And then a few hours later when I was back at the hostel, a series of texts came in like a creepy one-sided conversation, each one making the lump in my stomach heavier.
What’d you go and run for?
We won’t hurt you…
…if you pay back what you owe us.
We’re tracking your brother
We found you
We’ll find Tyler
One more run and we’ll consider your debt paid off
They can’t possibly know where I am or have a way to track Tyler. Although how easy would it be to track down where the corrections department sent a team to work off their community service hours? I volunteered for this position. I’d rather get it all done in a few weeks than drag it out over the next two years. Besides, there was nothing keeping me in Charlotte, and it felt like a good time to disappear. The perfect time it seemed.
It’s all just scare tactics.
But my gut tells me otherwise.
Mani, the leader of the Street Kings, won’t give up easily. He thinks I owe him, and maybe the best thing to do is do what they ask. Get him off my back and out of our lives for good. But I’ll need reassurances that he’ll leave Tyler alone.
“You need to get moving if you want to be on time.” Janelle pulls up her orange overalls.
“And miss the chance for Sergeant Major to have a go at me?”
She cuts me a knowing look. “I’d be late, too, if it got me the attention of the boss. He isfine.”
I think about Hudson’s broad shoulders, the determined set of his jaw, the way my skin prickles whenever he’s close, and then try to push it out of mind as I reply, “Can’t say I’ve noticed.”
She guffaws as I drag myself out of bed and head to the shower.
Twenty minutes later, I’m dressed and ready a few minutes before the minivan is due to leave. I grab a piece of toast and follow Janelle out to the parking lot to wait for pickup.
“She made the school soccer team. The coach has her playing defense, but I think she’s better as a striker.” I nod, trying to keep up with the news about Janelle’s daughter.
She practically bounces as she tells me about how she’ll be back for the first game of the season and just let that asshole try to keep her from seeing her kids.
The minivan pulls up just as my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pop the last of the toast in my mouth and pull my phone out.
Touching work you’re doing with veterans.
I like the mountains.
Thin fingers of icy dread close around my heart, and every part of me goes cold.
They know where I am. They really know. It’s too much of a coincidence. A veteran’s center and the mountains.
If they know where I am, they can find Tyler, too.
I’m still staring at my phone when another text comes in.
One last run and you and your brother are free
There’s a shout from the minivan, and I glance up to find Boxy hollering at me from his seat.
“You coming or what?”
