Free Learning to Trust: Curtain Falls by B. B. Roman Page B

me that I needed to run. I needed to go somewhere and call Ramón . I shut off my computer and gathered my things, dimming the lights in my office and staring out through the cracks in the blinds. According to my phone, it was the late afternoon—and my battery was low. Great! It was still too early for Roland's car to arrive. I guess I'd just walk somewhere and then take a cab. But to where ? Should I just turn myself in to the police? At that point, I was legitimately entertaining the idea.
    I crept out of my office and headed toward the door, walking briskly, but trying not to attract any additional attention. As I neared the door, I started to increase my pace, to walk faster and faster, approaching that goal, that precious—
    Collision!
    "Whoa, Marisa!" Frederic said. I had run right into him. Oh god, Frederic! In so many ways, he felt like the only guy I could trust. I mean, he was close to Roland, but they'd had their differences recently. For some reason, I just went for it .
    "Get me out of here, Frederic," I whispered into his ear. "It's serious. You have to take me somewhere. Now."
    "Marisa, I've got to—"
    "I'm not fucking kidding!" I snarled. "Now. I'm in danger."
    That word danger seemed to arouse something inside of him. "Okay, let's go." He turned around and led me toward his car, a BMW at the back of the lot. I climbed in and closed the door, trembling as I put the seat belt into place.
    "Marisa, you really need to tell me—"
    "Drive!" I screamed, the tears beginning to flow again.
    "Okay, okay," he mumbled. He started up the car and backed out of the lot. A few seconds later, we were heading toward the highway. I sighed loudly, but the tears kept coming.
    "God, Frederic, he made me do it," I said between sniffles.
    " Who made you do what ?" Frederic asked.
    "Roland made me kill Marcus!" I realized I probably shouldn't be admitting this to anyone—but that thought unfortunately came after I had already done it. He had struck oil, and now I was exploding like a geyser.
    "Oh my god," Frederic said, his head sinking toward the floor. The car started to drift. "Marcus is dead ?" He said it directly to the floor of the car.
    "Frederic!" I screamed, grabbing the wheel and pulling the car back toward our side of the road and narrowly avoiding a collision with a semi. "You're going to get us killed!"
    "Christ, Marisa," he said, his face overwhelmed by something. Was it sadness ? Regret? "I just can't believe that."
    "It was the restaurant downtown," I said. "The Provence. Roland made me take him a briefcase with a bomb in it."
    "Goddamnit!" he shouted. "I heard about that and I knew there was something really wrong about it. They didn't release the names of the victims yet." He slammed his hands against the wheel, rage flowing through him like a drug. "He wasn't supposed to—"
    "Frederic, please!" I begged. "We need to go hide somewhere." I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to call Ramón any time soon, not with Frederic around. For some odd reason, I felt safe in his hands. I guess I was just really vulnerable.
    "We're getting out of the city. Hold on." His face quickly glanced left and right, checking his mirrors with total precision.
    He swerved across two lanes of traffic and onto the ramp for the expressway. I desperatel y clung to my seat. "We've got to have a plan," he kept saying to himself. I stayed glued to the seat while he took us further and further away from the city.
    We drove in silence, and I only thought about one thing the whole time—could I tell him about Ramón ? I kept considering it, going back and forth, the pendulum swinging in my head. Just wait , a voice in my head said to me. My lips stayed firmly shut as the scenery flew by.
    "I know a place," he said suddenly.
    "You do?"
    "It will be safe, I promise."
    We drove a good distance out of town in what seemed to be the opposite direction from where Roland had taken me the other day. I kept checking my cell phone