Red Star

Now Part 7

Ralph stopped driving twenty-nine minutes ago. He pulled out into an alleyway in the first town he drove into. Since then, he's been watching her, taking in every difference, every scar. 

She's like a tiger when she sleeps. Usually, she's volatile and unpredictable; she could bite you at any given moment. But when she's asleep - harmless. Absolutely harmless.

He almost cannot believe he's this close to her. Honestly, he never thought he would see her again. There were so many times where he had been close to losing it all.

His heart leapt out of his chest. There he was. 

"Robertson," Ralph spat. "What the fuck are you doing here?" 

"I've come to say hello. Let you know I'm still around," Robertson says, his Cheshire-cat smile making Ralph's skin crawl. "I've missed you, Ralph."

"I'm afraid I cannot say the same," Ralph says, his hand reaching for his pistol. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now. No one would even know." 

"How about this for a reason?" Robertson opens, stroking his own face., pulling slightly on his beard. "I know where you're keeping her." 

But now, they're reunited. Ralph won't jump ahead, he's pretty sure that Rosa will not want to talk to him when she wakes up, but this is good enough for him. 

All he ever wanted was to keep her safe, but never like this. 

He turns the key and restarts the car, and begins to drive again. He's tired, but he's had three-day long stakeouts in the past. It could all go to shit if they were found.

At some point he'll need to stop. Problem is, he has no idea where he's driving, but then he remembers and his decision is made.

"One day we'll run away." Ralph says, one morning.

"Is that so?" The smirk creeps onto Rosa's face in a slow burn. 

"Yeah," he continues, drawing invisible patterns onto Rosa's bare shoulder. "One day, when this is all over, we will pack our bags and drive away."

"How far?" 

"I don't know, like Maryland or something."

"Not Maryland."

"Why?"

"I was born there." From her clipped tone, he knows not to press further.

"I've always fancied Florida."

"I've never been," Rosa says, her tone softer. "I've always wanted to go to a beach." 

He's pressed with the compulsion to ask her why she's never been to a beach, but figures that he shouldn't ask questions that he doesn't want the answers to. 

"Florida it is." 

Rosa wakes up an hour or so later, and as expected, she doesn't speak to him once. It's a silent car ride as the sun rises to their left. 

He stops for gas at one point, pulling on a hat and sunglasses as he goes to pay, just in case there's a national search for them. It wouldn't surprise Ralph. Douglas always did like a bit of drama. 

As he hands over his money to the teenage girl half looking at her phone, half counting the money, he glances up at the television screen. He's right. Pictures and everything. 

"Rosa," He says as he clambers into the car, throwing her a chocolate bar. "They've put on a nationwide search. We're like celebrities." 

And then he remembers.