The irony of us standing on the runway didn't go amiss, because that's exactly what we were doing... running away.
I guess for me, I was running back but I think the fear stricken within Rivers eyes irked me enough to make me believe I was doing exactly that, running away.
Those metal birds, wings ever-stretched, sat waiting for take off. Waiting for Rivers orders but he paced the black tarmac, speaking down the phone to someone with uncertainty.
"Look at this Momma, it's so big!" Everly called out to me from the steps of his private jet, she was impressed by everything. I was too stressed to be impressed.
Watching him shout down the phone, moving his arms around exaggeratedly until finally he ended the call and rubbed his temples like he didn't like the outcome.
"I'll be right back." I told my daughter, maintaining even steps towards River. He had his back to me now, pacing the smooth ground over and over again. When I reached out to touch his shoulder he flinched out of my grasp, so on edge.
"Hey, it's okay." I consolidated. "It's all going to be okay."
"Is it?" He asked, quite sharp and snappy like I was the one to blame. "That man has been mirroring my actions every day for the last five years. He knows all of my passwords, has access to every file, every camera, every single person I have worked with. He knows the ins and outs of my life. I have no idea who he has become acquainted with over the years. Anyone from my organisation could be working with him or for him. Do you know how serious that is?"
"River-"
"And fuck! He knows. He knows about Everly, Jesus, he's targeting Everly." I wasn't stupid, I knew all of that but hearing him spell it out to me as plain as day made my blood run cold.
He stepped closer to me and traced his hand delicately over my cheek. "Millie, I need you to know." He took a deep breath before continuing, "You're going to see me do things that are going to frighten you. I need you to remember who I am."
"I know who you are River. I know why you do the things that you do and I am more than okay with that."
"Mr Johnston." The pilot called out. "We're ready for take off."
The novelty of being on a private jet wore off for Everly after about an hour. She fell asleep, her mouth wide open and her eyes fluttering with her dreams.
I sat opposite River while he worked on his laptop. He looked exhausted, bags gathering beneath his eyes, his hair had definitely seen better days.
I nibbled on my lip nervously, a question burning away in my mind but I don't know how he would possibly react if I dared to ask it. So I distracted my mind with the view out of the window, fluffy clouds like cotton candy against a blanket of blue.
"What?" He asked, immediately pulling my attention back to him.
"What?" I repeated the question and he took his eyes off the screen to look at me, tilting his chin towards my bouncing leg.
"You're fidgeting, you only do that when there's something on your mind and it's distracting. What do you want to ask or say?"
I exhaled and softened my eyes on him, "What do you remember?" He closed the lid of his laptop, fully attentive to our conversation.
"I remember watching him kill my whole family. He slit my mother and sisters throats, and tried to do the same to my father but he kept trying to fight him.
So instead he got stabbed several times, he kept trying to get up off the floor and place his body in front of mine to protect me. He fought until he couldn't fight anymore."
"River." I gasped. "That's so horrible, I'm so sorry."
He looked over at Everly longingly, "I won't watch him do that again. I will protect you both with my life."
"Do you remember what he did to you?"
"I remember everything Millie. I wasn't asleep, I was awake for it all. He purposely woke me up because he wanted me to watch. Killing them was the easy way out, he wanted me to suffer because I was the favourite son, the son my dad accepted."
He held his wrists out in front of himself and studied them.
"I remember the ropes, he kept my wrists tied for six weeks with this thick brown rope. It dug into my small wrists, so rough and left a rash beneath where the friction had chaffed my skin but the insatiable hunger was probably worst of all.
It's all I could think and breathe. The lack of food had eaten away at my soul and I was dying. Slowly. Painfully. All alone. Starving to death. I think that's why I had so many triggering flashbacks during my teenage years, I was hungry then too.
I remember being kept in a dark room and whenever his evil voice called out from somewhere I no longer had the energy to hide. My breathing shallow enough to not be heard and his footsteps, each one loud enough to echo in fear throughout my entire frail body."
I sat back and listened, I knew this man was a monster but hearing the tragic story of Rivers past put everything into perspective for just how truly bad he was.
"For six weeks, I wanted to scream but I was too hungry. I wanted to cry but I was too weak. I just wanted to die. I didn't understand what he wanted. As stupid as it sounds, at seven, I didn't even realise we were rich. It was normal life to me. I was just this scared little boy, kidnapped by a stranger.
Until finally, he strapped me to an operating table and had these tools, the kind of tools surgeons use. He said he didn't want anyone to find my body because he was going to assume my identity and take control of my fathers company. He wasn't sane Millie. He kept telling me he was going to cut me into tiny pieces because I would be easier to hide. I don't think he quite anticipated as much blood as he got, hence more mess to clean up.
At first, I was awake but I think I passed out from the pain or blood loss or something. I woke up, semi conscious trapped inside a small box. I couldn't move, I was basically dead. He had buried me alive at the river park and if it hadn't of been for that dog walker, or the dog sniffing me out, he would've also succeeded in killing me that day."
"I understand why you blocked all of that out of your memory. I totally get why they changed your name and placed you in witness protection. What he did to you was brutal and sickening. How did they not catch him?"
He shrugged, "I think it heavily worked in their favour not to. They would be praised for locking a criminal behind bars but a few pats on the back was nothing to millions of dollars in their pockets for ensuring my safety and guardianship over the years."
"And now Everly is in danger because they neglected to do their jobs. We need to go to the cops, as soon as this plane lands, we need to go to the cops and tell them everything. Tell them everything you remember and request they place us in witness protection. Move us somewhere tropical overseas. Somewhere away from danger."
He smiled, but nothing about his smile was remotely happy.
"It's a nice thought Millie but it's a naïve one. Leighton knows everything about me, he knows how I work. He'll be two steps ahead of me at all times. He knows I'm alive now, my cover is blown, he knows what I look like, he knows I have a kid.
He'll find me wherever I go. He'll find you too and her. There's only one way out of this for us, and that's to fight until he's dead. I just don't know if he has the cops on his side because if he does then I won't be running because I'm in witness protection, I'll be running because I'm a fugitive up for murder."
The captains tannoy interrupted the tenseness between us and I suddenly got this deep feeling of anxiety and fear rush through me.
"Please fasten your seatbelts, we're coming in to land."
