Chapter One – On the Run

Throwing the last bag of clothes and photo albums into the back of the truck, Jenna slammed the door shut before remembering. "CRAP!"

"What?" Brenna asked, starting the engine.

"I have to get something!"

"We have everything, Jenna," Brenna said, her eyes on the street in front of the house. She tossed her long, brown hair back off her shoulders in nervous anxiety.

"No, we don't."

From the truck, Brenna watched her younger sister run back into the house. With another glance in the rearview mirror, she breathed a sigh and rolled her eyes. What on earth could Jenna be up to?

Jenna ran into the foyer and pulled the bottom drawer of the desk open. Removing the false bottom, she pulled out an off-white envelope. Running and out of breath, she hopped into the passenger side of the truck as Brenna screeched out of the driveway. They barely managed to turn the corner and get onto the highway before a dark blue SUV pulled up in front of the house they had rushed to vacate.

Jenna saw Brenna glancing at the envelope clutched to her chest as she maneuvered through traffic, taking them further and further out of the city. Knowing that she didn't have any choice, Jenna decided to tell her. Brenna wasn't the only one who had cause for concern. There was another threat looming; one so evil that not even the police could stop him.

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"Okay, Brenna, why did we have to leave like that? What's going on? You asked me to trust you and you'd fill me in later." Jenna gestured to the clock then out the window at the darkness. "I think this is later."

"I had to take a report to Dexter. He was in the lab in the south wing. When I walked in, the people in the testing area were wearing HAZMAT suits."

"And how is that different from normal?"

Brenna rolled her eyes. "We don't use chemicals that are harmful to breathe, Jenna. At DAX Pharmaceuticals, we pride ourselves in making drugs as close to holistic that you can get. You know that. I got a look at one of the formulas for what they were developing, and they weren't using innocuous ingredients."

Jenna didn't understand what her sister was implying. Damien wouldn't allow his employees to make anything harmful in the DAX labs. "What were they using?"

"With the formula that I saw, at the strength they had written out, one pill would kill someone. And if that someone was left to rot, the noxious gases given off would kill several more."

"So, why are we running?"

"Because Franklin had security keeping too close an eye on me this afternoon. I knew something wasn't right when one of the guards came to escort me out of the lab early. I avoided him and snuck out the back, called you… and the rest is history."

"Did you take anything from the lab?" Jenna asked, looking down at the envelope in her hands.

"No! Are you crazy?! I couldn't chance having anything found on me. You won't believe how glad I was that Damien left early so we could get to the bank." Brenna's eyes narrowed. Now that she stopped to think, that seemed odd. "Did he say why he had to leave?"

"Yes, Brenna; Reenie was sick and he had to stop and get some soup to take home."

"Doesn't he have staff at home to take care of that?"

Jenna sighed. "Yes, he does. Don't crucify the man for being a good father. Not everyone wants their staff to take care of every little issue. Besides, Reenie loves the loaded baked potato soup from the diner down the street and Damien has a weakness for their desserts. He probably volunteered so he could indulge his sweet tooth without Victoria hounding him about it."

Frowning, Brenna took the next exit and stopped at a gas station. Putting a scarf over her head, she stepped out to fill up. Jenna grinned at how cautious she was being, but decided to follow suit. Winding her brown hair up, she pulled a ball cap on, and went inside to pay for the gas and buy some sodas and munchies for the trip.

On the road again, she shook her hair out and opened her Snickers bar. "Are you sure you don't want one right now?"

Brenna threw her a look that answered that question, and Jenna put the bag of goodies at her feet.

"I have a friend from college. He's an FBI agent out of DC now. I think we should contact him about what I saw."

Jenna's eyes widened. "DC? As in Washington DC?"

Brenna gave her sister a glance that she couldn't really see in the dark cab of the truck. "You know, our nation's capital? Big city. Northeast of here?"

"Very funny, Brenna," Jenna said, rolling her eyes at her sister's attempt to lighten the mood.

"I figure, not only can Sean help, but DC is a big enough city for us to easily cover our tracks in."

"Good idea," Jenna agreed. She gave the envelope another look, still searching for the courage to tell her sister of the events that had transpired just over ten years ago.

"I say we drive as far as we can tonight, and then stay in a cheap motel just long enough to catch a few hours sleep. I'd like to get to DC as soon as possible," Brenna continued, still planning out every detail, as was her custom.

"Brenna?" Jenna said her sister's name hesitantly, almost fearfully.

"What is it? Is this about the envelope you went back for? The one you've been staring at for the past three hours?"

"Brenna, there's something you need to know. Could we go ahead and stop at some out of the way place now? I don't really want to do this while we're on the move."

Brenna's affirmative nod went unnoticed in the dark, but Jenna sighed in relief as she felt the truck slow. Brenna pulled off at the next exit, bypassing the hotels closest to the Interstate to find a place a little off the beaten path. The girls grabbed their overnight bags and checked in quickly, paying cash and using false names.

Finally in their room, Jenna led Brenna to the sofa and sat down next to her. Seeing that she had her sister's complete attention, Jenna began to speak.

"Do you remember Ben? I dated him for a while my senior year of high school, while you were away at college."

