Free Shadow Cave by Angie West

and rummaged through the bag. “ Here , ” I said when my fingers closed around a wallet. I dug out several bills and pushed them across the counter. “ I think there ’ s a hundred dollars there. It ’ s American, but… . ” I trailed off, looking at him with hope in my eyes.
    Finally, he closed his hand over the bills and pushed them back at me. “ Keep your money. ” He smiled with real warmth.
    “ No, please take it. I insist. ”
    He hesitated for a minute before he pocketed the cash. Probably decided he didn ’ t have all night to play a game of tug of war with me.
    I bit my lip and glanced behind me at the door. So close , I thought. I could just say thank you and walk out .
    “ Um…listen — you should know ..., ” I began, not sure of how much I was obligated to tell him.
    “ What is wrong? ” Instantly concerned, he reached out. “ Are you in trouble? ”
    “ No, ” I assured him. “ Yes. God, I don ’ t know. ” I rubbed a hand over my face. Out of practice , I thought once more. I braced my palms on the desk and lowered my voice.
    “ Yes. I have not broken the law .... ” Had I? I wondered for a brief moment. I shook my head. “ There are some people after me…some men. ”
    “ Ah, ” he nodded , and clucked his tongue sympathetically. “ It is a romantic situation. ”
    A romantic situation? I choked back a laugh. Oh , how I wished. And who the hell had more than one boyfriend at a time come after them?
    “ Not exactly ... my brother , ” I explained. “ They took my brother and…now they are after me. I don ’ t know if they will come here, but if they do they will want what ’ s in that bag. ”
    His eyes widened as I finished and he handed the bag back to me.
    “ I am sorry, I cannot keep this. ”
    “ I will come back for it, I promise. ”
    “ No — I mean, you must take this with you. I have a family. I will say that I never saw you , though. That much I can do. But to put my family at risk ... I ’ m sorry. ”
    “ It ’ s ok ay . I understand. ” I shouldered the bag once more and smiled at him , because I did understand just what a hard burden it was to bear and how dangerous it was as well . “ Thank you for helping me just the same. But if they have already come for me — if they saw me come in here , ” I swallowed hard and tried to look brave. “ Just tell them that I left , and that you don ’ t know where I went. Don ’ t let them think you may know something, ok ay ? That ’ s very important. But if you could maybe tell them you think you saw me head south? ” I would be heading north.
    “ Yes, of course. Here, take your money. ”
    “ No, keep it for your family , ” I said softly. “ Thank you. ”
    ***
    The first leg of the journey was spent in quiet darkness and seemed to take hours, although the thick leather watch at my wrist claimed that little more than an hour had passed. The ground was rough and uneven , but the night was warm and the stars… .
    I breathed deep ly and grinned for the first time in several days —maybe longer, I realized , taking in my bare surroundings. I didn ’ t smile nearly enough, I decided. The heel of my boot kicked at the dirt and a groan escaped as another realization hit. Nature was calling .
    “ Oh, damn. ” It wasn ’ t the thought of going to the bathroom out in the open that had me worried. There was no one around to see , and I wasn ’ t that self-conscious anyway. After all, it ’ s a basic bodily function. My concern for the moment was that I had not thought to pack any toilet paper. Well, maybe there were some nice leaves, I consoled. I set my bags down and dug through my pack until I found my flashlight. Who knew better than me that there were some plants that just didn ’ t make good toilet paper ?
    It occurred to me a short time later that I really needed to ditch the bag that held the bulk of Mike ’ s notes. I pulled the band out of my hair and gathered the damp strands into another