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Things changed when I elve My ht, and ears His business was eveninvolved in anything else becae fund for one to school for twenty years at any Ivy League school and still had money left over

I graduated college with the intention of helping inner-city kids in New York I had barely begun ine My best friend, Sarown up in the life as I had—except, she had leaned into it—had to tell me my father had died Gunned down in his driveway at two in the afternoon The entire house was sprayed with bullets as a e

I wasn’t safe anymore

The Capiano family was most likely responsible, but it could have been the Russians too No one knew For one reason or another, everyone technically had it out for Dad, but his talent for ry with hi with people to make deals had made him popular—if envied The fear that they would come after me, just to make a point, was extreme

That night, I packed everything I could into my car and drove over to Sarieved, and then I started looking for a place to go It was hardthat I had ever known, but it was the only way I could ensure I would be okay After a tearful couple of days, I left Sammi and traveled south with a new cell phone that only she knew the number to I felt like of all places, I could disappear in the mountains of Appalachia or somewhere nearby Soot into town, I would know if so after me

I drove down I-95 until I got into Pennsylvania and then switched to I-81 The drive was gorgeous And as I made it into Tennessee, I found myself draard the mountains Eventually, I left the interstate and drove back road after back road until I found a sleepy little town called Ashford It was like a co and everyone I ever knew It was perfect

When I io’s, I browsed the local newspaper Glancing through the tiny, classified ads, s until I saw rentals in the area One spot looked particularly perfect, so I called the nuly good slice Three hours later, I pulled out a lock safe that I kept under h cash to pay for the security deposit and six months’ rent The look on the landlord when I handed him that much cash at once was hilarious, and I passed off the reason for it as an inheritance It wasn’t entirely a lie, since it was money my father had set aside for me before he died

The landlord walked aith the signed lease, and I propped open the door so I could bring everything from the car inside And just like that, I was officially a resident of Ashford, Tennessee

I spent two days setting up the house and exploring the town The first night I slept in a sleeping bag in the hts in the kitchen and bathroo any sleep at all The reasons behind my sleeplessness had to be a co any furniture and the fact that my only forms of entertainment to pass the ti I did the nextfor furniture

The toas essentially one street with a few shops A couple of side streets split off it, which lead to the tiny police station, courthouse, firehouse, or the one department store in the area An Amish furniture store was near the north end of the town, and I found h their wares in the

With the bedroo room furniture, and so out the house with all the s a person needed to live The depart my head into every shop on the main street until I was only an hour out of the furniture delivery