Remember to Forget Read Online Free Page A

When a flash of ice blue disappeared into the café, Maggie stopped on the corner of the street and held up one hand in a useless wave.
    “Thank you,” she whispered. Reluctantly, she jogged around the corner. She ran for six blocks, careful to pace herself, so she would appear to be an ordinary morning jogger. But she took a circuitous route, going a block north, turning west for another block and a half, then zigzagging north again through a wide commercial alleyway. If the cops were looking for her, she wouldn’t make it easy for them.
    Now fairly certain she wasn’t being followed, she stopped at a bench in front of a post office, exhausted and out of breath. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she plucked the wad of cash OpalSanchez had given her from the pocket of her khakis and unrolled the bills. She fanned them out enough to read the denominations. Her breath caught at the sight of two hundred-dollar bills along with some smaller bills. She took a quick count. With her change from the liquor store, she had almost three hundred dollars. Except for making out the checks to pay the apartment bills, she hadn’t had that much money at her disposal since the day she quit her job at the design firm and moved in with Kevin.
    Three hundred dollars wouldn’t last long, but maybe long enough to get her far, far away from New York.
    The sleepy little town of Saddle River was starting to wake up. The digital clock atop a savings and loan down the street flashed back and forth between 78 degrees and 6:15 a.m. She was in New Jersey. Probably a couple of hours from the apartment.
    She’d already gotten farther away than she ever dared to dream. Strangest of all, after all the nights she’d lain awake in bed beside Kevin, planning an escape she knew would never happen—staring at the ceiling, terrified to move, lest she awaken him and provoke his ire—now, without one moment of planning, she found herself miles away and him none the wiser. She shook her head in disbelief. It was as if she’d been handed a gift beyond anything she could have wished for.
    But what next? Where could she go on three hundred dollars? More importantly, if she managed to find a job and a place to live, she’d have to prove her identity, go on record. And he would find her. She knew him too well not to believe that.
    The sun slanted between the buildings and warmed her face. Beads of perspiration sprung up on her forehead. She’d better decide something soon.
    When her stomach growled, she remembered she hadn’t eaten since yesterday evening. She stood and shoved the cash deeper into her pocket. The most important thing she could do now was to put as many miles as possible between her and Kevin Bryson.
    Had he gone to the office yet? Would he stay home and worry about her, or would he go on as usual? Would he fix his own lunch, or would he have to buy something from the cafeteria at the firm? She was going to be in so much trouble when he—
    She shook the thought away, wagging her head so hard her hair grazed her cheeks. Never again was she going to be in trouble with him. It was time to wash his controlling, brainwashing messages out of her mind.
    She was free. Free .
    With new resolve, she headed down the street. But after walking aimlessly for ten minutes, she realized she didn’t know where she was going. She couldn’t just wander around this town looking lost.
    When she passed a café, a pretty hostess waved and smiled from the window. Somehow that small acknowledgment gave her courage. Backtracking, she stepped inside. The aromas of cinnamon and vanilla and strong coffee assailed her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled again.
    “Good morning. Just one this morning?”
    Maggie froze for a second.
    The hostess waited expectantly, still wearing that welcoming grin.
    Maggie inspected the merchandise in the glass case beneath the cash register while she gathered her wits. “I just need a pack of gum and—” Gulping in a deep