Ethan parked the car at a discreet distance from Anna’s house. He rummaged through the glove compartment, picked binoculars, and looked into the lens. He adjusted the device to an appropriate angle where he saw what was happening inside. He couldn’t risk being caught, so he wasn’t taking any chances. He wanted to be sure he wasn’t walking straight into a set-up. Not that he suspected Anna of being in cahoots with people he didn’t know to arrest him. But being an outlaw meant extra caution in every move taken.

     He saw Anna in the kitchen. She was cooking or doing domestic chores. It was a weekday, so he didn’t expect her husband to be home. He redirected the binoculars to the living room. Ronnie sat on the couch watching TV.

     Certain Anna’s place was safe, he replaced the binoculars, unfastened the seat belt, and stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut. He tucked his firearm in the waistband and concealed it with the hem of his shirt. Then he walked to the back entrance. He didn’t want to be seen by any neighbor. The front entrance was out of the question.

     Anna was making breakfast for herself and Ronnie while humming beautifully when she thought she heard someone scurrying in the short hallway from the back door. She turned off the stove and went to inspect. She hadn’t left the kitchen when a hand gripped her slender arm, and the other hand gagged her mouth.

     “Don’t scream. It’s me.”

     She felt his raspy breaths from her shoulder. Anna hadn’t expected him to show up in the house, much less sneak in at this time of the day when most people were still home. Any commotion was likely to attract onlookers. When he loosened his grip around her mouth, she shoved him away and sputtered, “Let go of me, Ethan!”

     He did that and she turned around swiftly, almost landing a slap on his face.

     “What do you want?” Anna asked, knowing the reason for his presence at her house was obvious.

     “To see my son.”

     She was riled up. “You’re sick!” She stomped to the makeshift table and snatched the newspaper that had been lying there for a while now. She walked back to his side and thrust it at him. “Your face is all over the newspapers. You’re a murderer. Ronnie doesn’t need you in his life.”

     Ethan crumbled the paper and threw it across the room. “The papers are not true.”

     She scoffed and put on a frown. “Well, it looks true to me. Leave my house.”

     “I’m not going anywhere till I see my son.”

     The aroma that had filled the room since he entered the house got strong with every second that ticked. He was starving. He remembered how he’d missed her cooking. Ignoring Anna, he walked past her to the table where she had artfully arranged meals on the serving plate. Anna had always been a good cook. When they were still married, she’d told him she took culinary class in school and the delicious meals she prepared were evidence.

     He wasted no time in washing his hands. He greedily ate the food in less than a minute and gulped the glass of water. He turned to Anna. “This is really good.”

     She’d have acknowledged his compliment if she was still married to him, and if she didn’t hate how he was constantly intruding on her new life.

     “It’s time to leave.”

     He was busily licking his fingers and pushing all the food into his mouth like a vagrant starved for a week. Anna was sure he wasn’t even paying attention to her. God, he must be starving for him to eat like this. She stared at him. The clothes he wore were smudged and his boots had stains of caked mud. His porcelain skin looked tanned, which she was sure was a result of long exposure to the sun.

     For one moment, she stopped to wonder if this was the handsome man she married years ago. Now turned a fugitive, Anna was certain Ethan Willows was a different man, not the generous man she met at the party. She was overtaken by the wonderful memories they had together.

SOME YEARS AGO. . .

     “Excuse me, can I have a moment,” the young handsome man in a black suit said to Anna. She looked at her pals she’d come to the party with for their approval, which they found weird. Among her friends, she was the timid one and had always consulted her friends first before taking any course of action.

     One of them said, “It’s all right, Anna. We’ll be waiting,” and winked at her.

     Anna put the glass of the fizzy drink she’d been nursing and turned to face the gentleman who had asked for a moment with her.

     “May I?”

     Anna didn’t understand why he said that, but after he lifted his arm, she knew what he was referring to. She smiled as she tucked her arm into his and they walked away from the table.

     “My name is Ethan,” he said.

     “I’m Anna.”

     “It’s a pretty name.”

     She giggled.

     Ethan scanned the surrounding, and said, “I hate the party. I’m here because of a friend. You?” He was staring right at her, waiting for a reply.

     “Me?”

     He nodded.

