Thank you, boar expert!

Kate hated that the rest stop reminded her of the damn cafe back in Kansas...had the same gingham tablecloths, and the waitress had the same damn hairdo, only this one was a redhead. It was more of the same...reminders she couldn't shake, wasn't sure she wanted to, but scared her so badly she couldn't help but run from them.

But tomorrow it would end...tomorrow, she'd be in Barstow, and from there, she'd be in LA within two days...and from there to LAX, and LAX to Sydney. The plan was pretty simple...get out of the country. Do what she could to pull some cash together in Oz, then head for Europe. If nothing else, her trail should go cold enough to give her enough of a breather to buy a new identity overseas...change her hair to blonde for good this time.

She wondered if *he* liked blondes.

Shaking off the thought, she signaled the waitress for a refill on her too-strong coffee and a second helping of her tasteless hashed browns while on a shelf above the dining counter, the morning news played in the background.

"...looking forward to cooler temperatures this weekend, that's for sure. In other news, suspected teen killer Lincoln "LJ" Burrows, Jr., has been released from a local detention facility after the disappearance of evidence critical to his conviction. Burrows, son of Lincoln Burrows, Sr., one of the now infamous Fox River Eight, was being held for the double homicide of Lisa and Adrian Rix, his mother and stepfather, as well as the attempted murder of local Illinos businessman Owen Kravecki..."

The rest of the report was lost on Kate for the most part with the exception of a few facts, including that his release had been the day before.

The day before...shit. Linc was probably already here, looking for him, and if they ran into each other...

//Jesus, Kate, what the hell are you thinking?// she snapped inwardly, rubbing a hand over her features as she took a hasty swallow of coffee, welcoming the burn of the too-hot liquid, the bite of too large a sip stinging her tongue and her eyes. //You don't have a clue if he's here or not...you don't have a clue about anything.// What the hell made her think he'd be here just because his kid was?

Because he'd given a one-night stand his car. Because he'd *let* her run. Because he'd looked a little harder and a little deeper than anyone else ever had and didn't mind the darkness he saw.

Jesus Christ, it had been a week and a half at *least* since she'd slept with him. And he hadn't been the only one she'd ever taken to bed...just the only one that had ever gotten under her skin. Lincoln Burrows was in her head, under her skin...even in her dreams at night, dreams that were so intense she usually woke up twisted in the cheap sheets of whatever motel room she was staying in, skin still flushed and tingling after she had them.

She missed him...and Kate didn't miss anyone. Not anymore.

The only thing she was sure of was that if Linc's kid was out of jail, he'd be here...for whatever reason. After the way he'd treated her, she knew he couldn't detatch himself from anything easily, and his own kid?...

She had to get out of here.

Finishing her coffee fast enough to make her cough, Kate dropped a twenty on the counter for her meal and rose from her stool, shouldering her bag and shoving a hand inside to touch her plane ticket...the one that would get her to Sydney. She could be in California by tomorrow if she traveled hard...

Shoving her sunglasses on her face, Kate shoved the door of the rest stop's diner open, stalking out into the light...

...and freezing as she saw them climb out of the car across the street.

Broad and tall, lean and furtive...yeah, it was them.

And as she stood there, frozen in shock and something else as her body automatically reacted just to *seeing* Lincoln in person again, the only thing she could really give any serious thought to, in her dumbstruck haze, was that he seemed to have a predisposition towards *not* buttoning his shirt all the way up...