Chapter 115

Chapter 115
"Destined not to die"

One month, to be exact, after the heinous events that occurred to us. My escape from Mea and Carlo was nothing short of a miracle for me. It was another escape from death that I couldn't figure out how it happened. My father's house for my mother was warm and calm in the middle of a cornfield.
As mother and son, my kid and I were blissfully forging a better-late-than-never bond. He seemed content and gaining weight, and I was relieved to see him safe.
The news media and other news organizations were losing interest in the Mea Morrow case.
I was reading the latest news articles from town, which my father had purchased for me. And as time passed, I grew accustomed to the fact that I had a concerned father around willing to help me anytime. That was my long-time dream: to have a father figure around who could protect me all the time, just like Dr. Rafael Morrow did for our son. But every time I think of him, I miss him and dream of seeing him again. Rafael's death was untimely and gruesome, leaving a painful memory in my mind. He was suffering the painful death of burning along with the old house he was trying to protect from Mea.
My son and I were wandering through the recently harvested cornfield one afternoon. Rafael Junior enjoyed playing with his grandfather Marvin's red ball. It was a nice afternoon to go around with my son in the warm wind.
I spotted a black Big Buddy Toyota Corrolla automobile flying along a long, twisting, sandy road far away. The car's speed indicated that the driver was desperate to arrive at his destination. A cloud of dust trailed the automobile like a shadow in a comic strip I'd seen previously. And the automobile was on its way to the house.
Instinct compelled me to take my son and go back into the house, closing the door behind me. My heart pumped with fear as my son gasped at the collar of my blouse tightly. It seemed he understood that we had to hide. I ran upstairs into my room and closed the window.
Don't let any stranger see you and your son. That was what my father kept on reminding me of.
Because the car that was speeding in was driven by a stranger, I peered out the window. I had to be cautious to avoid another disaster in life. And I was right in my notion that the car's purpose was the house, because it skidded when it was parked on the front lawn near the gate.
The car remained stationary in its parking spot, and no one was coming out of it. My pulse hammered faster, fearful of what I might see if the automobile door opened as it did. A few moments later, I noticed a man's feet in black pants getting out of the car and was surprised to see Dave.
I giggled and opened the window further so he could see me from above.
Dave heard me and looked up, but his eyes did not light up when he saw me. His entire demeanor was conveying bad news to me.
I dashed downstairs, still carrying my son, and opened the door for him.
"Dave, how did you know about this place?" I asked, thrilled.
He said, a bit cautiously, "Can we talk inside the house?" He then noticed Rafael Junior, who was reaching out to him. He took Junior into his arms and started talking. "Your grandfather gave this address and I was glad to see you alive."
I smiled, "I'm glad to see you, Dave. I wanted to thank you for your good deeds towards me and my son. I will never forget such heroic action. "
He went to the window and peered from the road where he was coming, "I received a report about Mea putting a large sum of money on your head."
"What? But I thought I heard her being kept in prison, Dave."
"They never stop, Catherine," he groaned.
Dave's eyes welled up with tears as he told me why he was forced to visit me.
"They will never stop harming you... until they see you dead, even if the earth covers them."
Do you mean Carlo would murder me? "I inquired innocently.
"You know what money can accomplish in this situation, Catherine?"
"What exactly do you mean, Dave?"
"They sell you into the underworld," he grumbled, and said, "They will pay someone who has the ability to kill you. Even if they are in prison, they still have connections to the outside world. "
I got mad and said, "Aren't they tired of killing me?"
Dave looked depressed and sad. "They wanted you dead now."
I heard a big stinger in my ears as Dave told me that I still have a death threat.
"All right," I said quietly.
"I'm coming to warn you and possibly transport you somewhere safer than this residence."
"I felt protected having my father here, Dave."
"We need to be more cautious," he said, determined to take me somewhere else.
I insisted. "I have to wait with my father because he has to know where I'm going."
"He already knew what I was preparing." It's necessary to constantly transfer both you and your son from one spot to another, so Mea's tentacles don't know where to find you, "Dave stated, and I couldn't say no to him. After Rafael, he was the only one I could rely on.
