"So, what do you do?" Nick smiled as he let his head fall back to the seat.

My mind screamed, 'run, all I do now is run.' Instead, I let out a heavy sigh and spoke of my old life. "I work in marketing for an accounting firm."

"Wow, marketing something that boring must be..."

"Tough," I laughed. "It has its moments, but I love it. What do you do?"

"I'm in banking. So, I guess I shouldn't judge," he shrugged. "Are you from New York?"

"Yep, born and raised," I nodded.

"Any siblings?" He continued.

"No," I instinctively answered, but then my mind slipped to the face that had winked at me. I shook the thought away.

Nick continued to pepper me with questions hoping something would gather traction, but I was incapable of depth. He hid it well, but I was certain he was relieved as we pulled into the D.C. bus station.

"Well, Antonio, it was a pleasure getting to know you," he smiled as the bus lurched to a stop.

"Yes," I apologetically agreed as I pulled my bag out from beneath my seat.

"Can I help you get a bag down?" He asked as he pulled a duffle from above.

"No, I travel light," I covered.

"Impressive," he nodded before stepping aside to let me head down the aisle.

I gave a grateful smile before trudging to the front of the bus. I wasn't looking forward to the door. I had nowhere to go, no next step, but my feet kept moving, one foot in front of the other until I was descending the stairs. The bright June sun stung my eyes before I could pull my sunglasses down. I squinted from the blaze and saw the flash again in the watery haze.

My face was there in the distance, casually leaning against a pole in the terminal, looking rather pleased to see me. My pace stopped dead, causing Nick to crash into me, but I didn't react. I didn't respond to his hands grasping at my waist to steady me. I didn't respond to his words of confusion. My eye remained glued to me in the distance.

She smiled more broadly and dared to even wave, but it wasn't an actual wave. Her wrist twisted her hand once before her fingers formed a gun and pointed directly at her own temple. Then, as if to accent the moment, she mouthed, 'see you soon.' As my stomach plummeted and knees buckled.

"Shit, Antonia," was the last thing I remembered before the darkness took over.

"There she is," was the next thing I recalled.

"What happened?" I asked as I gazed around at my surroundings.

Nick and the bus driver scanned over me.

"You passed out, ma'am," the driver said. "Happens from time to time in the summer. I keep the bus pretty cool, and when the summer heat hits people just drop."

"Oh," I said in a daze, but I knew the temperature had nothing to do with me fainting.

"How are you feeling?" Nick asked as he handed me a bottle of water.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry for bothering you all." I took a slug of water and let it roll down my parched throat. Despite the aid the water should have provided, the gulp felt more like sandpaper in my dry throat.

"Glad you're okay, miss. I should get back to the bus," the driver nodded and gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder before pacing away.

"You sure you're okay?" Nick asked again.

"Yeah, as the driver said, the heat," I shrugged. But as I spoke, my eyes darted to the pole. Had she really been here? Had she followed me, or was my mind playing tricks on me?

"Mmhmm," Nick murmured. "Can I give you a lift somewhere?"

"No, no," I stammered. "I'm fine."

"I know you're fine, but I have a car here; I may as well give you a lift," he shrugged.

I looked up at his face as the haze of my mind's trickery began to fade. It was clear he wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Yeah, okay. Thank you." I gave him a weak smile as he helped me to stand.

"Great," his voice came triumphant.

He led the way through the terminal and back into the summer heat. The pretense of the temperature change causing my moment was dropped as we hit the hot asphalt of the parking lot without even a waver in my stride.

"Your chariot," Nick smiled as he held to door open to his Lexus.

"Fancy," I smiled as I slid into the leather seat. The thick heat engulfed me while Nick paced around to his side, tossing his duffle bag in the backseat as he went.

"Sorry for the temperature. It cools off fast," he offered as he blasted the AC.

"I'm already sitting, so if I pass out again, I won't have far to fall," I offered back.

I watched the terminal pass outside my window as Nick navigated out of the parking lot.

"So, this is where I should be asking you where to," he began.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Yeah, but for some reason, I'm feeling like you don't have a where to," he continued.

Panic soared through me as my heart pounding nearly drowned out all my thoughts. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Antonia, I know you said you like to travel light, but all you have is a purse full of cash and bottled water; a lot of cash," he reiterated. "And no phone."

"How did you... when?" I stammered as I clutched my purse tighter.

"When you passed out, I looked for your phone or any medical cards to see if it was something bad. All I found was cash. I'm not judging, but I'm guessing that you are running from New York, not to D.C."

"I... I..." My mind was blank. I hadn't actually thought of a back story.

"Listen, you seem like a good person. I'm sorry for whatever or whoever you are running from. We all have our secrets. I'm happy to help."

"Help?" My thoughts refused to connect to more than a single word.

"You can stay at my place. I'll just call my roommate and give her the heads-up," he offered.

"Why are you being so nice to me? What if I am a murderer or something?"

He let out a laugh. "You don't strike me as someone that could kill anyone. Besides, who doesn't have a duffle bag of cash from their latest heist?"

I laughed a little too eagerly at the proximity of his joke.

"So it's settled, you're coming to my place." He sat deeper in his seat as he spoke.

"What if someone comes looking for me? I don't want to get you involved."

Nick seemed nice. I was certain he thought I was on the run from some asshole boyfriend or shitty parent. Never in a million years would he buy my actual story. I played it out in my head. 'Hey Nick, I was running errands for work today when I stumbled upon a bank robbery. Funny turn of events, one of the robbers looks exactly like me, and she may or may not have followed me here.' Yeah, that would go over well. A laugh escaped me.

"Antonia?" Nick's brows furrowed.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Did you hear a word I said?" He asked as his eyes returned to the road.

"No, sorry," I murmured again.

"Well, cliff notes, I'm not afraid of anyone looking for you," he smiled a bit to himself.

"Thank you. I'll be out of your hair quickly; I promise."

"You have me now. We'll figure this out together."

Being part of a we sent a pang through me. It ripped at the life I was running from, the life that had been freshly ripped from me. Still, I resolved myself to not burden Nick for too long. He was too sweet to be pulled into whatever mess was swirling around me. The idea of not just a place to stay, but something that resembled companionship was too enticing. There was something about Nick that drew me to him, set me at ease. I was grateful for his offer.