Tears of No Return Read Online Free PDF Page B

prepare her for what was to come.
    Questions swirled around her head, giving Karen that anxious feeling of disorientation again. More vodka would be needed if she was to get through this. Josh had suffered worse. She wondered if that was why he seemed to have gone mad. Maybe it was simply having such powerful abilities and not being able to control them that made him crazy. She needed to stay focused and in control. She needed to get someplace safe. Somewhere she could relax and let the pain take its course without worrying about people breaking down the front door and carting her away.
    She stood up and saw that it was 11:30 in the morning. An hour had passed since she blacked out. Feeling somewhat better, she concentrated on what she needed to do: pack up and leave.
    In the middle of throwing toiletries into the case, Karen turned the radio to a news station. The first few stories were a mix of local muggings, stabbings, and a dog that was responsible for rescuing its owner from a burning building. The fourth story was interrupted by breaking news. The newsman spoke of a grisly scene out on Long Island. The escaped convict from this morning’s prison break was gunned down right after setting himself on fire and trying to attack police. Karen closed her eyes and shook her head.
    It was all lies. And Josh had been found quickly, leaving nothing but her for them to focus on. She felt a small sigh of relief that there was no mention of a woman wanted for questioning in the case, but the government probably wanted her involvement kept quiet. Either way, she had to be careful. Eventually, they’d put a name to the face on the bank’s camera, if they hadn’t already. That she was certain of.
    Karen had a suitcase full of clothes and other essentials. She stood at the apartment’s door with her bags and held back tears as she looked around. There was so much life left in her place and so much she couldn’t take with her: a vase she purchased in London; a painting of her and Melanie done by a local artist living in Brussels; a vintage cuckoo clock made in Germany with her initials carved into the side among the relics about to be abandoned.
    She’d managed to rack up a number of wonderful items throughout her life. They were all material, but would not be easily forgotten. She said goodbye and left, locking the door behind her.
    Karen rode the elevator to the lobby. She held her breath when the bell rang and the doors rattled open, expecting the police or government men to be waiting for her. She exhaled and let the tension out as she hurried to the parking garage elevator. There, she pushed the button and waited, her panic again building. Even though the lobby was filled with people coming and going, as well as a door man, she felt extremely vulnerable. The elevator finally arrived and she took it to the garage.
    Karen hurried to her car, placing the suitcase in the trunk and her backpack on the passenger seat. She drove from her personal parking spot to the visitor’s section, which was located closer to the garage’s exit. Moving the vehicle to the visitor’s parking would cause anyone looking for her to assume she had left the building. She didn’t have a visitor’s pass, but the guards knew her car and would assume someone had parked in her spot.
    Leaving the garage on foot, she only carried her purse and backpack.
    The streets were busy and the amount of people milling about made Karen feel less anxious about being abducted. But she’d seen too many movies to completely relax. Images of a sniper’s bullet or a toxin rubbed on her skin by a passerby flooded her mind.
    She arrived at a branch of Corhoven Financial. It was larger than the one she had been in earlier. She hadn’t planned on going inside the actual bank, but realized the ATM would only give her a maximum of five-hundred dollars per day. A larger sum would be needed. She would have to go in. The rainy day she’d saved for was upon her.
    After writing