Chapter 3

The first few days of being truly alone had been tough, but slowly Kelsey had started to figure out coping mechanisms to help her navigate life without the title of caretaker in the weeks that followed. She had started going for a run each morning before breakfast which gave her something to focus other than a silent house and usually kept her lingering grief from becoming overwhelming. There had also been a few cocktail hours with her coworkers which had been a welcome relief in the evening hours.

Sam had texted and called a few times to check in. She had found herself appreciating his advice as well as his sarcasm and sense of humor. He didn't waste a lot of time telling her what he thought she wanted to hear, and she appreciated his honesty most of all. She had heard from Bucky less frequently, but their conversations when he did call often lasted for hours and she had always felt a slight sense of disappointment when it was time to say goodbye.

On a Saturday nearly a month after the funeral, Kelsey found herself working in the garden late into the afternoon. The neglect of the last several weeks had started to show, and she had spent several hours weeding and pruning the various plants and shrubs. The plants had previously received nearly daily care from her grandmother and then later her grandfather, but with the long hours at work she couldn't devote as much of her energy to gardening.

She had been listening to music with her earbuds when a phone call interrupted the song and she double tapped the earpiece to answer.

"Hello?" she said as she pulled one final weed from the flower bed and tossed it into the waste bin she had been using to collect garden debris.

"Hey, Kels," Bucky's voice said through the earbuds, causing her to smile at his continued use of the nickname.

There had been a few friends who had called her occasionally through the years, but it hadn't really stuck like it had with Bucky. She had found it endearing and unique to her friendship with him. It made her smile every time he said it, and she often tried not to dwell on the fact that it caused a warm feeling to spread through her body.

"Hey, Bucky," she responded, getting up from where she had been kneeling on the ground and picking up some of the gardening tools. "I didn't think I'd hear from you till next week sometime. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she heard him say as she crossed the garden to put the tools in the shed, "just wondering how you're doing."

"I'm good," she said, placing the various tools on the hooks on the wall. "I was just finishing up in the garden. What have you up to?"

"Working on the house...just finished up for the day too," he told her.

During the course of their conversations she had learned that he was fixing up the house he had found in Delacroix after it had been left empty for many years. She had been curious one night after one of their chats and looked up the property online. It sat on the water, like he told her, with an unassuming but inviting looking porch that had a view of the dock.

"How...how'd last night go?" he asked as she left the toolshed and secured the lock behind her.

The previous night she had gone out on a date with a guy she'd met online through a dating site. She'd let it slip earlier in the week to Bucky, and he had gone quiet for a few seconds before asking her for various information about the guy she was meeting. At one point she had even asked him if he was planning on doing a background check on her date, which had pretty much brought an end to their last phone call and surprised her with how quickly he managed to make excuses to hang up the phone.

"It was ok," she told him, grabbing her phone from where she left it and putting it in her pocket as she made her way towards the house.

"Just ok?" he asked, causing her to smirk.

"Yeah...just ok. He seems nice…"

She heard him make a noncommittal grunt on the other end of the line and she shook her head as she opened the door to the kitchen. At first she had been slightly annoyed by all the questions and prying, after those feelings had passed she found that she was actually grateful for the concern. The fact that he had even brought up her date meant he had been thinking about it and she couldn't help finding it slightly endearing.

"Don't worry he was a perfect gentleman...you don't have to come up here to defend my honor," she told him to fill the silence.

Turning on the sink she washed the dirt from the garden off her hands, listening to the silence on the other end of the line. She could almost picture him trying to pick his next words carefully, his face probably twitching every so often as he worked through it in his head. Sometimes when it happened during their conversations she took pity on him and changed the subject when he went silent, but today she waited him out, part of her wanting to see where he would go with the topic he had brought up.

"Are you seeing him again?" she heard him ask after nearly a minute of silence as she opened the refrigerator to grab a beer.

"I don't know," she told him, opening the bottle and taking a sip before sitting in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "We didn't have a lot in common….so, probably not. I haven't heard from him anyway so it's probably a moot point."

"His loss then."

