The Game Has Changed (25 page)

Yet, soon, she felt the car begin to slow. The
ground underneath was no longer that of a smooth, paved highway,
but rather a bumpy dirt road. Her eyes opened to find that there
was nothing out there except for the headlights illuminating black
trees and a scary, deserted emptiness.

The car finally came to a stop within this
desolate place. He killed the engine and she watched as he slumped
forward against the steering wheel with exhaustion and despair, his
head resting against the backs of his hands. She had no words of
comfort for him simply because she wasn't exactly sure he would be
receptive to them in his current state. She stared at him instead,
still trembling and still fighting the frightened tears.

“You should have let them take me,” he said
ever so softly. “You should have let it finish.”

“Let what finish?” she prodded, her voice soft
and tender.

He turned to face her, his expression
unreadable. “Us,” he answered succinctly before his voice broke.
“We're finished, Jaime. Our adventure is finished. You're just
trying to prolong it for no apparent reason.”

“You didn't have to listen to me back there,”
she offered. “You could've surrendered to them. Why did you listen
to me anyway?”

He remained unmoving, regarding her through
veiled eyes. “Because . . .” he breathed, deep in thought. “There's
something I want to do before I let you go.”

His answer was cryptic. Surreal, even. It left
her feeling confused and bewildered. She wanted to press him for
more information, but refrained from doing so. He seemed dazed and
out of reach.

Instead, she reached out to push his hair out
of his face and tenderly replied, “Sleep, Love. Until it's light
outside.”

CHAPTER 33

“She was spotted again, positively this time,”
Marshall told George over the phone early the next morning. “In a
hotel outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.”

“Did they rescue her?” George cried out as Mary
approached him with a hopeful look upon her face.

“No. She got away again, but . . .”

“She got away!?” he screamed into the phone,
unintentionally interrupting the agent. “What do you mean, she got
away?”

“Mr. Johnson,” Marshall breathed, “to be honest
with you, I don't think Jaime wants to be found.”

George took offense at his insinuation. “Are
you serious?”

“Every indication leads me to believe she wants
to stay with this man. I can give you the details when I come by
your house later on today, but I truly believe that she's acquired
feelings for her kidnapper.”

“Don't be ridiculous! She's damn scared of this
man. You're just making excuses for your blatant incompetence. Your
men can't even catch up to this fugitive. Don't blame Jaime for
that!”

Marshall ignored George’s rants as he
understood that he was quite livid about the situation at hand.
“We've found a backpack belonging to her with some clothing and
several other personal items. We ran some DNA tests on the clothing
and they did match the same DNA that was found in the blood samples
we secured from the suspect's abandoned car. We are certain they
are one and the same man now.”

“So what you're saying is that you found his
DNA on her clothing?” George asked.

“That's exactly what I'm saying.”

“
I don’t understand. How can that
be?”

“I don't know of any other way to put this past
you, Mr. Johnson. As much as you don't want to hear this, I have to
let you know that the DNA findings also support my
suspicions.”

“Your suspicions?”

“About her acquiring feelings for him,”
Marshall replied with annoyance.

“Please don't tell me they've had intimate
relations!?” George bellowed. “Because if they did, I'll catch him
myself and castrate him first. And then I’ll kill him!”

Marshall chuckled in spite of himself. “There
will certainly be no need for that. We're going to catch him
eventually and then he'll be dealt with accordingly. If it's so
proven that he had sexual relations with her, he'll be charged with
statutory rape, of course.”

George trembled with anger despite Marshall's
assurances. “I just don't understand why it's so hard to track him
down. You people obviously can see where he's headed. Surely, he
must be following some sort of pattern?”

“Exactly, Sir. Many of these perpetrators do
follow a pattern. They head to somewhere familiar to them. And
that's what I believe he's doing. He's heading home,” Marshall
replied as a matter-of-factly, further cementing the fact that it
would be quite some time before George would ever see his niece
again.

***

The quiet stillness of the dawn surrounded the
lonely blue car sitting in the middle of nowhere. Jaime awakened to
find herself sleeping in the cramped backseat with Evan lying
asleep on top of her. His face was buried between her neck and the
back edge of the seat, one hand was clutching her shoulder and both
of his long legs were hanging precariously over the seat's
edge.

He appeared so uncomfortable, yet he was
sleeping so soundly. Though she was achy and stiff from being held
captive beneath his body across the small backseat the entire
night, it was a lovely sort of ache, she decided. The bulk of his
body above hers felt warm and strong and comforting at the same
time. She wanted to remain that way forever. She couldn't bear the
thought that she was going to lose him in just a few days, if not
sooner.

Jaime carefully placed her hand upon his head,
threading her fingers through his soft, warm, and sweaty hair. His
masculine scent assailed her senses. It was sweet and naturally
alluring. She wondered as to how he could smell so enticing to her,
since they were always traveling and rarely got to shower as it
was.

His physical appeal was phenomenal, yet it was
his appealing persona that affected her all the more. He could be
so moody, as if he were a manic depressive. Yet when he was happy,
he was the most incredible man alive. Within the depths of despair,
he was practically unreachable. In the eight short days she’d known
him, she’d witnessed this up and down cycle many times
already.

Disappointment filled her as he began to stir.
The subtle movements of his body alerted her to his impending
arousal. He groaned and lifted his heavy head to gaze down at her
with sleepy brown eyes. The look he gave her sent a shiver of
awareness throughout her entire body. She stared at him with
longing, telling him with her eyes that she still loved
him.