     She shrugged. “Well. . .I-I. . .I’m also here because my friends invited me.”

     “So you didn’t want to come?”

     “I guess you could say that.”

     “Do you want us to do something else?”

     She didn’t know what she wanted to do. She’d never gone out and met a handsome man like him, so she was overwhelmed.

     “Like what?”

     “Like take a stroll outside the house. There’s a beautiful garden there too. Maybe we could enjoy the serenity together.”

     “Sounds like fun. The party is boring after all.”

     They exchanged a smile before they left the party.

     The reverie wore off when she heard the happy voice of Ronnie yell his Dad’s name. Then he ran into his arms. Anna knew there was no way he was leaving the house anytime soon. She watched him carry Ronnie out of the kitchen. After they weren’t within earshot, she picked the telephone and opened the drawer she’d kept the card Clinton gave her. She dialed the numbers and waited for a receiver.

     Clinton’s voice came through the line. “I’ve been waiting for your call.”

     She lowered her voice. “He’s here. You were right. I didn’t think he’d come. I called as you had instructed. What should I do now?”

     He said hastily, “Stall him. My men will be there shortly.”

     “Good. You said they will take care of him quietly. I don’t want my son to get hurt.”

     “And he won’t. I’ll call you again in ten minutes.”

     “Okay.”

     “Stay put and don’t give him a reason to suspect anything.” Then he hung up.

     Anna pulled the phone off her ear and put it aside. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed and left the kitchen. She found Ethan and Ronnie playing catch-me-if-you-can in the living room. Seeing father and son getting along so well, she got cold feet and wondered if she was doing the right thing.

     But then she remembered her ex-husband was a murderer, and his death was inevitable. Regardless of whether she was part of his capture or not, he was still going to face the death penalty. Deep down, Anna knew Ethan was a good man, a family man and perhaps, the news about him was false, but she’d stopped herself from mulling over that prospect, possibly because she didn’t want to convince herself someone might have framed him.

     She went into the kitchen and brought Ronnie’s food to them. Then she watched Ethan feed him like in the good old days. Ronnie seemed to be enjoying their moment together. She felt sad for him that it wasn’t going to last. Any moment from now, she expected to see men at her house to capture Ethan and put him on death row.

     Anna felt butterflies in her tummy. She was anxious about what might happen in contrast to what she expected to happen. When the telephone rang again, she retraced her steps into the kitchen. With a nervous sigh, she said, “Are they here?”

     “Look outside.”

     Briskly, she moved to the windows and yanked the blinds open to reveal the once empty driveway which was now filled with a sedan. Two men in dark clothes stepped out. Anna saw them holstering firearms.

     She said angrily into the mouthpiece, “Why are your men armed?”

     It was a stupid question to Clinton, and he wanted to retort at her, but he didn’t. Right now, he needed Anna on his side if ever he wanted Ethan dead.

     “They have instructions not to use the firearms. They’re armed for backup. I doubt your husband is unarmed.”

     She wanted to correct him that Ethan was her ex-husband, but there were far more pressing matters she’d rather tell him than worry about her relationship with him. “Ethan is not armed. He wouldn’t dare bring a gun here.”

     “He’s a criminal on the run. He’s always armed.”

     She exhaled, then looked outside. The men were walking to the front door. Was she doing the right thing?

     Clinton said, “You need to take Ronnie out. I’m sure Ethan wouldn’t surrender without putting up a fight.”

     “You said this would be done quietly. You lied to me. Why?”

     “I didn’t lie to you, Anna. I’m surprised you’ve taken the threat your husband poses very lightly. He’s dangerous. I’m hoping he’d surrender easily, but he won’t so my men had to bring guns in case.”

     Anna felt like a fool for trusting a stranger over her ex-husband. Now she was paying the price. “What should I do?”

     “My men have orders not to harm you or your son, but I don’t think you can stay inside to witness the scene. Leave the house.”

     Anna was infuriated. “I shouldn’t have trusted you. Don’t call me again.”

     She heard Clinton’s frantic voice telling her not to hang up, but she’d done it already. She threw the phone on the table. She must alert him.

     Ethan and Ronnie had just finished watching one of the many Ronnie’s favorite television programs when he heard sounds from outside the house.