"I think I'm just horribly out of practice when it comes to this whole dating thing."

She heard him give a chuckle and he said, "Tell me about it. For the record Kels, I don't think you need me to come defend your honor."

"Thanks," she said, smiling a bit. "Although it's kind of sweet when you're over protective."

Again there was silence on the other end of the phone. She took a sip of beer while she waited for him to retort, but the silence dragged on longer than she expected this time.

"Bucky, are you there?" she asked, wondering if the phone had dropped the call or if the batteries of her earbuds had died. "Your face didn't freeze in that squinty look you make when you're trying to figure out which answer will get you in the least amount of trouble, did it?"

"I don't make a squinty look," he said finally, causing her to laugh.

"You totally do," she responded, smugly. "Your cheek kind of twitches and your eyes squint...it's kind of your tell when you're not being completely honest. I suggest not playing poker with me."

"I don't...when did you even pick up on this supposed squinty look?" he asked and she couldn't help laughing at the exasperation in his voice.

"About a week and a half ago when you made the mistake of video calling me," she said. "Consider this payback for the whole vetting my date thing. You were living rent free in my head last night and now next time you go to make that face, I'll be rent free in yours."

"You know...you're kind of being a pain in the ass today," he told her, making her laugh.

"I think I warned you that I'm a handful," Kelsey retorted, "and yet you keep calling me."

She heard him laugh, grateful the tension of the previous topic was broken. The way their previous call had ended had left her feeling confused and she had been unable to stop thinking about it the rest of the week. She didn't like feeling as if he was shutting her out, and when had ended the call rather abruptly she wondered if she had done something to hurt him somehow.

"Yeah...apparently I'm a glutton for punishment," he quipped.

They fell back into their regular pattern of conversation, and Kelsey felt herself relax against the chair. She much preferred the ease of their banter to trying to decipher his silences or figure out what he wasn't telling her. He could be guarded sometimes, not that it surprised her given his past, but it made her want to keep trying to find a way to earn his trust enough that he wouldn't feel the need to hide his thoughts. They continued that way for nearly an hour before he mentioned he had to go meet Sam. She reluctantly said goodbye, taking the earbuds from her ears so she could start working on dinner.

She ended up eating in front of the television, allowing herself a few hours of mindless entertainment. When the movie ended, she cleaned up her dishes before heading down the hall towards the bathroom so she could take a shower and wash away any lingering grimer on her body from a day of gardening. As she walked down the hallway she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out as she turned on the bathroom light.

There was a text message from an unknown number, and when she read the text her eyes went wide and she felt her heart rate increase rapidly.

We're coming for you

Her hands started shaking as she blinked at the message. She knew her grandfather had enemies, but she had figured with him gone the days of living in fear that their true identities would be discovered were over. They had always been so careful not to draw too much attention. As best she could with her trembling fingers she answered the text.

Who the hell are you?

Someone who knows your secret

You have sixty seconds to get out of the house

She dropped the phone, backing out of the bathroom into the hall and as she tried desperately to calm her breathing. Her mind raced as she turned, knowing it could be a trick to lure her out of the house, but not wanting to find out what might happen if she stayed inside. She grabbed the emergency bag she kept stashed in a cabinet near the kitchen door, quickly making her way down the stairs and running through the garden to get as far away from the house as possible. Her grandparents had taught her to be prepared for anything, but she had never thought she'd actually have to make use of the bag she flung over her shoulder.

She turned back just in time to watch the house go up in flames, the blast of the explosion causing her to stumble back against the fence that separated the property from the neighbors that lived behind her. Fighting back tears, she stood there in shock watching as the only home she had ever really known was engulfed in flames, the heat of the fire making her cheeks burn even from the back corner of the property.

In her state of shock, she didn't notice the figure moving through the shadows until he grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. Kelsey felt a strangled cry escape her lips as she struggled against the strong arms that held her tight. She brought her food down hard on top of her attackers, and she felt his hold loosen enough for her to lean forward and then swing her head backwards hard against his nose.