"I remember a cute guy coming to Aunt Rachel's for Christmas that year. Yeah, I remember," Brenna responded, trying to figure out where her sister was going with this. "What is going on, Jenna? What has you so freaked out?"

"Do you remember, at graduation, how happy I was to stay in Louisiana with Great-Aunt Rachel and go to the community college?"

"Yeah; I thought it was weird, because for the three or fours years since Mom and Dad died, all you had talked about was coming to live with me as soon as you graduated."

"Right. I wanted to stay to be near Ben. But something happened. Something bad and we agreed it was better to not see each other anymore."

"What happened, Jenna? I mean, how bad could it be? You were eighteen years old, and a good girl. You weren't into drugs or... Did you get pregnant?!"

"No! It wasn't anything like that!" Jenna was vehement, and then turned quiet again. "It would have been better if that had been the case."

"Better?! Jenna, what is going on?"

Rubbing her temples against the headache she felt coming on, she said, "There was this other guy, he liked me but he was too… ick I guess. He was rich and thought he was God's gift."

"I know the type," Brenna rolled her eyes, and then quieted to allow her sister to continue.

Remembering back, she continued, "He met up with us one night and goaded Ben into racing him. I tried to tell him not to, but he was so sick of Mike being in his face all through the year that he'd had enough."

Brenna absently ran her hands through her hair, trying desperately to keep her mind from all the different things her sister could be about to say. This was the last thing they needed right now, with Franklin already on their tail.

"It was so bad. I knew from looking that something wasn't right with Mike. He was too keyed up for this all to be about some stupid competition for my attention." Rubbing her arms, she pulled a blanket from the dresser next to the sofa to wrap around her. "I wasn't in the car with Ben. But I watched the race. It was so short, nothing should have happened."

"Jenna, what happened?"

Continuing on, Jenna looked straight ahead, her eyes trained on a small imperfection in the paint on one spot of the far wall. "He swerved. From where I was watching, it looked like Mike swerved to ram Ben's car. It didn't work that way though. He lost control. His car flipped. I ran all the way to it, hoping, praying he was okay. From the way he was laying, I knew he wasn't. Ben felt for a pulse, but there wasn't one. I guess he must have snapped his neck or something. He was dead."

"What did the police say about the race when you called them?"

Looking down, she told Brenna, "We didn't call them. At least not right away."

"You didn't call the cops? Jenna, what were you thinking? Sure, Ben might have gotten in a little trouble, but it would have been nothing next to what you could get for leaving the scene. Why didn't you call me?"

"You don't understand, Brenna." Jenna laughed but the sound was flat. "I told you Mike was rich. His father wouldn't have let it go. He would have buried Ben and me. I couldn't call you and possibly ruin your life. Ben said his sister could help us. She was taking forensics courses and Ben was right. She helped us out: covered any evidence of our presence at the scene. When we were far enough away, she called 911 and told them she had driven by an accident. When they questioned her on the location, she told them she had to wait until she got to a pay phone to call it in. She never gave them her name; she hung up when they asked. She cleaned the evidence from there, too."

"So no one ever caught on? Did the police close the case?"

"No, no one ever knew. We kept our mouth's shut and the police ruled it an accident. It turned out Mike was high."

"Pardon me for sounding stupid, but if the police ruled it an accident, why are you worried about this now?"

With a sick smile, Jenna held up the envelope. "Because I have something on his father. Something that I think he knows Mike had. His father is Sterling Lancaster, Brenna."

"Sterling Freakin' Lancaster? Like THE Sterling Lancaster? Holy crap, Jenna, what were you thinking going anywhere near his son! He's probably fitting out concrete boots for the both of you even as we speak... Which tells me that he doesn't know. Right? If you're okay and Ben's okay, then Lancaster doesn't know the truth. What makes you think he may now? I mean, you've been living with this secret for ten years."

"I never say he did know, Brenna!" Jenna burst out. "I have this feeling that he knows and he's going to find me, okay? That's all! Aren't we running tonight because of your feeling?"

"Shhh… Calm down," Brenna said as she pulled her younger sister into her embrace. She slowly stroked her hair. "I'm sorry. You're right. We're here because of what happened at DAX."

Jenna pulled away from her sister slowly, although she maintained contact with her, needing the comfort of her touch. "When I had to go back inside for the envelope, I knew I had to tell you the truth. I'm sorry for mentioning it now, while things are already so stressed."

"No worries," Brenna said with a smile. "That's what sisters are for, right?"

Brenna draped her arm casually around Jenna's shoulders. She had felt so responsible for her sister after their parents had died when their small plane went down fourteen years before. She had been nineteen years old and in college. Jenna had only been fourteen. Brenna struggled not to blame herself for the situation her sister had been forced to deal with. If only she had been there… But at her own tender age, the courts didn't deem her capable of taking care of her sister. Jenna had been placed with their Great Aunt Rachel in Louisiana.

Knowing her sister well and sensing her change in attitude, Jenna spoke softly, "It's not your fault. What happened back then – it wasn't something you could have stopped or changed. So, stop blaming yourself, okay? We just have to figure out what to do about DAX and Sterling Lancaster. And I think the person to help us best would be Ben's sister."