Page 14 of Ride With Me

The line clicks and I’m unable to move my feet for a long time, my whole body suddenly feeling too heavy. The sirens close in on me and red lights flash through the trees. Ignoring the spreading pain in my chest and lurching stomach, I run. Everything’s a blur of green and yellow but I keep going anyway. My ears ring and my steps are heavy against the ground the further I get, clutching onto my bags. Surrounded by trees and rocks, I shove the bags in a random hole in the ground, covering it up with branches.

All voices and the dispatch radio sound so far away. They’re probably entering the house and checking for any evidence of breaking and entering. They’ll see the broken glass door. So fucking sloppy. If I had opened the door the right way, it would have bought me time, and they would have assumed the caller was mistaken. Fuck. Throbs of pain spread down my face as Ipound my fists against my head. How could they? How fucking could they? They wouldn’t have all that they have if it wasn’t for me. I taught Brick everything he knows, and Stephen was living on the streets, selling his body for whatever money he could when I found him.

Maybe I’m a little selfish at times but so are they. We all can be. I only wish they’d told me they wanted to be together, instead of sending me out into the lion’s den like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Maybe I would have hated them for a little while, but I’d have moved on eventually. I was wrong before. Stephen and I never had anything between us. He did this all for Brick, and I’ve been standing in the way all along.

Tears sting my eyes as I find a large tree to hunker down behind. I wait for the cops to come for me, but they never do. The sun starts to set, the sky darkening the longer I sit out here not knowing who to call. I have no one else. I can’t very well contact an Uber so close to the break-in. My all-black clothes are as suspicious as my injured hand. Dirt cakes into my nails as I bury the gloves I’d forgot I was wearing. My finger is no longer bleeding, so I toss the napkin in my pocket and look for another way to the road. Relief hits me when I finally reach the freedom I’ve been searching for, but dread fills me again after not spotting a single car or business in sight.

I can’t believe I didn’t see through their plan. I didn’t want to. Neither were as safe or reliable as I’d thought. All I have is myself. All I ever needed was myself. My lungs burn with each breath I take after walking for what feels like hours. Darkness fills the sky, and I shiver from the cold air stabbing at my exposed skin.

When I look at my phone again, I have no signal. I don’t know where I am anyway, so I have no way of telling anyone my location. Bright lights flash behind me and I stop walking, glancing back. The car inches closer, slowing down when itreaches me. A person I can’t quite make out peers through the opening of a lowering window.

“Need some help?”

Wrapping my arms around myself, my teeth chatter and I nod. “I think I got a little lost during my run. I can’t seem to find my way back to the hotel I’m staying at,” I lie.

“Not from around here?” The voice says.

“No. Visiting from out of town. On business.”

“I see. Which hotel are you staying at?”

“I… The Holiday Inn.”

“There’s no Holiday Inn around here.” He chuckles softly. “You must mean the La Quinta.”

“Oh, right. I get the two mixed up sometimes. I don’t stay in many hotels.”

“Yeah, it shows.” His voice is humorous, and loud clicking reverberates around me. “Hop in. I’ll give you a lift there.”

I hesitate a little before opening the door. Taking a ride from a stranger in the middle of nowhere isn’t the best idea, but what other options do I have?

“Thanks,” I say, cautiously sliding in beside him.

A light turns on above us and he smiles, green eyes sparkling. He’s very handsome. Strong jawline, dark hair, and gray peppering his neatly trimmed beard. “I’m Sam. I don’t live far from here and I had a late night at the office. Good thing too, or else you’d be walking until morning.”

“Yeah. I shouldn’t rely on my phone so much to find my way everywhere. Not when it loses signal the moment I need it the most.”

He laughs. “You youngsters and your phones. Can’t ever seem to put them away for longer than two seconds. I guess that’s y’all and technology all together.”

“Okay, okay. Back off, grandpa.”

He chuckles again, switching off the light. “So, what kind of business are you in?”

“The don’t worry about it kind,” I want to say. But what comes out of my mouth instead is, “Sales.”

Staring ahead, his tires scrape against the dirt as he drives off from the side of the road. “What kind of sales?”

Man, this dude asks too many questions, and I only got in his car minutes ago. “Medical supplies.”

“Ah. I get a lot of your kind in my office all the time. Haven’t seen you yet though. Now I’m feeling a little cheated.”

Is he flirting with me? Do I want him to be? A little flattery never hurt after a long, shit day. I’m single now and don’t have to worry about this going too far. Not that I have the time to spare. I need to rent a car and get back to where I hid my latest loot. I’d rather not do it in the morning when I’ll be more visible to anyone driving by. What if they call the doctor and he comes back early or sends someone to check on his house?

I might not really have been rooming at the La Quinta, but I will be now for the night. I don’t know what else is near here or if I’ll even find a car rental place of any kind. Brick has my car, and I don’t know how hard he’ll make it for me to get it back. Will he call the cops the moment I step into what’s supposed to be my apartment? Are they still there or did they take off somewhere into the sunset together? So much filters through my mind, but all thoughts are put on the back burner when the sexy stranger speaks again.

“I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I was only joking. Kind of. Seeing someone as cute as you around the office would definitely have been a highlight of any day. Sorry, sometimes I can be a little too forward.”

“It’s okay. I actually liked the joke and I’m a huge fan of forwardness. I like when you can see everything you’re gettingfrom a person up front. No beating around the bush of what your end game is.”

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