She heard him cry out and his arms released her as his hands flew to his likely broken nose. Kelsey stumbled away from him, dropping the bag as she turned to face her attacker. He was nearly a head taller than her, and he straightened to look at her as he wiped the blood away from his face.

"You're going to pay for that," he said, and Kelsey prepared herself for his next attack.

He was big and muscular, obviously someone who relied on brute strength to overpower his opponent, but it made him slow. Kelsey knew she could use that to her advantage as they circled each other, and when he lunged for her she was able to dodge easily, her smaller form making her much more agile. On one of his passes, she grabbed his arm, pulling it back towards her and using his momentum as well as her own weight to send him tumbling to the ground.

She landed next to him, and he shoved her away as hard as he could, causing her to land on her back not far from him. Kelsey gasped as the air left her lungs and she struggled to breathe. He moved over her, and she felt stars explode bind her eyes as he landed a blow to her cheek that caused her head to snap to the side. One of his hands moved to her neck and he started to squeeze, further inhibiting her ability to draw breath.

"They told me to bring you in alive," he told her, smirking down at her. "They didn't say you had to be in good condition."

She tried to use her hands to break his hold on her neck, but he was too strong. Her right hand fell away from his hands and she felt along the edge of the walkway frantically trying to reach one of the larger rocks that lined the garden's border. When she felt her fingers grasp the familiar cool stone, she lifted it and swung her arm with all her might in her attackers direction.

The rock smashed into the side of his head with a sickening thud, and she felt his hands slip away from his neck as he fell next to her, his body crushing her left side. He went still and she could see the blood trickling from his temple where she had managed to land the blow.

With shaking hands, she pushed him off of her, taking a few gasping breaths as air finally filled her lungs once more. She looked around, trying to determine if he was actually alone, her whole body trembling with adrenaline and fear.

Slowly getting up, she looked at the house, flames and smoke filling the night sky. She could hear the faint sound of emergency vehicles in the distance echoing through the silence of the night. Whoever had done this wasn't trying to kill her, but what they wanted exactly was a mystery. They had clearly wanted her to feel scared and alone, taking away not only her home but all of the keepsakes stored within. She had been completely blindsided by the attack and when the man on the ground next to her groaned she stumbled back in panic.

Grabbing the emergency bag, she climbed the fence separating the property, moving quickly through the shadows between the houses. Processing the loss of her home and the anger and sadness she was already feeling would have to wait. She needed to disappear until she could figure out who was after her, knowing if they were brazen enough to set a bomb off in her home then they would keep coming for her if they knew her location. There was enough cash in the bag to get her somewhere safe without there being a paper trail from her credit cards, but it wouldn't last long and she knew she would eventually need help to remain off the grid while she tried to discover the identity of her unknown enemy.

When she was several blocks away from the house and certain she wasn't being followed she stopped and opened the bag. She pulled a dark blue hoodie from within, pulling it on and putting the hood over her head so it covered her hair. There was also a pair of fake glasses that she retrieved and put them on to try to change her look as much as possible in case she was spotted.

When she stood, she put her arms through the straps of the backpack and started moving in the direction of the bus station. She kept checking over her shoulder as she walked, trying to keep off the main road as much as possible. There was part of her that kept expecting her attacker to appear again at any moment, and she kept reminding herself that he had taken a pretty hard blow to the side of his head. If he wasn't still unconscious he was likely being detained by the firefighters and police who had undoubtedly arrived at the house by now.

She relaxed a little when she reached the bus station, approaching the ticket window as she took the bag off her shoulders so she could reach the cash inside.

"Where are you heading," the ticket clerk asked, not really looking at her as he started typing into the computer.

Kelsey paused for a moment, once again weighing the fact that cash in the bag would only get her so far. She could buy herself a couple days at most. California and her aunt's house was too obvious of a choice and she was sure whoever was after her would likely look there first.

Instead she said the name of the first town that popped into her mind. There she could find help and stay hidden. It was unlikely anyone would think to look for her there, and if they did they certainly wouldn't have an easy time getting to her.

"Delacroix, Louisiana."