An hour after she entered the den, Larry Birch told her that Joshua Maxfield had not been found in the gym or anywhere else. That was all she needed to know to come to a decision. As soon as Birch left, Ashley walked over to the phone. Jerry Philips had given Ashley his home phone number and she’d called him there last week to discuss the sale of her house. Philips sounded groggy when he answered the phone.

“Ashley, what time is it?”

“Five twenty-eight.”

“Has something happened?”

“Maxfield tried to kill me tonight.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, but I have to talk to you.”

“Where are you?”

“At Mr. Van Meter’s house at the Academy.”

“I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Ashley hung up. She sat in the armchair near the fireplace and closed her eyes. She knew she had drifted off, because Jerry Philips was sitting across from her when she opened her eyes.

“How long have you been here?” Ashley asked.

He smiled. “About an hour.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“We all thought that you could use the sleep,” Philips said. “Do you want something to eat, some coffee?”

Ashley shook her head. She remembered why she’d summoned Philips, and she was suddenly scared to death.

“You’re my lawyer, right?”

“Sure.”

“On TV what a client tells the lawyer is private…”

“Confidential.”

“Confidential. What does that really mean?”

“The law protects conversations between an attorney and his client so the client can talk freely about her problems without being afraid that someone else will learn what she’s said. It encourages full disclosure by the client, so the attorney will have all the facts and be able to give his client good advice.”

“So anything I tell you is protected?”

Philips nodded. “Now what is this about?” he asked.

“How much money do I have?”

“I don’t have the exact figures, but with the sale of the house, the insurance… I’d guess around five hundred thousand dollars.”

“Could you set up an account for me that I could draw from if I wasn’t in the United States?”

“Yes.”

“Could it be in another name?”

“Ashley, what are you thinking of doing?”

Ashley sat up. Her back was straight and her hands were folded in her lap.

“I’m going away.”

“Where?”

“Out of the country.”

“Where out of the country?”

“I don’t want you to know where. I don’t want anyone to know.”

“I’ll keep anything you tell me confidential. That doesn’t mean I can’t give you advice. That’s why you have a lawyer. Now, where are you planning to go?”

Ashley looked down but did not answer.

“Do you know anyone where you’re going?”

“No.”

“Do you speak any foreign language?”

“Spanish. I have three years of Spanish.”

“What are you going to do when you get where you’re going?”

“I don’t know.” She looked down at her lap. “I just know that I can’t stay here. They can’t protect me and I can’t live like this, locked up, surrounded by guards.”

Ashley looked up. “Maxfield won’t look for me where I’m going because I don’t even know where I’m going. I’ll change my name. I’ll live cheaply. I’ll contact you by email. If they catch him I’ll come back.”

“This is crazy. I can understand why you’re afraid. Your life has been hell. But you’re not making sense. Let me see if I can get you in the witness protection program. Maxfield has killed in different states. Maybe I can get the Feds to help you.”

“I don’t trust them.”

“You’re frightened now. I can’t imagine what you went through tonight and those other times. But you’re not thinking straight.”

Ashley’s hands tightened on each other. “This is what I want to do. If you won’t help me I’ll find another lawyer.”

“Ashley…”

“No, my mind is made up. I have a passport. I’ll book a flight over the Internet. All I need is for you to set up an account for me so I can get money to live on.”

“This is crazy.”

“My life is crazy. Maxfield wants to kill me. He’s murdered my family. If I stay here I’ll never be able to live a normal life. It will be like I’m the criminal. I’ll be locked up, surrounded by guards. I won’t be able to go to school. I won’t have friends. And I’ll be afraid every minute. Don’t you see? I have to get away from him.”

Ashley Spencer has disappeared,” Larry Birch said as soon as he walked into Delilah Wallace’s office.

“She what?!”

“She’s been living at the Van Meter mansion. Henry Van Meter moved her over from the dorm and hired a team of private guards. This morning, after breakfast, she slipped out. No one has seen her since. Mr. Van Meter called me as soon as he was certain that she was really gone.”

“Did Maxfield…?”

“I don’t think so. Van Meter has the estate looking like an armed camp. I doubt Maxfield would try to take her from there again.”

“So you think she’s running away?”

“That’s my guess. She definitely took steps to evade the guards. But none of her clothes are missing, and her toothbrush, hairbrush, stuff like that, are still in her room.”

Delilah sat back in her chair and shook her head slowly. She looked sad.

“That poor, lonely kid. How frightened she must be. I can’t imagine.”

Delilah’s intercom buzzed. “There’s a Jerry Philips at the front desk,” the receptionist said. “He wants to talk to you about Ashley Spencer.”

“Send him back.”

Two minutes later, Jerry Philips was shown into Delilah’s office. He looked embarrassed and could not meet the DA’s eye.

“Where is she, Mr. Philips?” Delilah demanded. Jerry noticed that she was not calling him by his first name as she usually did.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Listen, Jerry,” the homicide detective said, “Ashley is a material witness in a murder investigation and she’s in great danger…”

“You don’t understand,” Philips interrupted. “I can’t tell you because I don’t know. Believe me, I tried to find out, but she wouldn’t tell me where she was going.”

“Then why are you here?” Delilah asked.

“Ashley instructed me to come. She didn’t want you to worry that Maxfield had her. She wanted you to know that she’s safe.”

“Did you help her get away?”

Jerry looked down at his shoes. “My conversations with Ashley are covered by the attorney-client privilege. I can’t tell you what we talked about.”

Larry Birch had rarely seen Delilah angry, but she was angry now. She levered her two-hundred-fifty-plus-pound bulk up from her chair and stared at Ashley’s lawyer. He avoided her eyes.

“We are talking about a frightened young girl, Mr. Philips. She is a child and she has no business being out in the world on her own.”

“I really can’t tell you,” Jerry mumbled. “You know I’m forbidden by law to reveal client confidences.”

“Don’t you care about her?” Delilah asked.

Philips looked miserable. “Of course I do. Don’t you think I tried to talk her out of this? But she’s terrified.” He gathered his courage and looked first at the DA then at the detective. “And you couldn’t protect her.” Now it was Birch and Delilah’s turn to look uncomfortable. “That’s why she ran. She doesn’t think you can stop Maxfield. She’s convinced that he will kill her if she stays in Oregon.”

Delilah sat down. “Do you know how to get in touch with her?”

“I can’t discuss that.”

Delilah started to get angry again but she checked herself.

“If she does contact you, will you ask her to call me or write me? We need to get her back, Jerry. She may think she can hide, but Maxfield will find her if he wants to.”

Ashley looked out the window of the plane and felt as if she was floating among the clouds that surrounded her. She was free for the first time since the night Maxfield invaded her home. The feeling was exhilarating and left her giddy with relief. Each mile the plane traveled put another mile between her and her former life. Her fear was fading and hope was building. Before her stretched a future filled with adventure and exotic sights, sounds, and experiences, a future free of terror and despair.