VII

Your face is like a melody

Thanks Astrid! You're the best ^^

Eyes closed, I let myself be lulled by the sound of the engine and bumps of the road. Everything seemed so unreal. A hand gently placed on my thigh. Its warmth spread across my skin through my pants. A sigh escaped me and I leaned deeper into the seat.

"You still haven't explained to me." He said, suddenly.

"What?" I asked, lazily.

"The chain of events that led you to help me escape."

I opened my eyes and sat up, realizing he was right. All of this had happened so fast.

"Molly left."

"It was my understanding, indeed." He commented, seeing that I wasn't offering any further explanation. "But it wasn't because of that, was it?"

"No. She left me after a discussion she had with Alana. Basically, I just came to ask for explanations. I didn't understand why she had decided to tell her all these things that I had deliberately kept silent about. When I arrived, she was with Margot ..."

"What happened?"

"I overheard their conversation. They were planning your murder." I whispered, clearly remembering the scene. "They were wondering if it would be noticed in the autopsy. I realized they were talking about a poison or something similar. Then Richard came with the meal trays. I made the connections and ... I don't know ... I haven't really ... thought. I…"

He violently swerved and I was thrown against the car door. He parked on the side of the road and turned off the engine. His back rigid, hands gripping the steering wheel, he took a deep breath. My hand flew to his neck, slipped through his hair.

"We cannot go back there. We must remain invisible and unpredictable." I whispered, feeling him relaxing under my palm. "We must leave this town. If you ..." I swallowed hard. "If you love me ... let's get away from here without killing anyone."

He turned his head towards me and I lost myself in his stare. Without taking his eyes off me, he started the car and got back on the road.

...

When I recognized the neighborhood where we were, an overwhelming anxiety rose in my chest. Hannibal parked a block from his home.

"I need to pick up a few things. It'll just take a minute and then we'll leave." He explained to me.

"There will be undercover cops everywhere."

"Unless they don't think me stupid enough to come back here."

"Jack wouldn't have taken this risk. We cannot just walk to the front door, hoping that no one is going to arrest us. Are you sure that's absolutely necessary?"

"Yes, if we want to leave the country."

I tried to think quickly about a solution, when a young vagrant drew my attention.

"Have you some money in the house?" I asked hastily.

"Yes, in a safe. Why?"

Without answering, I got out of the car and joined the man, looking all around me.

"Excuse me, sir."

The beggar turned around, curious about what I wanted him.

"How would you like to make some cash?"

"Yes, of course!" He exclaimed.

"I'd like to ask a favor. It's a little risky, but ..."

"I'm your man!" He interrupted me.

I smiled to him as innocently as possible, glad that he'd accepted.

"You see the house over there?" I said, pointing at the mansion. "It belongs to my friend sitting in the car. He's going through a difficult divorce... well, you know how it is."

"Not really, sir. But I see what you mean." He replied.

"His wife has thrown him out, changed the locks and left him with nothing."

"It's not cool." He commented, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Not cool at all." I agreed. "He would like to get his stuff, but we don't know if she's here..."

"You want me to ring, right?"

"Exactly. You're a smart boy. I would do it myself, but she knows me and… she hates me. "

"I see. He's left her for you."

"Good deductions, Sherlock. Thus, you go, you check there's anybody here and then, I'll pay you."

"Deal." He said before walking up to the house.

I went back into the car.

"Get ready to get the hell out of here."

Hannibal started the car and left the parking place to turn around in the street, before stopping at a red traffic light. I watched the scene from a distance, through the rear window. The teenager walked up the steps and rang. A second later, a man came out of a car parked not far away, ran towards him and pinned him against the door. The plainclothes officer overpowered the young man without too much difficulty and then I saw Jack slowly walk up the stairs. I turned towards Hannibal and met his determined look. Without hesitation, he turned right, then right again. When I understood what he was doing, I grabbed his arm as if to stop him.

"We need to leave, Hannibal!"

"Jack will be busy a few minutes, thanks to your diversion. We're going to go round the back."

He stopped in the backyard and exited the car before running towards the back door. I followed in his footsteps. Soon, we were in his living room. Seeing the inside of this house again after all these years, brought back faded memories. Conversations, dinners. Unconsciously, my hand caressed the scar on my stomach, when I passed the kitchen. For a split second, I thought to I saw Abigail in a pool of blood. I was yet again reminded of the long hours which I had spent here, alone, after his departure for Europe. When he had abandoned me.

Seeing him back between these walls brought me an indescribable feeling. Everything here was impregnated with his person. Without hesitation, he walked to a bookcase and pulled out a pile of books from a shelf, revealing a small safe that I had never known existed.

