Un-Connected Read Online Free PDF

later,
another one pulled in. There were other noises, and I awoke a few more times, but
I still slept very well. Later I learned one of the noises was a “Refer Unit”
going on and off.
    The next morning we ate breakfast and were
pulling out of the parking lot when a black SUV with all dark windows pulled
into the car entrance. I tried not to look at it or flinch or tighten up, but
when it was out of sight she glanced at me and said, “You can breathe now.”
    We pulled away and I began to take her
advice.
    “So the black SUV is after you, huh? They
don’t look very nice.”
    I was too shaken to reply.  And I had done my
best poker face.  How did she know I reacted?
    We continued to travel this way for about
five weeks with me sleeping in the sleeping bag and her in the truck, and me
helping with fueling or any way that I could. My daily prayers always included
thanks for sending Deb to me, and one month after meeting her I gave extra
thanks that she had not dumped me yet. Each day and each mile that rolled under
the truck could be the last one, but I wasn’t as scared as I had been. I didn’t
know if I was really safer, though.
     

 
    Chapter 4
    A New Day
     
     
    One morning a few weeks after that, Deb
decided she needed to hear my story. She woke me around seven and asked if I
was hungry. I really was and told her so. We had a good breakfast and hit the
road. The conversation was much like the days and nights before. I was not going
to create any problems for her, so I didn’t bring up anything.
    About midmorning she broke the ice. I knew
this was coming, and I dreaded it. She would ask me who I was running from and
why, or she would tell me when I was getting out of her truck. Still I was
grateful and looked at her, intent on listening.
    “We need to talk. I don’t want you to lie to
me. I don’t intend to turn you in, but I may kill you myself if you don’t tell
me the truth.”
    “OK.”
    “What do you want to do? Where are you
headed? I have done about all I intend to do.”
    I paused a long time, and she didn’t press me
to answer quickly. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to stay alive. I have
thought of a few things but haven’t come up with anything solid yet.”
    “What do you mean?”
    I was thinking quickly and talking slowly.
She had done a lot to help me. I could sense it was coming to an end, and I
didn’t want it to end badly for either of us. I didn’t want to tell her
everything for sure.
    “There are men in a black SUV who are trying
to kill me. I’m sure you saw the bullet holes in the back window of my car. You
saw the black SUV at a truck stop. I don’t know who they are, but they know
when I use my credit card.”
    She looked me in the eye. I’m sure she
thought I wasn’t telling the truth.
    “OK. Why are they trying to kill you?”
    “I don’t know. No one’s mad at me. Not that I
know of, anyway. I haven’t stolen from anyone. I haven’t been around any drugs
or drug deals. I don’t know.”
    Then I asked her if she had seen the bullet
holes in the back window, and she nodded her head “yes”.
    There was a long silence. We drove until we
came to the next rest area. She pulled off and got as far away from cars and
other trucks as she could. She parked the truck and turned toward me. “I’ve
done what I’ve done because I’ve taken you at your word that you were afraid
for your life. But I will tell you for sure I find it hard to believe except
for those bullet holes in the back window of your car. And just because a black
van looks ominous doesn’t mean they’re after you.  What you have told me so far
seems incredulous.”
    She frowned. “I’ve been suspicious the whole
time with you tearing up and with your wild story. I’ve been concerned about
you conning me. I’m not easy to take as a mark, but I have been had, lied to and
cheated. I’m worried it’s happening again, and I don’t want what I fear to
prove true. I don’t necessarily believe