"Give me time to pack."
"Let me hug Rafael Junior."
I made a quick pack of both my belongings and Rafael's in one back pack. After my last near-death experience, I wasn't sure if I could protect myself and my son alone. I felt like I needed somebody to guide me through what to do.
After a few moments, we were leading to Dave's car, and before I could step in, I spotted another car coming from afar. The cloud of dust on the road made the oncoming car visible.
"There's a car coming, Dave."
"Both of you get in. We should leave now," he yelled as he stepped into the car.
Dave accelerated the car as soon as I stepped in with my son. And we are running fast.
"Where are we going, Dave."
"Give me time to think," he said as he sped up the car.
Rafael Junior clung to me as if he sensed danger. And I hugged him even tighter, afraid of losing him.
Dave yelled louder," Are they tailing us?"
As we were departing, I returned my gaze to the home. "I don't see an automobile, Dave," he added.
"Looked back, make sure we are not being followed," his voice was too loud because of anxiety. And I didn't bother to voice my displeasure. I have no right to complain to a man who has devoted his entire life to protecting me and my son.
"We need to find a temporary hiding place. What do you have in mind, Cathy?"
I remembered a woods ahead of us that was good for hiding, so I told Dave, "Turn right at that tree; there's a wider opening space over there that's good for hiding."
Dave obeyed my command, and within a few moments, we were already rolling beneath vast and tall trees. And we come to a halt in the center of two big groves of trees. We remained silent for a while, trying to hear what was going on on the road outside the woods.
Dave was closing his eyes and saying, "I think we should stay here a little longer."
"May be we should," I replied.
Rafael Junior was already sleeping in my arms peacefully. He was too innocent to understand what happened.
We sat inside the car, having the same thought maybe and that was on how to listen the silence.
After a few hours, I asked. "Who are those people?"
Dave gave me a sincere look. "I didn't know, but we can't risk your opponent catching you and your son; if we have to play hide and seek for them, so be it," he added.
"Thank you for putting your life in danger for us, Dave; I don't know how to thank you for everything you've done for us."
"Don't bring it up, because I told him I'd look after both of you," Dave said.
Then we heard a car honking outside the woods, and I jumped up and hugged Rafael Junior, saying, "Dave, whatever happens, don't let the enemy have my son."
He then promised, "I'm not going to let it happen, Cathy. That is why we are currently hiding."
Dave's grip on the steering wheel was trembling; how could we dodge the enemy, and how would Dave protect us with only those hands? If Mea had hired murderers to track us down, there's a good chance they were carrying guns to kill me.
"Mea truly wants to kill me."
"That's right, Cathy. She'd want to hear that you're dead. "
And then we saw birds from the trees flying away as if afraid of something.
"We should get out of the car and find another place to hide," he said quickly as he stepped outside, helped me up with Rafael Junior, and began walking into the deepest part of the woods.
Beneath the tall trees were sharp stones and thorny plants. I wrapped Rafael Junior in my jacket. I followed the trail Dave had made ahead of me.
We heard rifle shots after a few minutes of walking. When I looked back to where we came from, I noticed that the gunshots had pushed birds to leave their trees.
Dave was clearly in a state of terror. He took my hand in his and led the way to where he wanted to go.
"This way, there must be a hiding place this way," he said, his grasp tightening.
"Dave, you're causing pain in my wrist."
"We've got to keep going," he remarked.
Something got into Rafael Junior's ear and caused him to weep. I became concerned and attempted to console him, but he continued to weep.
"Stop him from weeping, because those awful people could hear him."
I tried to comfort him and whispered, "Okay, baby. I got you. I'll cover you with this, huh.”
But my son continued to cry. Dave pulled harder, and we went through a stream and climbed the upper part of the forest. It was scary, but I was left with no choice but to follow where Dave took us. For hours, we were walking and stopping for a short while, then walking again. I could feel my feet getting sore from walking.
After half an hour of walking, we reached the foot of the hill, where we saw an empty hut lying beneath. The hut gave us protection from the rain that had started to fall.
And then heavy rain began to fall and we were nowhere.