A light of acknowledgment danced through his
eyes before it was clouded with worry. “Are you
alright?”

“Very alright,” she breathed, giggling softly.
“But that was the smallest bed yet!”

He laughed with contentment. “I'll complain to
the management.”

“I wasn't complaining,” she reiterated. “It may
have been the best sleep I've had so far.”

“Wow, you're a good liar!” He grinned, gently
outlining her lower lip with a fingertip.

Her heart swelled as she realized that he was
feeling a tad better. The thought made her happier than she’d ever
expected it would.

“I'm not lying. I had a heavenly
sleep.”

“Wanna know something?” he
whispered.

She nodded avidly.

“That was my best sleep in a long
time.”

She was unconvinced. “Now who's
lying?”

“I am totally serious, my dear,” he replied as
he groaned and pulled himself up to sit upon the edge of the car's
seat. He clasped her hand and helped her to sit up as well. They
gazed at one another as he tenderly wrapped his hand about her
face. No words were spoken between them as their mouths came
together in a passionate and fervent kiss.

CHAPTER 34

“I'm afraid we're approximately one more
night's stay away from Los Angeles if we cover a lot of distance
within the next two days,” Evan replied once they were underway
again, driving across the craggy, red tinged terrain of New
Mexico.

“
Then don't drive very far,” she
mumbled despondently.

He turned to her and smiled softly. “Just about
six hours today, I think.”

“It's still too much.”

Evan grinned, eager to spring the surprise he
was planning on her later on. A companionable silence accompanied
them as they crossed into the Arizona state line. Jaime’s heart
raced as she caught sight of several signs pointing toward the
Grand Canyon National Park. She glanced at Evan with wide eyes as
she realized where he was taking her to. Her long time dream was
coming true and he was making it happen.

“Evan?”

He smiled and winked at her and he clasped her
hand in his. The gesture made her heart skip a beat. A wave of
apprehension overcame them as the park ranger took their money at
the park’s entrance. Thankfully, the woman was not a policewoman.
It wasn't her job to keep an eye out for fugitives, so they were
able to breathe a tad easier as they drove into the
park.

Jaime was bubbling with excitement as they
drove down the wooded roads that led toward the main park. Evan
smiled with pride. He had to do this for her as he wanted to give
her this very special gift before he parted ways with
her.

“I'm starving! Should we eat first?” he teased
her as they parked in a spot not far from the Grand Canyon's
rim.

“No!” she squealed with delight. “Please, can
we go see first? I can almost see it!” She pointed toward the front
of the car like an exuberant little girl.

“Oh, alright,” he said with feigned
resignation, a playful grin resting upon his beautiful face. “Come
on, then!”

They got out of the car and Jaime rushed around
the car to catapult herself into his arms. “Thank you, Evan! Thank
you so much for this!” she gushed as she hugged him to
her.

“You're very welcome, Sweetheart,” he said
softly as she planted a loving, wet kiss upon his mouth.

Evan made sure to take note of the absolute
ecstasy that coursed through Jaime's entire body. Pleasure was
written across her face as the canyon spread out before them. While
he found the sight breathtaking, it was nothing compared to the
awe-inspiring delight that emanated from every inch of Jaime’s
petite frame.

***

The sight of the afternoon sun setting over the
peaceful canyon was a spectacular sight to behold. Brilliant
oranges and reds washed over the deep jagged rocks and a vivid
purple painted the clear sky above. They sat near the canyon rim
alone, perched upon a large rock that was off of the beaten
pathway. There was no sound about to mar the echoing stillness,
aside from the occasional sound of a cawing bird and the wind
rustling the trees.

“When my dad was away, sometimes, I would
search on the internet for pictures of places,” Jaime reminisced
fondly, her voice calm, even, and relaxed. “I would pretend to
visit those places. I'd put myself inside of the picture and it was
like I was really there. And this was the place I went to the most
inside my head.”

The wind gently blew Evan's hair about his
handsome face as he nodded tenderly. She stared at him dreamily,
unable to properly express how she felt, then and there.

“And now I'm really, really here! It's so hard
to believe! And it's much, much grander than I ever expected it to
be!”

“Our imaginations are vast,” Evan mused
thoughtfully. “Much more vast than Mother Nature
herself.”

“Even in my dreams, I never pictured it quite
like this. I never thought about the way it's making me feel
inside. It's incredible! But maybe part of the reason I'm feeling
more incredible than I imagined is because of the company that I'm
experiencing it with,” she added bashfully.

He reached out to take her hand and present her
with one of his devastatingly beautiful smiles. “That probably has
a lot to do with it.”

Her heart fluttered with excitement as Evan
clasped her hand and brought it up to his lips to gently kiss the
back of her hand. This time, it wasn't just a kiss of chivalry. It
was so much more.

“Do you know . . .” she stuttered, unable to
concentrate on what she wanted to say. “That eight days ago was the
first time I ever left Philly?”

“
Was it?” he asked as he kept her
hand pressed against his lips.

“Yeah, and . . . and . . . I never . . . ever .
. .”

“Never ever what?”

She felt as if she was melting all over the
hard rock underneath her and felt light-headed and near to
fainting. “I love you so much that it hurts. It really physically
hurts!”

“Hurts why?”

Tears trickled down her cheeks and she wiped
them away with the hand he was not holding. “Because I can't bear
to think that you'll only be a memory within my life after
tomorrow.”

“Maybe not just a memory, Sweetheart,” he
murmured.