Free Love & Redemption by Chantel Rhondeau Page A

wasn’t sure Shelley was right about that. President Sharp seemed to truly care about the people. He would want to do whatever needed done in order to protect everyone. At least, that’s how the media portrayed him. One could never be certain what the truth was.
    “What about your friend?” he asked. “The one working at FBI headquarters? If anyone’s phones are hacker proof, it would be theirs.”
    Shelley sat back up and stretched, dislodging a few pieces of glass from her dark hair. “Good point, but I can’t call her from my cell.” She turned and looked out the side window. “We’re almost to the station. I do have an idea where we can hide out until Nick can help us.”
    “Well, that’s a plus.” Gavin was glad Shelley knew where to go. He had nothing and nobody. Forget about just a lack of family—after Crystal was done with him, he didn’t even have friends who would help. “Where are we going?”
    Shelley visibly shuddered. “They say you can’t go home again.” She put her hand to her temple, looking like the headache she feared earlier had finally hit. “Unfortunately for us, that’s just where we’re going.”
    ***
    The woman at the Amtrak ticket counter handed change to Shelley, and then slid their tickets across the counter with their IDs on top. “Thank you, Miss Golden,” the lady said. “You and Mister Hart enjoy the trip.”
    Shelley turned around and led Gavin from the counter, handing him his ticket and ID. They had no problems buying tickets, and her dizziness was going away. Her shoulder still ached, but didn’t seem to be actually dislocated. At least a few things were going right.
    “Miss Golden?” Gavin raised his eyebrows. “That’s original.”
    Nick wouldn’t let her out of town without three different identities to chose from. Carlie would have been furious if he had. They all knew what a danger Paul still was.
    “When you know someone’s hunting you, you bring several IDs,” she explained with a shrug. “Unfortunately, Petunia Golden doesn’t have any credit cards. We need to go shopping before Shelley Daniels’ train to Washington D.C. leaves.”
    It was a clever idea, even if she said so herself. Shelley bought two tickets for D.C. using her current ID and credit card through the internet. That train left in a little over an hour. If they were tracking her now, Paul’s men would assume the diamond thief accompanied her on that train ride.
    In actuality, they used cash to buy tickets on Amtrak’s Vermonter train to Saint Albans, Vermont, which was the opposite direction. Shelley figured it was safe enough for Gavin to use his own identification. He was probably right. Chances that S.A.T.O. already knew who he was were small. Using his own identity, if they were stopped for a random security check, his ticket information would match his driver’s license.
    Gavin put his ticket and ID inside his wallet. “What if they figure things out and beat us to Saint Albans?”
    After stowing everything in her purse, she looped her arm through his and led the way to the large Kmart across the concourse. She’d heard they had clothing on the top level, and she and Gavin both needed a few shirts and fresh underclothes at the very least. Since Nick got her into this situation, he could pay the credit card bill later.
    “Don’t worry about Saint Albans,” she said as they walked into the store. “Even if they do somehow figure it out, we’re only going as far as Essex. That stop is about an hour earlier then they’ll expect us to get off the train. After that, we’ll catch a bus to my parents’ hometown. It’s about twenty-five minutes east of there. No one knows anything about my parents. They’ll never find us. We’re safe for now.”
    Gavin stopped in front of a table of men’s t-shirts. “Are you sure you want to go home? You seemed anxious about that. We could try something else.”
    She really didn’t want to talk about her parents. Gavin would see