“Yep.” I made his drink, slamming it down perhaps a touch too aggressively in front of him, causing some of the contents to splash up over the side. He didn’t seem fazed by it, and that somehow pissed me off more.
“Thank you kindly, Jack.” He smiled, and my stomach churned. “It is Jack, right? Was talkin’ to a nice fella named Hank just this afternoon. He mentioned ya.”
Fucking Hank. Forget spitting in his drink, I was going to wring that old bastard’s neck.
“No Jack here,” I lied. “Must’ve been talking about the other bartender.”
“That so? Well, any shot of him showin’ up? I got a couple a questions about his new buddy Harper.”
Yeah, I was definitely going to kill Hank. Fucking blabbermouth bastard.
“It’s a Monday, so no, don’t need anyone else to get by when it’s this quiet.”
Benny made an amused noise as he nodded, those dark eyes boring into me like he could see the truth beneath my skin. Like if he stared at me long enough with that stupid fake smile on his lips, I’d start confessing.
I caught Tiny approaching at the other end of the bar, and made my way over before he said my name—well,Jack—and blew whatever cover I had left here.
Thankfully, I dodged that particular bullet, but Benny’s eyes were on me as I stared at the pint glass in my hand, filling it with Tiny’s beer. Before it was done, the door opened again and both my eyes and Benny’s snapped to it at the same time.
The rapid beating of my pulse seemed to intensify and stop all at the same time as my heart sank and exploded simultaneously, like a submarine kissing a sea mine.
In the doorway, hand still pressed against the glass, was fuckingHarper.
Time seemed to freeze for a moment before a lot of things happened at once.
“Shit,” Harper cursed, and he was off.
The door hadn’t even closed behind him before Benny was up and wrenching it open again.
The glass in my hand dropped and shattered on the floor as I launched myself over the bar top to chase after both of them. Pain flared in my leg, but there was no way I was letting Harper face that piece of shit on his own. I pulled the door open and followed them into the dusk-lit street, running as fast as I could.
I should have been able to do it. I should have been able to catch up with them. Running was my thing. My skill. The one thing I was good at.Had beengood at. I was broken now, broken and useless, and that had never been more apparent as the distance between myself and my new friend, my only friend, grew bigger.
A wretched sound pulled from the core of me as I lost all hope of catching them on foot. The pain that roared through my leg was nothing compared to the molten despair that unleashed through my chest. I couldn’t let this happen.
Changing course, I sprinted to the motel as fast as my stupid fucking leg would allow me to. In the lot there was another car, a black Jeep that looked new. Praying it was worth the sacrifice of time and that this was actually Benny’s car, I pulled my switchblade from my pocket and punctured the tires on the right side before dashing to my own car.
The motor sputtered before rumbling to life, and I pulled out of the lot as quickly as possible, heading in the direction I’d lost them.
It was darker now, and the headlights still made it difficult to make out movement beyond the road. If Harper had any chance of escape, it would have been through the woods. I hoped with everything left in me he’d done that. That he’d escaped.
As the clock ticked by, minutes into hours, the adrenaline faded enough that an overwhelming sense of helplessness threatened to consume me instead. I cried. I hadn’t cried in so fucking long that once I started I found it impossible to make myself stop.
It wasn’t my fault, I knew that, but I still felt so fucking useless. I didn’t know what to do. Should I contact the police? After all this time avoiding the authorities, that suggestion burned away at my brain. Red flashing warning signs told me it would be stupid. The further from law enforcement I could stay, the better. Besides, I knew who the sheriff was, and that man wouldn’t have stood a chance against Harper, let alone Benny.
It was pitch black when I finally caught movement on one of the dirt trails I’d been driving on through the woods. My car was not built for this terrain, but I hardly cared, especially not when that petite and familiar silhouette came into view. A choked sound escaped from deep inside me as I pulled the car to a stop and Harper turned wide, fearful eyes to me.
“Get in. Now!” I called as soon as the window opened enough for him to hear me, and the relief that washed over him made me want to burst into tears all over again. I found him. I had him. He was safe.
Harper got into the passenger side, and I took off before he’d even had the chance to buckle himself in. I hadn’t seen Benny, but I wasn’t taking the chance that he was nearby as I made my way back to the highway.
“Are you hurt?” I asked as wheels met asphalt instead of dirt.
Harper didn’t respond. I glanced at him to find him curled up, facing away from me, his body shaking.
“Harper, I need you to answer me. Did he hurt you?”
There was a wet sniff, and he curled in on himself further, and I decided right then and there that I wasn’t leaving him alone again.