As my thoughts drifted, I lost touch with reality for a moment. The house was too emotionally charged. My eye has fallen on a painting on the wall, Hannibal approached me from the back. Then, I felt the harsh and cold touch of the barrel of a gun against the back of my neck. I turned slowly to Jack. Contrary to what I thought, Hannibal was nowhere in sight.

"I'm going to ask you once and once only, Will. Did you do all this of your own free will? "

For an eternity, I met his dark stare.

"Yes." I whispered, finally.

My answer shocked him.

"Why?" He asked, between his teeth.

His gun still pointed at me, shaking with anger, he seemed out of it, ready to fire at any moment. Slowly, I raised my hands. From the corner of my eye, I saw Hannibal approach silently, fast and relentless. His hand held one of his kitchen knives which I knew to be impeccably sharpened. Time seemed to freeze and, in slow motion, a powerful hand seized Jack and the blade passed under his throat, before cutting it in a sudden and perfectly controlled movement. Instantly, a stream of blood flowed on the floor, splattered the wall to my right. In an instinctive reflex, I grabbed his Glock, as he fell to the ground with one hand pressed to his neck in a gesture that I knew to be futile. A warm palm landed on my cheek, caressing and I closed my eyes before kissing his hand.

"You're all right?" He whispered.

I just nodded, unable to watch the scene unfolding before me.

"I've got what we need. Let's go." He added, cautiously removing the weapon from my grip, before guiding me toward the exit.

Outside, a cold wind brought me back to reality. Jack would kill me. Hannibal killed Jack. A cause. An effect. Time could flow only in one direction.

He slid behind the wheel, while I went up to the car and we were on the road again.

"What was so valuable in there that we needed to get ourselves into a situation where we only have a few minutes to leave the city before there are roadblocks everywhere?" I asked, checking over my shoulder to see if we were being pursued.

He gave me a black bag then, wherein the first thing I saw was a significant amount of banknotes, before spotting two navy blue booklets. Passports, I understood, by examining them closely. I opened one. Despite Hannibal's photo on the left of the page, the name written to the right was unknown to me. It was certainly a fake, but a well made forgery. In the second, to my surprise, was a picture of myself, found I didn't know where, next to another unknown identity.

"Since when are you in possession of a fake passport for me?"

"Four years." He answered without taking his eyes off the road.

I stared at him, unable to respond for a moment.

"You ... You really wanted me to go with you, this time, right?"

He just took my hand to bring it to his mouth before kissing it and I caressed his lips with my thumb.

...

We had to leave Baltimore on minor roads. Reaching our goal would take several days, but we had to avoid the highway at all costs. "Unpredictability" was the watchword. Be where they wouldn't wait for us. And while they would watch all the US airports, we would drive towards Mexico City where we would take a plane for Buenos Aires.

We couldn't drive forever, even while driving in shifts. But for now, relief wasn't an option. We had to put as much distance as possible between them and us, until we fell asleep.

The gas tank didn't leave us this luxury as long as we would have wanted it. Night had fallen long ago. My watch indicated one o'clock in the morning and we were in West Virginia, on road 259, when we found ourselves with no other choice than to stop in order to avoid running out of gas. A gas station finally materialized in the dark and I turned on my turn signal and left the road with relief. I stopped in front of the gas pump and exited into the cold night to put gas in the car. Hannibal took some cash from the bag and opened his door.

"I'll get us something to eat." He told me.

I nodded with a tired smile and he walked up to the small grocer's shop where I quickly joined him. The harsh lighting of the shop assaulted my retinas and I spotted him at once, paying the bill. At this late hour, the gas station was deserted, apart from one employee. My hand caressed Hannibal's back in a gesture that seemed surprisingly natural to me. He turned his head toward me, feeling the caress and gave me an indescribable look that worried me.

"So, you're on a road trip?" The cashier asked us, longing for conversation.

Above his head, a small television broadcast information continuously without sound. On the screen, our faces displayed a few seconds before giving way to an FBI agent that I didn't know. He spoke into the microphone of a journalist, surely they had put out an APB. Soon, we'd be hunted throughout the country.

"Yes, somehow." Hannibal replied, calmly, making sure to keep his attention to prevent him from looking at the news.

He gave him a fifty-dollar note and the man returned his change.

"There's a motel, a little further on the right. You should take a break, guys. You look like hell. I don't know where you're going like this, but if you want to arrive in one piece... Roads are pretty bad at night around here."

"Thanks for your recommendation, sir. We'll follow your advice." I replied, taking the plastic bag full of food on the counter, before walking as quietly as possible to the exit.

"Good night and good luck." He wished us.

Without delay, we went to the car and drove two kilometers, before finding the motel.