As long as I was the prey, Julian would keep hunting.

I pulled into a gas station twenty miles down the road.

The fluorescent lights cast a sickly green glow over the wet concrete.

I went to the payphone at the side of the building, keeping my personal cell phone turned off.

I dialed Lydia’s private number from memory.

She answered on the second ring.

“I am out of the motel,” I said.

“Where are you?” she asked.

“Heading north on the highway,” I said. “But Lydia, he is going to keep tracking me.”

“We are preparing the emergency custody motion, Elena,” she said. “Just stay out of sight.”

“That won’t stop him tonight,” I said. “I need him to make a move that destroys his credibility completely.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I have my old bank card,” I said. “The one Julian’s firm monitors for joint expenses. He kept it active to see if I would use it.”

“You haven’t touched that card in weeks,” Lydia said.

“If I use it now, he will get an alert instantly,” I said. “There is an old family cabin in Cape Neddick, Maine. He knows about it.”