“We have to leave the shoes. It’s the only clothing we have left.” I couldn’t allow myself to overlook such details in the future, but I could at least correct it now.
We took off to our left, getting ready to head around to the other side of the building where trucks were filling up with gas and hopefully on their way out of town. If we found another trucker to catch a ride with this time, we might lose them. Hopefully, for good.
We reached the corner, and I finally allowed my hopes to rise. We’d make it out of this situation. I’d even smiled, but it didn’t last long because Bernard stepped into our path. From the look on his face, he was as surprised to see us as we were to see him. When the hell had he gotten directly involved?
Unfortunately, he was blocking our way to the gas pumps and recovered from the shock quickly. I stepped in front of Imogen but she was too far ahead of me, so before I made it, Bernard grabbed her. He spun her into his chest and held a long knife at her throat.
The clean metal caught a ray of sunshine and cast off a glint of light on the ground between my feet.
All of us stood frozen. We were in the middle of an open parking lot full of people in broad daylight and the man had a knife to my woman’s throat, but no one even glanced in our direction. Truckers.
“Come on, Corbin. If you come with me nicely, I’ll make sure she lives.”
Hearing him call me Corbin brought a fraction of relief. As long as they continued to think I was my twin, he was safe. But not Imogen. She struggled in the man’s arms. This wasn’t the time to argue or to find some way to negotiate.
At that moment, I had one option. I lunged at him without thinking of a long-term plan. The only thought was one of making sure Imogen stayed safe. Only she mattered.
The move surprised him and he threw her to the side seconds before I reached the two of them and barreled into his chest, knocking us both to the ground. Pain unlike anything I’d experienced before sank into my upper arm. The skin tore and my mouth opened in a silent scream. I didn’t have time to be injured or hurt, not when Imogen’s life was on the line.
Bernard and I rolled on the ground as Imogen stood to the side and hollered my name. Her screams finally drew attention, but people left us to our own devices. I still had the upper hand with Bernard under me, but it wouldn’t last long. He was twice my size and quickly overpowering me, which only left me with one recourse. I ran my fingers through his hair, grabbed his scalp as hard as possible, and slammed his head into the ground.
The giant shook his head, his eyes blinking quickly, and his arms went limp. It was enough time for me to roll off his body, stand, grab Imogen’s hand, and make a run for it. We sprinted to the front of the rest stop where trucks waited to pull out and reenter the highway. The hot asphalt burned the soles of my bare feet, but it was a better option than waiting to find out what happened if we didn’t.
Imogen waved her hand, trying to get someone’s attention, but we passed three trucks and none of them looked in our direction. Finally, at the front of the line, a truck about to pull out into the street rolled down his window.
“You two looking for a ride?”
“Yes, anywhere,” Imogen said, sounding out of breath.
“Jump in. I’m headed north. Call me Dennis.
The truck behind him honked as he held up the line, so we ran in front of his rig and climbed into the passenger seat telling him our names as we did
Imogen let me get in first but pulled me back a moment before I launched myself into the truck with effort. “Use my towel to stop the bleeding,” she said, looking at my arm where a small pool of blood trickled down my skin.
I nodded and took the towel from her, giving a silent thanks. With my last bit of strength, I heaved myself into the semi-truck.
CHAPTER 13
IMOGEN
The truck carried us down the road for two hours to what I hoped was safety, but I didn’t want to get too excited. At one point in my life, I thought I was safe walking from to my car in the parking garage and look how that turned out for me.
My stomach rumbled. I’d eaten too much food and the worry we wouldn’t get away fast enough caused my insides to tumble. The semi glided down the road, but we weren’t going fast enough. This trip was decidedly quieter than the one that brought us to the truck stop, and I cast my attention out the side window as much is possible trying to see if a car followed us.
So far I saw nothing concerning, but I also wasn’t trained in the art of tailing someone. Had we gotten away quickly enough or did the two men chase after us if they saw which truck picked us up?
The last car behind us passed, and the road was clear as far back as visible. Air-conditioning spewed from the vents in the truck to keep out the hot Southern day, but my bare feet chilled as we rode along and I tried to tuck them against one another for warmth.
“You two have a final destination?” the trucker asked after another ten minutes of silence passed.
Our conversation had been slow and stunted for the ride. Cyrus answered fewer questions as time passed, causing my worry to grow.
I shook my head, not wanting to give too many details away. I’d never trust anyone again after this experience. “North.” It wasn’t a lie, and it wasn’t too much information, hopefully.
He nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. “Taking this load up to Michigan so I can get you pretty far north.”
Michigan was north, but we needed to get off before then in order to make it to Maine. “We really appreciate it. At least Ohio,” I said, trying to recalculate where the states were in the Midwest and at which point we had to find a different spot to meet Corbin.
