but I was damn good at what I did. I made it look too damn easy. They accused me of showboating, trying to draw attention to them. Like it was my fault the last few jobs were like taking candy from a fucking baby. It net them over 1.4billion in their precious little artifacts. Yet because the heat had been on, they blamed me. They had a mole in the operation, that was the only reason I had almost got caught the last time out. Though I couldn’t be sure they didn’t do that shit on purpose. Fuck them though if they thought I was going down for their shit. I noped out as soon as I could and still felt like it was too late.

Somewhere along I70, I made a stop at the first decent size town I came across. I shaved my head, dyed my hair, added the colored contacts I had ordered several weeks ago. The road beard was coming in nicely which only added to my drastically changed appearance. Long gone was the baby faced, bleach blond, brown eyed dude who liked to stand out while blending in. The days passed into one another and I was losing track of how long I’d been on the road when I came to a juncture. I could continue north on I70 or head south. I knew north would be cold as fuck in the winter, so south it was. I was tired of winter. A fresh start required a complete change in scenery. The pine trees soon gave way to bare red rock mountains and the snow and grass soon changed over to red dirt and sparse smatterings of small trees that grew at funky angles. I could almost feel my past self slipping away and a fresh wave of peace washing over me. When I stopped for the night, I stepped out of the car and inhaled deeply as I took a look around. A smile smile washed over my face as I exhaled, this was it…this was my new home.