Chapter Five

Before leaving Baltimore, Peter stopped at a second ATM to pick up more money for their expenses, and then stopped at the first rest stop on I-95 to pick up a map. Instead of continuing on I-95 south, he took a turn off to head west.

Claire keeping an eye on the exits, perked up.

"Uh, Peter. Not that I mean to be a pain or anything, but aren't we going to Atlanta? And isn't that south of here?"

"It'll look suspicious if only ATMs between Baltimore and Atlanta are missing money. If they figure out what we're doing they'll track us straight there. This way, we can throw them off our tracks."

Claire blushed, feeling a little dumb and cleared her throat. "Ah, I see. Good idea."

They drove mostly in silence, for eight hours until they were well into the West Virginia border. Noting the time, Peter pulled off the highway when he saw a sign for a motel.

"You okay with stopping here tonight?" He asked Claire as they pulled into the small town.

"That's fine." She answered, sitting up straighter in her seat and arching her back to try to stretch in the cramped space.

Peter felt his eyes being drawn to Claire as she stretched and then quickly jerked them back to the road, a guilty flush creeping up his face. Claire glanced at him beneath her lashes, unable to help noticing how his arms flexed with each turn of the wheel.

Minutes later found them pulling into the shabby motel parking lot. Taking one look at the clientele standing outside, Peter gestured for Claire to stay in the car.

He walked inside; glancing back to make sure no one had taken notice of his pretty passenger, and requested a room. He returned to the car and pulled into a close space, before reaching back to pull out his and Claire's backpacks.

They climbed out of the car, Peter's hand resting protectively on the small of Claire's back as they walked into the front entrance of the motel. They easily found their room and slipped inside. Claire wrinkling her nose delicately at the sight and smell of the room before her.

Deciding that beggars cannot be choosers, she gently tossed her backpack on the further bed, leaving the one by the door for Peter, as she knew his over protectiveness would call for him taking the bed closest to an entrance point.

"We could find somewhere else to go." Peter suggested quietly, noting Claire's reaction to the room.

"It's fine. It's close to the highway, and I saw a bank on the way back." Claire answered quickly, giving him a small smile. "But thank you anyway."

Peter smiled in return, his eyes holding hers for a second too long, he broke the contact with a cough and turned his attention to the map.

"I'm thinking a roundabout route." He said opening the map fully on his bed. He sat down on the edge to look over it, and felt the bed give as Claire sat at his side. She leaned closer to peer down at the map and Peter's breath hitched slightly, at her warmth and her sweet smell being so close. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"We continue through West Virginia, and then cross into Kentucky, then Tennessee. We'll continue south west into Arkansas. Then head back east towards Atlanta."

"And we'll pull enough money to hold us up and through Arkansas." Claire stated.

Peter grinned at her insight. "That's the plan. Simple I know, but I hope if anyone is following or tracking us they'll think we're going to Texas, or further west and keep going that way, while we backtrack."

While Peter explained his reasoning, Claire unable to help herself leaned closer, ignoring all the warning bells in her head about 'he's her uncle', and enjoyed the scent that was simply Peter. She shivered gently, and blushed when Peter's gaze met hers.

"Are you cold?" He asked, drawing her closer to his side.

"A little." She lied.

That sat in silence for a little while, Claire cuddling closer to Peter's chest enjoying his smell and the feeling of safety she felt while in his arms.

"I think I should dye my hair." Claire suddenly stated, pulling back from Peter's chest to look into his eyes. "I mean it's conspicuous, brown might be better."

"No!" Peter blurted out, hating the idea of Claire changing anything about herself. Catching the questioning look in her eyes he scrambled to find the right words. "There are a lot of blondes out there Claire and they'd probably expect us to change our appearance. We might be able to fly under the radar without having to change how we look."

"Besides, blondes are more fun right?" He couldn't help but add, twirling a piece of her hair, unwilling to have anything about that gorgeous strand change. Claire's breath caught and her gaze shot to Peter's again. He immediately let go of her hair and pulled back, his gaze dropping. Claire frowned at the loss of contact.

"I'm sorry." Peter began. "That was inappropriate."

"Don't worry about it." Claire said shaking her head. She glanced at the man sitting next to her and without a second thought leaned closer and gently placed her lips against his. For a moment Peter's lips remained unmoving underneath hers, but that quickly changed as he responded, deepening their kiss. Claire reveled in the emotions that coursed through her as her and Peter's lips met over and over, but all too soon, Peter pulled away with a gasp and jumped off the bed.

