Page 11 of Reckless

I nod. “He should have made it there by now. There are toilets there, a gas station, diner, things like that.”

The man looks as if he doesn’t care one bit about what is available at the rest stop. I’ve played my part. He doesn’t say another word, no thanks, no have a nice day. He hurries back to his expensive sports car and takes off, spraying gravel up with his tires. The brake lights flare as he takes a corner and disappears from view.

Jude steps out of the RV, a bemused expression on his face. He eyes the road, making sure it’s all clear, then walks towards me.

“I’m still trying to figure out if I’m having an out-of-body experience and dreaming all of this.”

He stops closer than he’s been before. I smell the scent of the handwash from my bathroom. I tip my head up so I can look him in the eye.

“He seems like a dick.”

“He can be worse.”

“Wow, if he can be worse than that, I can see why you walked away last night.”

Jude says nothing for a few moments. Then his face breaks into a grin. “Did you actually just tell my manager I have the shits? And I’m running around the forest with a roll of toilet paper?”

“Did you want me to say you were in my RV doing it?”

His eyes widen comically. “No, Christ. And that wasn’t what I was doing, by the way.”

“Good to know.”

His smile grows wider as he brushes his hair off his forehead. “I gotta admit, that was kinda funny.”

“Your manager, huh?”

His head comes up fast, realizing his slip of the tongue.

“He might have been a dick, but he was genuinely worried,” I say. “Not enough to call the police, which is probably what he should do instead of driving around searching for you. Are you sure you don’t want to go after him? Let him know you’re okay.”

“How long have you known?” Jude doesn’t answer my questions. He looks unsure whether or not to be pissed, wary of my intentions.

“Since I saw you on my cameras sneaking around outside the RV.”

“Shit,” he mutters, more contemplative than annoyed. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asks.

“Just because you're someone I recognize doesn’t mean you're someone safe.”

“But you know who I am and what’s… Going on.”

“I know what I’ve read in the news. Talking to you made it clearer.”

His head turns back to the road, the way his manager went.

“Help me put everything away. The drive to the rest stop should take about fifteen minutes. You can think about next steps then.”

“You’re going to help me?”

“Can’t leave you out here. You’ll either get eaten by a bear or he’ll find you on his way back.”

“Not sure which is worse,” he quips.

“I’d go with the manager,” I mutter, then slip past him and walk back to the picnic table and grab the chairs to fold up.

Jude joins me and helps with the table, taking it all and slotting them back under the RV. I lock up the storage door and head inside. It’s weird having him follow me in.

When he shuts the door, all sounds from outside vanish. It’s just us in here.

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