     “Stay here,” he whispered to Ronnie, then left to inspect the driveway. He walked to one of the windows, slightly pulled off the curtains, and peered out. His eyes widened.

     Ethan hurled himself to the front door, locked it, and returned to the living room. He bumped into Anna and she whispered, “You need to leave. Men with guns are coming.”

     Ethan had drawn his weapon and was loading it. He looked angrily at Anna as he rotated the barrel of the gun. “What did you do?”

     Anna didn’t know how to explain for his elucidation. She hashed up when Clinton had met her at the park and told her how dangerous he was.

     Ethan’s brows arched. He never thought Clinton would use his family to get to him. “And you believed him?”

     “He was convincing and you’re a fugitive. What did you expect me to do when all the papers were saying you were a mass murderer?”

     He wanted to argue with her for keeping this from him and leading him straight to the devil himself. But there was no time. The men outside might be looking for another way to get inside the house.

     “Take Ronnie upstairs. Lock the room and don’t come out until I say so.”

     She meekly nodded, ran to her son, knelt before him, said, “Son, we need to go upstairs. Daddy wants to do something here,” and carried him.

     Anna sprang to her feet and left hurriedly. Ethan moved quietly into the kitchen. He opened the blinds and checked the path that led to the back entrance; where he suspected they might breach. He saw a trail of footprints.

     He swiveled around, pointed the gun horizontally to face the kitchen door, and on calculated steps, walked to the exit. He hadn’t stepped out when one of the men emerged. He recognized him from the cabin.

     Immediately their eyes met, they directed their gun at one other, each one’s finger on the trigger.

     Tony said, “Drop it!”

     “How about this?” he snapped. “You and your counterpart will leave the house and go tell Clinton that I want to see him and end this once and for all. He can choose the time and place.”

     Tony scoffed. “And why would I do that?”

     He smirked. “Because you want to live. If you shoot me, I shoot you and we both die. You have something to live for. I’m a fugitive on death row. My death wouldn’t make any difference. Whether you shoot me or they inject me to death, I’m still gonna die, but ask yourself if you ready to die for Clinton when you don’t even know why he wants me dead?”

     “We do as instructed. We don’t ask questions.”

     “Sure you do.” He pointed his gun at his right leg. “You’re bleeding.”

     Tony looked confused. “What?”

     “There.”

     When he took his eyes from him, he lunged forward, kicked Tony’s gun aside, and struck the butt of his gun across his face. Swiftly, he gripped his shirt and dragged him to a wall. Then he smashed his head against it. His eyes glazed over. He passed out in less than a second.

     “Well,” Ethan sighed, “that went so well.”

     He found duct tape in the kitchen cabinet and bound his hands and legs, then gagged him.

     The second man was searching the living room, moving wildly and pointing his gun at different angles. While he was oblivious, Ethan tiptoed into the room and whistled to grab his attention.

     He turned around and Ethan hit his head with a baseball bat. He lost consciousness, staggered, and landed heavily on the couch. He tied him up with the tape, left him on the sofa, and went upstairs. Anna unlocked the door when she heard his voice.

     “Did you kill them?”

     “I’m not a murderer. They’ve passed out, but they’ll be awake very soon.” He held a cordless telephone. He placed it into her numb hands. “Call 911. Tell them exactly what happened. Don’t lie.”

     She took the phone, unsure of what to do.

     “Tell Ronnie I love him and when all this is over, we’ll be together.” He was turning away when she gripped his arm and halted his motion. Slowly she murmured, “I’m sorry.”

     “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

     She knew that wasn’t true. Anna was sorry for so many things. If she’d testified in court in his favor, perhaps he wouldn’t be running away from the law.

     “Where’re you gonna go?” she worriedly asked.

     “I don’t know. Dan’s place I guess.”

     “Take care of yourself.”

     “I will. Call the cops and don’t trust Clinton. He’s a liar. Take this.” He took out his gun and deposited it in her palm. Anna had seen firearms in the past when she was still married to him. Along the line, he had taught her how to use it.

     “After this, I’m sure Clinton’s going to come back. You’ll need protection. I can’t take you and Ronnie with me. My advice to you; get out of this place.” He looked concerningly at her. “At least for now.” Then he disappeared.