"We can't do this Claire." He said, shaking his head furiously as if to dispel unwanted thoughts.

"I know." Claire responded quietly, moving to her own bed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. If things were different…" He began. "It's just the craziness of all this, getting to us." He said running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"I should get changed." She finally said after a few moments of silence, gathering up her clothes and slipping past a silent Peter into the bathroom.

Peter readily in agreement with this safe plan, pulled out his own clothes to change into while Claire was in the bathroom. He was already in bed when Claire emerged and silently slipped into her bed.

They switched the lights off, both lying in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.

"We should contact your father." Peter suddenly stated into the darkness. "You should go with him where it'd be safe."

"No." Claire answered severely, knowing that Peter was trying to not only keep her safe from the danger they were in, but also from himself. "He'll only worry and then get himself in trouble trying to protect me from anything and everything that could possibly happen."

"Claire he's already worried!" Peter argued, sitting up in the bed and swinging to the side to face Claire. "Noah has a hand in everything, he already knows that you were taken, and he probably already knows the plane crashed. So he must be going crazy wondering what happened to you between your capture and now."

"I will not put my family in danger. You said it yourself we can't go back, that we can't contact them." She answered, scooting to the edge of her bed to face him and flipping on a light.

"This is different and you know it. The phone's safe. Plus those other people's families just believe they're missing. Your dad probably believes you're dead."

"He knows me better than that." Claire contradicted. "And if we did call him, you and I both know that he'll come and get himself involved and given the way our luck has been going lately he'll probably get himself killed. I can't let that happen." She added softly, her eyes finally taking in the sight before her.

Peter sat silently, clothed only in sweatpants as he mulled over their argument. Claire blushed and directed her eyes to the wall behind his shoulder.

"Fine. We won't call him yet. But when we get to Atlanta, the first thing you're doing is calling Noah." He put up his hand as Claire opened her mouth to argue. "Just tell him you're alright, that's all I'm asking for Claire. I know I'd be dying if I knew you were taken and had no idea what happened to you after that crash."

Claire blushed again at his words and finally nodded her head in agreement.

"I'll call him when we get to Atlanta."

"That's all I ask." Peter returned, shifting to slide back into bed. "Good night Claire." He said softly reaching over to turn off the light.

"Night Peter." She responded quietly.


At five o'clock the alarm on the phone went off, jerking Claire out of a dream filled sleep. She blushed as she thought of the man who portrayed a large part in her dream, before slipping out of bed, grabbing her backpack and slipping into the bathroom for a shower.

Peter awoke to the sound of running water and rolled over to glance at the alarm clock on the center nightstand. He groaned when he saw the time, rolling back over to lie on his stomach, hoping the sounds of the water could lull him back to sleep before it was his turn to shower. But the more he tried to sleep, the more thoughts of Claire in the shower filled his head.

"She's your niece, you pervert. Your niece!" He said, clenching his fist and hoping that saying the words aloud would banish his thoughts of the young blonde woman in the shower only feet from where he was. It didn't work and Peter found himself peering thoughtfully towards the closed door that separated him from Claire. As he stared at the closed door, the shower abruptly turned off. Moments later Claire emerged from the steamy bathroom, clothed only in the white towel provided by the motel. Peter's eyes ran over her body greedily, starting at her calves, strong from years of cheerleading, moving up to her shapely thighs, past the towel and stopped where the towel was cinched tightly over her breasts. His body responded instantly and once he realized what he was doing, Peter's eyes shot to Claire's face, which revealed nothing, as she dried her hair with a small hand towel.

"Shower's free." She said with a small knowing smile.

Conscious of his predicament, Peter waited until Claire turned to the mirror over the dresser before bounding out of bed, grabbing his bag, and heading into the bathroom. As soon as Peter was out of the room, Claire finally released the smile she had been holding in when she caught him checking her out. She hummed softly to herself as she changed for the day, keeping one ear focused on the sound of the shower.

Within fifteen minutes Peter returned, freshly showered and shaved. But, to Claire's dismay he was already dressed, having decided to avoid another uncomfortable situation. They gathered up their clothes and bags, before returning to the car, another long day ahead.


As Peter and Claire pulled out of the motel's parking lot, a light colored sedan pulled out from behind the dumpster. After waiting a few minutes, it merged onto the road, only four cars behind them.